The Scottish Salmon Co. (SSC) and Meridian Salmon Group are partnering with Otter Ferry Seafish to farm Ballan wrasse in salmon pens for the first time.
As part of the three-year agreement, more than 250,000 commercially farmed wrasse will be deployed equally at SSC and Meridian farm sites, and the companies will analyze the benefits of introducing the cleaner fish to salmon pens.
While widely shown to reduce sea lice on salmon, this is one of the first full-scale operations to farm and deploy wrasse in Scotland. Supported by The Crown Estate, the initiative aims to reduce the dependency on veterinary treatments in salmon farming. Both companies will introduce the wrasse alongside other husbandry methods that help counter the naturally occurring parasite that attaches itself to both farmed and wild salmon.
SSC was the first Scottish salmon-farming company to try commercially farming wrasse. Working with Viking Fish Farms at Ardtoe three-and-a-half years ago, the company developed the first commercial production of Ballan wrasse, which was co-opted into the Ecofish project.
Meanwhile, Meridian Salmon Group, which is owned by Poland-based Morpol, was instrumental in initiating a multi-partner-funded pilot project at Otter Ferry. The project recruited the broodstock and established the protocols required for commercial production of wrasse. In the course of the project, some 15,000 juvenile wrasse have been produced.
Findings from the project will be shared with the industry through the Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organization.
