13 minute read
How research is supporting the industry
Investing in fi sh care
The academic sector is playing a crucial role in helping producers to address health and welfare issues
At the forefront of improving fi sh health and welfare are the researchers working to improve the aquaculture sector’s knowledge.
So far this year we have already seen a number of developments taking this forward.
First, the renowned Ins� tute of Aquaculture (IoA) at the University of S� rling last month announced an investment programme to expand and improve its facili� es.
Plans for a new £17m world-class research and innova� on facility have moved a step closer, a� er the ambi� ous plans were approved by S� rling Council.
The Na� onal Aquaculture Technology and Innova� on Hub (NATIH), which builds on the IoA’s exis� ng capability, will bring together experimental aqua� c facili� es, including a new tropical aquarium, with state-of-the-art laboratories, and space dedicated to business incuba� on and accelera� on.
The project is part of the S� rling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal, a £90.2m investment from the UK Government and Sco� sh Government in innova� on and infrastructure intended to drive inclusive economic growth throughout the region.
Regional partners, including Clackmannanshire Council, S� rling Council, and the University of S� rling, will invest up to £123.8m, resul� ng in a project worth more than £214m, to be delivered over the next 10 to 15 years. Phase 1 of the project is expected to be completed in 2024.
The aim is to posi� on the University of S� rling’s exper� se at the forefront of aquaculture’s global expansion, delivering and increasing the economic, social and environmental benefi ts for the industry, and informing modern commercial aquaculture markets. The impact of this pioneering work will be felt both in Scotland, the IoA said, where the sector has plans to double its output by 2030, and interna� onally, where the aquaculture sector has a prominent footprint in Africa, Asia and South America. Professor Simon MacKenzie, Head of the Ins� tute for Aquaculture, said: “This is an important milestone in the development of the Na� onal Aquaculture
Technology and Innova� on Hub. There is an enormous role for aquaculture to play in ensuring that the world has a secure and sustainable supply of food.
“The Hub will develop and reinforce a strong working rela� onship between the University’s researchers and the global aquaculture industry, ensuring that the ideas, interven� ons and solu� ons developed will have a meaningful impact where they are needed most, and deliver jobs, growth and prosperity.”
Top: The Na� onal Aquaculture Technology and Innova� on Hub (NATIH) Above: Professor Simon MacKenzie
The answer to sea lice?
The Ins� tute of Aquaculture is also involved in a joint project with the Roslin Ins� tute, part of the University of Edinburgh, which it is hoped will iden� fy genes that could help to protect Atlan� c salmon against sea lice.
The study aims to pinpoint key genes and associated biological processes underlying gene� c resistance to the parasites.
This will include studying the response to lice a� achment exhibited by Coho salmon, a species of salmon which is fully resistant to sea lice, and then applying knowledge gained concerning mechanisms of resistance to Atlan� c salmon, which is suscep� ble.
The project will receive a total of £1.7m from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Sustainable Aquaculture Innova� on Centre (SAIC). It is an industrial partnership award with aquaculture breeding company Benchmark Gene� cs.
Researchers will use data previously collected from 12,000 infected fi sh to iden� fy regions of the salmon genome associated with resistance to sea lice.
They will also compare Atlan� c salmon with Coho salmon to inves� gate the key mechanisms, genes and proteins involved in their diff erent responses to lice.
Gene edi� ng will be used to validate and shortlist genes and processes that could be linked to resistance, through tests examining the eff ects of silencing genes of interest.
Ini� al research will be conducted in fi sh cells, to iden� fy the genes that are most likely to be involved in resis� ng infec� on by lice. These genes will then be targeted to produce gene-edited salmon embryos.
Gene edi� ng, which enables targeted, precise changes to the gene� c code, has been used in previous studies by scien� sts from the Roslin Ins� tute to iden� fy disease resistance genes in salmon, and has poten� al applica� ons in aquaculture breeding to improve health and welfare traits.
Professor Ross Houston, Personal Chair of Aquaculture Gene� cs at the Roslin Ins� tute, said: “Gene edi� ng has poten� al to expedite the breeding of disease-resistant salmon by making targeted changes, informed by years of research into the gene� c and func� onal mechanisms of resistance to sea lice.
