Animation Shows How Sea Lice From Fish Farms Can Reduce Wild Salmon Population
by Jeff Nield, Vancouver, British Columbia 
on 09.25.08
Sea Lice on Pink Salmon photo: Alexandra Morton via Watershed Watch
The fact that farmed fish infest wild salmon with sea lice is well documented. But, parasites on fish isn't exactly the sexiest green topic going. Recognizing this, Watershed Watch has created an animation to demonstrate how lice infestations in British Columbia fish farms can jump to the wild salmon population, infecting young fish that are more susceptible to the parasites.
Check it out below.
Watershed Watch says the animation is based on peer-reviewed research on sea lice contamination (pdf) including a study by their executive director Craig Orr, published in 2007 in the North American Journal of Fisheries Management. Orr and his colleagues warn that if salmon farming is allowed to practice business as usual ausing sea lice outbreaks to continue, "wild salmon could disappear from certain areas in less than 4 years."
::Watershed Alliance Salmon Society
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A beautifully crafted video with an important message.
We humans do tend to mess it up when we try to 'improve' on nature...
Cleaner-fish were shown to be an effective lice control method.
Using ratios of one wrasse to 250 salmon, sea lice infestations levels were generally controlled to levels below five mobile stages per farmed Atlantic salmon smolt.
Data from two commercial fish farms off the west Irish coast
Well done animation, very informative. there are also other problem with salmon farming besides lice, so controlling for them isn't a complete solution