One of the greatest challenges faced by the aquaculture industry are sea lice. Adversely affecting fish health and welfare alongside potential risks to wild salmon stocks, it also has a direct economic impact estimated to cost producers more than $1bn annually. The welfare of fish has always been the core aspect of our work at Benchmark Animal Health, we wanted to develop a solution to the sea lice challenge whist focusing on the safety for the fish, the environment, and the consumer.
Over ten years ago, we set out to develop a water purification system which could be used alongside the current and a new medicinal bath treatment, as we could see the positive impact this could have on animal welfare and the environment. This new treatment solution would represent a change in the way salmon are treated for sea lice and have a role to play in the salmon industry’s drive to continually improve environmental sustainability alongside fish health and welfare.
Today, we now have CleanTreat®, a water purification system which works by removing medicines from treatment water before returning purified water into the sea. This enables the use of efficacious and high welfare medicines in an environmentally responsible manner. The Aquaculture Stewardship Council have included CleanTreat® as a mitigation tool in their current ‘Weighted Number of Medicinal Treatments’, concluding that any treatments performed in a closed contained system, that then applies water purification steps to remove the veterinary medicine, will receive a score of ‘zero’ – the best score possible.
This system is currently used in conjunction with Ectosan® Vet, a veterinary medicine for the treatment of pre-adult and adult salmon lice infestations on Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout. In all types of farming, medicines are a crucial part of welfare, aiming to keep every animal in the best health possible. Here CleanTreat® acts as an enabler for medicinal treatments ensuring they play a key part in sea lice management.
When developing new veterinary medicines, there are of course stringent European regulations and criteria that must be met. This included conducting large scale field trials, assessing safety and efficacy. During these, it is beneficial to collaborate with many fish farmers and companies, allowing a better understanding of their needs or concerns. Throughout our trials, fish welfare was closely monitored and always maintained.
Now more than ever, new treatments and technology need to consider how to protect the aquaculture industry of the future. It was important to us that CleanTreat® also removed organic material from the treatment water, including sea lice and sea lice egg strings. This helps to prevent development of resistance against the medicine. We are also currently trialling the use of CleanTreat® with other medicines to further improve the sea lice management toolbox. This comes as part of our aim to further support salmon farmers in their approach to Integrated Pest Management which will also be vital in enhancing fish health and welfare.
Veterinarian Peter Østergård worked as an independent advisor for Ectosan® Vet and CleanTreat®: “It has been a pleasure to see the new possibilities given by the combination of Ectosan® Vet and CleanTreat® – bringing substantial improvements in treatment efficacy against the sea lice together with a very high safety margin for the treated salmon. As vets we look out for any signs of stress as a measure of welfare.”
Having a central focus on welfare is beneficial to steer the research and development of new products. This focus ensures innovation puts fish health first, which in turn solves problems for fish farmers. Benchmark were delighted that our efforts were recognised as a finalist for the Animal Welfare category at the prestigious Aquaculture Awards 2022.
