Fish health webinar: save the date

The one-hour webinar, Fish Health 2026, is part of our Aqua Agenda series. It is free to attend and takes place on Tuesday 6 October 2026, at 11.30am (UK time).

The panel features Ronnie Soutar, Head of Veterinary Services, Scottish Sea Farms; Kimberley McKinnell, Director of Biology, Bakkafrost Scotland; Iain Berrill, Technical Director, Salmon Scotland; Tore Laastad, Commercial Product Manager, Barge and Thermolicer with ScaleAQ; and Torstein Kristensen, Head of Biology, ScaleAQ.

Farmed salmon face a number of challenges, in the marine environment and at the hatchery/freshwater stage. The issue of sea lice has received a lot of public attention, and it continues to be a significant problem, but farmers also need to deal with gill health, especially amoebic gill disease (AGD); jellyfish and algal blooms; temperature-related stress; diseases such as infectious salmon anaemia (ISA); and mortality and welfare issues during treatment. At the hatchery stage, infections such as saprolegnia can also cause mortalities.

Overall, the issues are closely connected: warmer water can increase parasite and jellyfish risks; gill damage can make treatments more hazardous; and repeated handling can worsen welfare and mortality. Recent figures suggest improved survival rates but salmon producers have no grounds for complacency.