innovate-issue-005

and the problems with salmon lice infestations in the area.Work package 6 - Physical oceanographical factors on salmon lice distribution in the Hardangerfjord• Quantify the distribution of salmon lice in the Hardangerfjord system based on the physicaloceanographical and meteorological conditions for a given salmon lice production (number oflice and origin).Work package 7 - Workshop, data implementation• All relevant data from the different work packages in this project will be transferred into thiswork package and a knowledge base will be developed;• Selected data from the knowledge base will be made publicly available through a preestablishedNorwegian internet salmon lice page (http://www.fhl.no – and click “lusedata”);• Experiences and methods from mathematical models used in the ongoing NorwegianResearch Council project (Salmon lice as a population-regulating factor in Norwegian salmon:status, effects of measures taken and future management) from the Sognefjord and Altafjordsystems will, as far as possible, be integrated into the project;• The effects of an improved salmon lice strategy will be predicted through the base models andwill be verified in nature by the work being done in work packages 1 and 2.Results/DiscussionThe Hardangerfjord contains the highest density of fish farms in Norway (approximately 60 fish farmsin 2005) and the production of farmed fish in 2005 was approximately 60,000 tonnes of salmon andsea trout. A huge amount of data has been collected from this fjord system during field work in 2004and 2005 and more will be collected in 2006. All this information will be gathered into a knowledgebase for ecosystem modelling. The present project will be a joint venture for both Norwegian andinternational salmon lice research. Through broad cooperation between leading Norwegian researchinstitutes, Canada’s Network of Centres of Excellence - AquaNet, the aquaculture industry andmanagement, and experience gained from adjoining projects, we aim to develop a knowledge basefor the Hardangerfjord system, and for other fjord systems globally, which can be used inmanagement schemes aimed at minimising the risk of salmon lice infestation on wild and farmed fishstocks.AcknowledgementsAdditional partners in this project are described in the Hardangerfjord salmon lice project on NINA’swebpage: http://www.nina.no. The project has been funded by the Norwegian Fisheries andAquaculture Research Fund, AquaNet – Canada, the Norwegian Research Council and theNorwegian Directorate for Nature Management.ReferencesFinstad, B., Økland, F., Thorstad, E.B., Bjørn, P.A. and McKinley, R.S. 2005. Migration of hatcheryrearedAtlantic salmon and wild sea trout post-smolts in a Norwegian fjord system. Journal of FishBiology, 66: 86-96.Heuch, P.A., Bjørn, P.A., Finstad, B., Holst, J.C., Asplin, L. and Nilsen, F. 2005. A review of theNorwegian ‘National Action Plan Against Salmon Lice on Salmonids’: the effect on wild salmonids.Aquaculture, 246: 79-92.Thorstad, E.B., Økland, F., Finstad, B., Sivertsgård, R., Bjørn, P.A. and McKinley, R.S. 2004.Migration speeds and orientation of Atlantic salmon and sea trout post-smolts in a Norwegian fjordsystem. Environmental Biology of Fish, 71(3): 305-311.Tully, O. and Nolan, D.T., 2002. A review of the population biology and host-parasite interactions ofthe sea louse Lepeophtheirus salmonis (Copepoda : Caligidae). Parasitology, 124: 165-182.13