Sea lice moving north in large numbers

The Norwegian Institute of Marine Research (IMR) says it is not just farmed salmon, but wild salmon that are badly affected, especially in the Hardanger area.

Ørjan Karlsen, project manager for sea lice at the IMR said: “We see that the increased production in the northern areas has led to more lice in the fish farms and thus higher infection pressure for wild salmonids.”

In recent years, more and more sea lice have been reported further north than previously, and the results from this year’s monitoring show that this is also the case this year.

Sea lice are parasites that attach to salmon and feed on their skin. The fish can get sores and, in the worst case, die.

The fish are hit hardest if migrating salmon smolts are infected when they swim out of the fjords in the spring.

Karlsen said: “We observed a lot of lice on the smolt in the Hardangerfjord this spring, in other areas it varies from moderate to low infestation.

“We observed a lot of lice on the smolt in the Hardangerfjord this spring, in other areas it varies from moderate to low infestation.”

Sea trout are severely affected by salmon lice in almost the entire country, and sea char, which lives in the northernmost parts of the country, also have a lot of lice, he added.