FEATURE

INNOVATION
NATION

How new
developments
in aquaculture
are boosting
the Scottish
economy

ith an estimated market

value of over 1.8 billion
and Scottish salmon
exports alone reaching
over 500 million,
Scotlands aquaculture
sector is fast becoming a
core pillar for the future
growth of the Scottish
economy. However, with such a steep increase in the demand for
fish products, there is a real need for innovation within the sector
to stay ahead of the curve and provide a sustainable supply of
healthy protein; not only for the present but for the future of a
market that appears set to keep growing. Ahead of Aquaculture
UK, CEO of the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC),
Heather Jones, shares some of the organisations forays into
finfish research projects and the ways in which is working with
both industry and academia to enhance the whole of the Scottish
aquaculture sector.

Tackling industry issues with innovation

Farming any species brings with it several challenges which

can affect productivity, quality and sustainability and aquaculture
is no different. One industry-wide issue in finfish farming is the

control of natural parasites that attach to both wild and farmed

fish and can cause physical damage, stress, or lead to secondary
infections on the affected individuals. This impacts the output
of salmon farms by slowing salmon growth. Typical measures
around sea lice control currently include husbandry techniques
and licensed medicines, but the industry is looking for new and
innovative ways to tackle the problem, using more biological
methods and reducing the need for treatment with medicines.
The use of cleaner fish has been brought into integrated sea
lice management over the past few years. Cleaner fish naturally
remove ectoparasites, such as sea lice, from other fish and live
alongside them harmoniously in the wild. Wrasse in particular
ballan wrasse are currently the most popular choice as cleaner
fish in the salmon industry in Scotland. Cohabitation of salmon
with cleaner fish, both wrasse and another species, lumpsuckers,
have been shown to reduce significantly the sea lice challenge to
salmon and to enhance production on farms.
Whilst wrasse have proven to be effective within fish farms,
previous projects have largely involved the collection of wild
wrasse, a solution which is unlikely to be sustainable in the long
term. So there is a need to look beyond and to develop a wrasse
culture here in the UK. This is in its infancy and production
challenges have, to date, limited the deployment of farmed
wrasse. To overcome some of these challenges, SAIC has

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FEATURE

STRONG ENOUGH
TO FACE EVERYTHING!

launched a research project, bringing together leading academics

and major salmon producers to solve the bottlenecks limiting
wrasse productivity, and to improve the quality and delousing
efficacy of farmed wrasse.

Creating a commercial concept for wrasse

Building on a proof of concept established in previous research,

the SAIC project brings together experts from Marine Harvest,
Scottish Sea Farms, Biomar and the Institute of Aquaculture
at the University of Stirling, the leading aquaculture research
and training department in the UK. A 42-month plan focuses on
the production, husbandry and deployment of farmed wrasse.
SAIC awarded grant funding to the project of 831,530,
leveraging contributions worth 3.01 million from the industry
and academic partners and providing a pool of money designed
to increase knowledge and share it across the sector. Given the
importance of the project to the UK salmon industry, the project
will operate under the principle of open knowledge exchange.
The scheme will extend existing knowledge through to
upscaling of hatchery technologies; optimisation of cleaner fish
welfare in salmon cages; and prototyping in the commercial
environment. The project work has been organised around four
work packages, each with a set of specific R&D objectives:
1. Broodstock management, egg and larvae productivity. A

Leiber Beta-S
effect mechanism:
Improvement of the cellular &
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Support of immunological
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Improvement of feed conversion

