sea louse infection of juvenile sockeye salmon in relation to marine salmon farms on canadas west coast海虱感染青少年红大麻哈鱼与海洋鲑鱼养殖场在加拿大的西海岸.pdfVIP

Sea Louse Infection of Juvenile Sockeye Salmon in Relation to Marine Salmon Farms on Canada’s West Coast 1,2 3 4 5 3 Michael H. H. Price *, Stan L. Proboszcz , Rick D. Routledge , Allen S. Gottesfeld , Craig Orr , John D. Reynolds6 1 Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada, 2 Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Sidney, Canada, 3 Watershed Watch Salmon Society, Coquitlam, Canada, 4 Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada, 5 Skeena Fisheries Commission, Hazelton, Canada, 6 Earth to Ocean Research Group, Department of Biology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada Abstract Background: Pathogens are growing threats to wildlife. The rapid growth of marine salmon farms over the past two decades has increased host abundance for pathogenic sea lice in coastal waters, and wild juvenile salmon swimming past farms are frequently infected with lice. Here we report the first investigation of the potential role of salmon farms in transmitting sea lice to juvenile sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). Methodology/Principal Findings: We used genetic analyses to determine the origin of sockeye from Canada’s two most important salmon rivers, the Fraser and Skeena; Fraser sockeye migrate through a region with salmon farms, and Skeena sockeye do not. We compared lice levels between Fraser and Skeena juvenile sockeye, and within the salmon farm region we compared lice levels on wild fish either before or after migration past farms. We matched the latter data on wild juveniles with sea lice data concurrently gathered on farms. Fraser River sockeye migrating through a region with salmon farms hosted an order of magnitude