GMIT has Ireland’s only indoor, land-based, marine recirculation facility licenced by the Health and Regulatory Authority (HPRA). Working with OHT, customised salmon feeds were developed to incorporate the company’s proprietary seaweed blends. Various feeds were tested using small-scale in-vivo feeding trials and evaluated for their ability to modify the immune system in salmon using laboratory-based proteomic and genomic techniques.
A bioassay was developed at the MET Gateway to emulate and evaluate the feeding capability of sea lice on fish mucus, sourced from the skin of the seaweed-fed fish. Also, the capability existed to test the seaweed blends directly on the viability of sea lice and on Paramoeba perurans, the causative agent of AGD. The work carried out by the MET Gateway will enable OHT to have confidence in its product development strategy based on scientific data, and give it a competitive advantage in the global salmon industry.
Carten Controls