NORWEGIAN GUIDE FOR NEW METHODS COUNTING SEA LICE

Norwegian guide for new methods counting sea lice. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority has created a guide to help manufacturers of new methods for counting salmon lice and to aquaculture companies that will apply for an exemption to use the equipment.

There is great interest in the industry for developing new methods to count and report lice on farmed salmon. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority says it is positive about this work.

“New methods can provide more accurate data and a more accurate picture of the real lice situation in the farms. In addition, it can improve fish welfare by not having to handle fish to count lice,” says Elisabeth Wilmann, director of fish and seafood at the Food Safety Authority.

The salmon numbers that are reported to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority are published on BarentsWatch and shared with other authorities and research institutions. The figures should provide correct data for models that estimate salmon lice infections for both wild fish and farmed fish.

“It is also important that the lice count tells the correct level of salmon lice in each aquaculture facility, so that breeders can work preventive and implement measures well in advance, says Elisabeth Wilmann.

From this week, an exemption must be sought from the salmon lice regulations to apply new salmon lice counting methods. In order to make it easier to apply for an exemption and to process exemption applications, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority has created a supervisor.

“The supervisor describes the application process and what information must be included in the documentation needed for such applications.

“For competitive reasons, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority has chosen to publish the guide without first having it consulted with the aquaculture industry and suppliers.

“This is a breakthrough work where both industry and management must collectively gain experience through the processing of applications, and experience with the use of new counting methods over time,” says Wilmann.

From this week, there is no approval scheme or standardization for the use of new methods for counting salmon lice. The supervisor must therefore be updated as needed as experience is gained.

“We have had a good dialogue with the management, aquaculture industry, service producers and knowledge institutions in the process to move forward in this area. This is also important in the future. We therefore welcome input to the supervisor, says Wilmann.

Photo courtesy SSPO