Sea lice no threat, says study

THE SCOTTISH salmon farming industry has welcomed new research that claims the threat that sea lice pose to wild salmon stocks has been overstated.

Researchers from the Marine Institute and NUIG Galway said that only a small number of wild salmon, possibly as little as one per cent, will die as a result of lice infestation.

“The scare stories in relation to sea lice being a threat to wild salmon put out by the opponents of salmon farming have no basis in scientific fact,” the report says.

The study was welcomed by the Scottish Salmon producers’ Organisation.

Its chairman Phil Thomas said: “This research, conducted over a nine-year period, concludes that the average mortality in wild salmon due to sea lice is tiny, less than one per cent, against the overall mortality of wild salmon at sea, which is in the region of 90 per cent. 

“It is important now for salmon conservation to focus research on the true causes of mortality and the practical ways that they may be addressed or avoided.”