Impacts of Pacific Herring on the health of farmed Atlantic Salmon in BC

Description

Aquaculture within sea-cages leads to possible disease risks from the marine environment due to the generality that fish sharing water are likely to share diseases. Unless rigorous biosecurity practices are implemented, equivalent to quarantine conditions, there is almost certain to be some disease interactions between farmed and wild fish species. A particular species of interest is the Pacific Herring, Clupea pallasi, which is known to inhabit Atlantic Salmon sea-cages. Pacific Herring are known to carry bacteria such as Aeromones salmonicida and are possible vectors for Renibacterium salmoninarum, the causative agent of Bacterial Kidney Disease. With the close interaction between herring and farmed Atlantic salmon it is important to understand diseases of herring and pathogens that may be transmitted to salmonids. The goals of this research are to identify herring pathogens that pose risks to Atlantic Salmon, develop a better understanding of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) virus isolates from herring and Atlantic Salmon, and identify if VHS can cause disease in Atlantic Salmon.

Program Name

Aquaculture Collaborative Research and Development Program (ACRDP)

Year(s)

2011 - 2011

Ecoregion(s)

Pacific: Vancouver Island West Coast

Principal Investigator(s)

Kyle Garver
Email: Kyle.Garver@dfo-mpo.gc.ca