What does the future hold for sea lice?
While the larger more complex organisms above the water squabble about regulations, human management – or mismanagement – of larger species does not appear to have a negative impact on the copepod population. A veterinary drug called Slice is used to treat sea lice infestations, and although fish farms are required to monitor sea lice and usually feed their fish Slice to cut down on lice infestations, the Canadian government has voiced suspicions that over time sea lice can develop resistance to Slice. Regardless of how the fish farm debate is decided, it looks like, as long as we continue to catch salmon, there will always be a few sea lice attached to them. Amy Carroll is a publications specialist with the Division of Commercial Fisheries at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Juneau.
