Zapping salmon parasites with lasers? It's not science fiction, but one of the latest solutions being used to tackle the ongoing problem of salmon lice in the Norwegian aquaculture industry.
Norwegian salmon farming giant Cermaq has announced it is rolling out laser technology to treat salmon lice at some of its facilities in Nordland and Finnmark.
The technology, which the company says it is putting into use after "extensive evaluation", is already used by other Norwegian salmon farmers. According to Cermaq, lasers are currently used to "monitor and protect more than 50 million salmon and trout around the clock".
The lasers, Cermaq says, are both effective against salmon lice and gentle on the salmon themselves.
"Lice lasers have been shown to keep lice levels down. We can then avoid many mechanical delousing measures and thus we avoid stressing the fish leaving them swimming in peace and quiet," said Karl Fredrik Ottem, head of fish health in Cermaq Norway.
"Cermaq's goal is to control the level of lice to the greatest extent possible with preventive technology and laser is one of several measures that we now want to increase the use of to ensure the best possible fish welfare," Ottem added.
Over the next few weeks, Cermaq will install lasers at its Veggfjell and Svartfjell sea sites, with the intention of further lasers coming into operation at additional sites over the following months, with around 140 lasers to be installed in total.
The company will continue to evaluate the results of using the technology, and says it will utilise a separate team of operators to ensure "optimal" deployment of the lasers and achieve best practice in procedures.
"The laser nodes also come with advanced monitoring of the level of lice and fish welfare, so that the sea sites will get a good insight into the development of lice and the health of the fish. Thus, we believe the use of lice lasers is the right step in terms of ensuring both fish welfare and the most sustainable production possible," says Ottem.
In addition to lasers, Cermaq says it has a range of tools in its sea lice "toolbox", including submersible cages, tube nuts, deep lice skirts and deep feeding as preventive measures against lice. Each location may have different needs and thus different techniques may need to be deployed for optimal biological control, says the company.
The lasers utilised by Cermaq are produced by Stingray Marine Solutions. Commenting on the collaboration with Cermaq, Stingray managing director John A. Breivik called it "a new and important milestone for us".
"We have already gained important experience for a couple of years and have been able to develop a good collaboration with Cermaq and good people at the sea sites, at a world-leading farming company, both when it comes to fish welfare and sustainability," Breivik said.