leibergmbh.de

International Aquafeed - May | June 2016 | 31

FEATURE

lumpsuckers when they are raised in hatcheries

and deployed in salmon pens. The aim of the
research, conducted by Stirlings Institute of
Aquaculture, is to improve the survival and
welfare of lumpsuckers and ultimately increase
the supply of cleaner fish into the Scottish
salmon industry. SAIC has awarded a grant
worth 120,680 to the 445,380 project, led
by Fish Vet Group. Working with five other
commercial partners (FAI Aquaculture, Scottish
Sea Farms, The Scottish Salmon Company,
Grieg Seafood Shetland and Cooke Aquaculture)
and the University of Stirling, the project will
last for 24 months and will involve extensive
epidemiological research.
series of studies to investigate the reproductive physiology,
behaviour and performance of ballan wrasse broodstock,
aimed at developing new commercial protocols to enhance egg
productivity and quality.
2. Larvae/juvenile nutritional requirement and growth potential.
This work package will aim to refine hatchery protocols for
live feed management, weaning and on-growing to maximise
the robustness of fish produced and growth performance.
3. Health management of cleaner fish. This will include the
development of tools to monitor immune response in ballan
wrasse and improve disease resistance.
4. Conditioning and optimisation of cleaner fish welfare in
commercial cages. This will include building understanding
of optimal timing of deployment and stock ratios, and the
validation of practical on-farm health and welfare indicators.
Project outcomes will include commercial protocols, research
tools and a new knowledge of the biology of the ballan wrasse.
This will permit production of a handbook that individual farmers
in Scotland including SMEs can use as a beginning-to-end
guide on the breeding and husbandry of farmed wrasse.

Looking to other cleaner fish species

While ballan wrasse are the most popular choice of cleaner

fish to date, research is also being carried out to test the viability
of using lumpfish. Like wrasse, lumpsuckers can cohabit with
salmon and feed on sea lice, and they have been identified as
a complementary species to wrasse in boosting the supply of
cleaner fish to the industry. SAIC is supporting two lumpsucker
development projects, which aim to bring lumpsucker production
to a commercial scale in the UK.
The first project aims to establish a secure and sustainable
supply of lumpfish for Scottish salmon farms. It will take a range
of technologies that have proof of concept in the laboratory
through to prototyping in the commercial environment. Heading
the research will be a team from the Institute of Aquaculture
at the University of Stirling. The team will work with five
commercial partners Marine Harvest Scotland, Pharmaq,
BioMar, The Scottish Salmon Company and Otter Ferry Seafish
and have funding of over 2.9 million from SAIC grants and
partner contributions. Outputs will include protocols for breeding,
feeding and deploying lumpsuckers into salmon farms; new
products, such as feeds and vaccines; and knowledge to provide
Scotland with a viable, sustainable and efficient source of cleaner
fish for sea lice control.
The second project aims to improve the welfare of lumpfish
deployed in Scottish salmon farms. This will use a detailed
analysis of the biological needs and disease challenges facing

Increasing production through disease

control

The success of all cleaner fish projects will rely heavily on

developments in maintaining the health and welfare of cleaner
fish. As such, SAIC is also looking to fund projects that focus on
this key element.
In 2015, SAIC provided funding to a consortium led by
Aqualife, a family-owned business in Stirling, to develop
new fish vaccination techniques. The novel welfare-friendly
techniques proposed by the project team could step up the
survivability and robustness of lumpsucker and wrasse species,
and help to upscale the effectiveness of cleaner-fish on farms.
This major contribution towards controlling sea lice biologically
could further increase the productivity of Scottish salmon farms
and decrease the use of medicines in the industry.
Major salmon producer Scottish Sea Farms will provide access
to a range of its marine sites across Orkney, Shetland and the
mainland for research to be carried out, and researchers at the
University of Stirlings Institute of Aquaculture will support the
development of new techniques and protocols for the growth of
the industry.
One additional planned outcome of Aqualifes project is a
new vaccination device based on a prototype the company has
developed for salmon. The plan is to adapt the device for the
anatomy and physiology of different lumpfish and wrasse species.
If successful, this could pave the way for further adaptations of
the device for use on other farmed non-salmonid species such as
Mediterranean bass and bream, Asian catfish or North African
tilapia.

What does success look like?

SAIC is supporting a diverse range of projects within

the aquaculture industry, not just within finfish, but also
shellfish and hatchery projects, feed projects and engineering
developments. Each project will have its own objectives and
outcomes, but our overall aim is to deliver transformational
change in the relationship between the aquaculture industry and
research community. By doing this, we can support the growth,
sustainability and profitability of the Scottish aquaculture
industry and meet the increased salmon production targets set by
the Scottish Government.
A successful aquaculture market in Scotland leads not only
to a direct contribution to the economy in terms of sales, but
a significant boost to the welfare of the people of Scotland.
Aquaculture now contributes some 8,000 jobs to Scotland and
many of our rural communities have benefited from new facilities
and support from aquaculture companies as they expand across
Scotlands coastline and sea lochs.

32 | May | June 2016 - International Aquafeed