“Work by our consor� um aims to improve fi sh health and welfare, and enhance the sustainability of the salmon aquaculture sector, which is worth approximately £1bn per year to the UK economy and is a major source of employment in rural communi� es of the Sco� sh Highlands.”
A new approach to diagnos� cs
Meanwhile, a new spinout company from the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) is aiming to transform health diagnos� c prac� ces in aquaculture.
CAGE NETS AND MOORINGS
Specialized in the tough high energy sites
WellFish Diagnos� cs – which has developed the fi rst non-lethal method for assessing fi sh health – will benefi t from a £1.2m investment from the University, Kelvin Capital and Sco� sh Enterprise.
Tradi� onal fi sh health tes� ng can take days before producing results and o� en requires lethal sampling. WellFish – the second spin-out company to emerge from UWS – has established a method to enable fi sh farmers to con� nually monitor the health of their fi sh popula� on via blood sampling, in a unique approach developed by the company in conjunc� on with the salmon farming industry in Scotland.
CEO Brian Quinn, a Professor of Ecotoxicology within the School of Health and Life Sciences at UWS, is a two-� me Converge Challenge fi nalist and winner of the 2019 European Aquaculture Society Innova� on Forum.
He said: “WellFish presents a huge opportunity for the aquaculture sector to completely transform its prac� ces for monitoring, responding to and predic� ng health challenges within the fi sh popula� on. Tradi� onally, fi sh farmers would have to undertake a slower sampling and tes� ng process, o� en requiring fi sh to be euthanised prior to sampling, to monitor fi sh health within their farms.”
The company is working with the Sco� sh salmon sector, a large trout farm, and producers in Ireland and Norway to provide fi sh farmers with technology and training to take their own samples, which are then sent to WellFish for tes� ng. The company is based in a state-of-the-art laboratory at UWS’s Paisley campus.
Professor Quinn added: “We are the fi rstever laboratory to off er a non-lethal method of examining fi sh health commercially. When fi sh farmers take their samples – which they are shown how to do using our kits and specialist training – they are then sent back to us in the laboratory where the data is interpreted using an algorithm-based AI model and presented back to farmers within 24 hours via our specialist website portal.
“It means farmers can make data-informed husbandry decisions, spot the early onsets of a poten� al health challenge and take proac� ve measures to reduce the impact, such as choosing to change feeding regimes or introducing early treatment to their fi sh popula� ons. “Our company also enables farmers – and the wider aquaculture sector – to access our data and spot trends emerging over � me, meaning we are also contribu� ng directly to crucial knowledge transfer about fi sh health management prac� ces within the sector and beyond. In this way, the farmers can provide their stock with the best health and welfare environments to the benefi t of all par� es.” Professor Milan Radosavljevic, Vice-Principal, Research, Innova� on & Engagement at UWS, said: “WellFish Diagnos� cs is a fantas� c example of the pioneering research and innova� on taking place at our University and highlights our commitment to suppor� ng enterprise at UWS.
“I am delighted to see the team secure investment to create a spinout company, which is testament to the team’s hard work and strong links with industry. It is inspiring to see the real-world benefi ts and impact WellFish Diagnos� cs will have on a truly global scale on health, welfare and sustainability within the aquaculture sector.” The WellFish Diagnos� cs team is made up of six people, including key experts from the aquaculture industry, such as former Managing Director at Marine Harvest Scotland and Skre� ng UK, Dr Graeme Dear, as well as John Allan, former execu� ve vice-president and CTO of healthcare diagnos� cs company, Quo� ent. WellFish is the result of an ini� al research and development project supported by the Sustainable Aquaculture Innova� on Centre (SAIC), the UK Seafood Innova� on Fund and Sco� sh Enterprise’s High Growth Spinout Programme. This research has also received funding from Innovate UK as well as cash and in-kind contribu� ons from sector partners. The company has plans for rapid, interna� onal growth, with expansion into Norway in 2022 and further expansion into South America and Canada by 2023. FF
From the top: Lab technician; Professor Brian Quinn; Professor Ross Houston “It means farmers can make datainformed husbandry decisions”
A report into farmed fi sh diseases points out serious challenges that need to be tackled
BY VINCE MCDONAGH
The latest report on farmed fi sh health in Norway does not make comfortable reading. The Norwegian Veterinary Ins� tute points out a number of growing problems that, it says, need to be tackled as a ma� er of urgency.
