Mowi to end sse of lumpfish in Scottish operations.
Mowi Scotland will cease the use of lumpfish to control sea lice in its salmon farms, following significant mortality events at one of its Highland sites, according to the Ferret.
The decision comes after 135,000 lumpfish died at a Mowi facility earlier this year due to environmental factors, disease, natural causes and lice treatments, according to information disclosed by the Scottish Government’s Fish Health Inspectorate. The company will continue to review the use of other cleaner fish species, such as wrasse, as part of its lice management strategy.
Lumpfish, first deployed in Scottish salmon aquaculture in the 1990s, are used to eat parasitic sea lice that can damage farmed salmon stocks. Their use has drawn increasing scrutiny from animal welfare groups, who have questioned both the effectiveness of the method and the impact on the cleaner fish themselves.
Mowi said it has invested in alternative lice-control systems, including mechanical delousing technology and freshwater treatments, and that current sea lice levels in its Scottish operations are at their lowest in more than a decade.
Industry critics, including campaign groups and former aquaculture researchers, have argued that the sector lacks a sustainable long-term solution to lice infestations and have called for an end to the use of all cleaner fish in Scottish salmon farming.
Mowi is a subsidiary of Mowi ASA, the Norway-based aquaculture multinational, and is the largest salmon producer in Scotland.
