Lumpfish, Cyclopterus Lumpus: Aquaculture Applications in the Northeastern US
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Lumpfish, Cyclopterus lumpus: aquaculture applications in the northeastern US Fairchild Lab: Elizabeth Fairchild, Michael Doherty, Nathaniel Spada, Mary Kate Munley Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH USA Salmon, Sea Lice, and Cleaner Fish One of the common farmed fishes found in US markets is Right: Lumpfish Atlantic salmon. Wild Atlantic salmon populations have faced integrated into a salmon over-exploitation and severe habitat degradation and are no farm in Norway Photo: NorseAqua longer harvested; aquaculture has become necessary to supply the consumer demand for this fish. Many farms that produce Atlantic salmon are located in the North Atlantic including Europe, Iceland, Canada, and the US (Maine). Salmon is a valuable product, but it faces a major problem - sea lice. The sea louse is a naturally-occurring ectoparasite that can eat into the flesh of fish, causing injury, stress, and disease. Controlling Left: Adult lumpfish at the UNH sea lice is the most costly issue salmon farmers face. In the Coastal Marine Laboratory Photo: S. Schaier/UNH COLSA past, antibiotics and pesticides were used to try to prevent sea lice, but these treatments can harm the environment and sea lice can develop resistance to them. A new, sustainable method to controlling sea lice is using cleaner fish. Cleaner fish are species of fish that naturally eat parasites off of other fish, and they have become very useful in the salmon aquaculture Lumpfish and Trout industry. In New Hampshire waters, cages filled with steelhead trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, can be found just offshore. The steelhead trout is a salmonid fish, so it too can be affected by parasitic sea lice. Currently at the UNH Coastal Marine Laboratory, lumpfish aquaculture research continues to develop optimal rearing protocols. Do particular diets work best at Left: Sea lice on an different developmental stages? How can lumpfish be spawned afflicted Atlantic salmon in captivity so there is little need of wild caught broodstock? Are Photos: M. Pietrak/USDA there ways to selectively breed lumpfish to make better NCWMAC cleaners? When appropriate, lumpfish will be added to steelhead trout pens and we will observe how these two species interact under a variety of conditions. We will examine what kinds of strategies are necessary to integrate lumpfish into trout farms so that the lumpfish become successful cleaners. These important projects are helping us figure out ways to keep what we eat healthy, while strengthening coastal fishing and Right: Atlantic salmon farm in Maine aquaculture communities, as well as creating new business Photo: N. Sambides opportunities. Jr./Bangor Daily News Left: Male lumpfish turn red during the spawning season Photo: E. Fairchild/UNH Lumpfish Lumpfish, Cyclopterus lumpus, a species native to the North Atlantic, is an effective cold-water cleaner fish and is now used in most salmon farms in Europe, Iceland, and eastern Canada. In these countries, lumpfish is fished both for supplying Bottom: Lumpfish research tank in broodstock for lumpfish hatcheries and also for its roe. The roe UNH Coastal Marine Lab is then sold as “Lumpfish Caviar.” Lumpfish is not exploited in Right: Juvenile lumpfish US waters yet. Photos: S. Schaier/UNH COLSA In the Gulf of Maine, lumpfish are found sticking to seaweed, rock structures, and pilings with their modified pelvic fins that form a “suction cup.” This is why they are sometimes called “lumpsuckers.” Lumpfish grow quickly in cold waters, and eat a variety of small organisms. Lumpfish are relatively easy to culture and researchers at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) have been at the forefront of lumpfish aquaculture and promoting cleaner fish use in the US. A unique opportunity exists now to jump into this greener, cost-effective way to control pests in US salmonid aquaculture..