The latest data shows that, last year, more than 52 million farmed fi sh in Norway died before their scheduled harvest date.
The fi gure is close to the record total in 2019 when 53 million fi sh died prematurely, but that was also when algae unexpectedly struck a sec� on of the Norwegian coastline, resul� ng in eight million extra deaths.
Taking that incident out of the picture, 2020 has to be the worst year yet, the report says.
It fi nds such a high fi gure suggests too many fi sh are easily becoming prone to diseases of one sort or another.
The Ins� tute’s Head of Sec� on, Edgar Brun, says: “The challenges within welfare and disease in salmon have not improved in Norwegian farming. When our eff orts are not having an eff ect, it is � me for new thinking on the problem.”
The report provides an annual picture on fi sh health using data gathered from fi sh farms, fi sh health services, private laboratories and the Ins� tute’s own diagnos� cs.
Ingunn Sommerset, Head of Fish Health at the Ins� tute, says the situa� on has worsened despite many in the industry making great eff orts to tackle disease, lice and premature mortality.
She suggests the explana� on probably lies in an interplay of nega� ve eff ects in the treatment of lice and infec� ous diseases, which have existed in the industry for a long � me.
Diseases such as infec� ous salmon anaemia (ISA), pancrea� c disease (PD) and heart failure (CMS) were all widespread in fi sh farms last year.
In addi� on, there was the emergence of a new bacterial disease among salmon known as pasteurellosis, which seems to have gained a foothold in western Norway. Not every sec� on of the coastline is the same, however. The area between the picturesque holiday area of Nordhordaland and Stadt, known as Produc� on Area 4, had some of the worst results, with mortality at 27%, up from 19.4% the previous year. She says there is no simple explana� on for this, but it is an area where the o� en cri� cised thermal delicing treatment has been used the most. However, the number of lice treatments did not diff er that much from those in other parts of the country. Produc� on area 4 had a total of 56 cases of pancrea� c disease (PD) out of a total of 158 across the en� re country, but as yet there was li� le or no clue as to how much extra mortality PD causes.
The report says the number of infec� ous salmon anaemia cases was the highest since 1993, with 23 new detected cases at seabased salmon farms, twice the total for 2019.
The disease was detected at seven produc� on areas along the coast, but the main focus
Above: Microbiologist Left: Edgar Brun Below left: Ingunn Sommerset Below: Salmon
has been on the Troms and Finnmark region (production area, or “PO” 10-12) with a total of 15 outbreaks detected.
About half of the ISA cases in 2020 were considered to be “primary outbreaks”. This means they cannot be linked to previous incidents or another clear sources of infection.
Edgar Brun says that when current treatments do not give the desired results in terms of reducing illness and improving welfare, it is time to look again at how to deal with these issues.
He adds: “We can do more to reduce infection contact between geographical areas in order to eradicate or reduce the disease burden, as well as to look at strategic measures to reduce the need for lice treatments.
“It is important to obtain a national overview of what different issues caused deaths in fish.
“Research, administration and the industry itself are engaged in this now, so we should be able to gain knowledge that can provide a basis for targeted measures.” FF
OTHER MAIN DISEASES
Pancreatic disease (Pd)
the number of sites recording pancreatic disease remains at a high level with 158 new cases, slightly up on 2019. There had been an increase in the number of cases of PD caused by the saV-3 variant in Production area 2.
Heart Failure (cMs)
The Norwegian Food Safety Authority says heart failure is seen as the main problem in the food fish leading to premature mortality in salmon last year, with cMs diagnosed at 154 sites, the majority in the southern and central parts of the country.
FuruNculoSiS
a disease of both wild and cultivated salmon that can lead to bacterial septicaemia and is often fatal if not treated promptly with antibiotics. the disease, which does not pose a threat to humans, was detected in five sea localities last year.
HsMB
commonly known as cardiovascular inflammation is a serious unlisted disease, but as a cause of mortality it is ranked somewhat lower. HsMB disease was confirmed in 161 localities.
coMPlex gill disease
gill disease causes mortality, reduced welfare and lower growth. The report says it is one of the health problems that registered the highest increase last year.
