Grant: Engage Grants Program

Sea lice cause millions of dollars in losses to salmon culture worldwide due to expensive treatments, reduced growth in the fish and the associated high labour costs. The few expensive treatments that exist, however, are further hampered by the fact that they are beginning to show reduced efficacy against sea lice, and the industry requires quick and cost-effective solutions. Any treatment regime, vaccine or immunostimulant that could provide significant protection against sea lice, would have immediate economic impact and improve Canadian salmon farming industry efficiency of production and sustainability. Canadian salmon farmers would experience greater profit margins due to the reduction in these associated costs and the feed production company (i.e. Northeast Nutrition) would be able to provide these enhancements, which would increase their market share both nationally and internationally. Vaccination and diet supplements are important tools in the prevention of disease in human and veterinary medicine. Currently, there are no vaccines commercially available or close to release to protect against sea lice. However, there are natural and synthetic compounds known as immunostimulants that are already in use in agriculture, and human medicine, that boost immune systems and their resistance to infectious disease. Immunostimulants have not been tested for use in salmon against sea lice, but would provide an attractive option as they would not require the lengthy approval process, problematic for new treatment applications, and could be implemented as early as Spring 2011. We hypothesize that by boosting Atlantic salmon immune systems prior to sea lice infection it will lead to greater protection against infection. Therefore, we will investigate the efficacy of two different immunostimulants added to salmon feed and, (1) whether they boost immune responses in salmon, and (2) whether they result in protection of the salmon against sea lice infection.