Aquaculture America 2020

February 9 - 12, 2020

Honolulu, Hawaii

THE STATUS OF LUMPFISH CULTURE IN THE U.S.

Elizabeth A. Fairchild
Department of Biological Sciences
University of New Hampshire
Durham, New Hampshire 03824 USA
elizabeth.fairchild@unh.edu
 

Lumpfish , Cyclopterus lumpus, a species endemic to the northern Atlantic Ocean, has become the focus of the salmonid cleanerfish industry only since 2013. Commercial or large-scale research lumpfish production now occurs in many countries including Norway, UK, Iceland, and Canada. In the US,  while no commercial production exists yet, there is a history of lumpfish research, including physiology and aquaculture studies, many of which occurred at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). Currently,  researchers at UNH and the USDA National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center are working towards the goal of domestic production of lumpfish  for use as a cleaner fish to control sea lice in Atlantic salmon and steelhead trout net pens.  In addition, a newly formed US Lumpfish Consortium,  made up of additional research institutions and aquaculture businesses,  is working to  address some of the barriers that limit cleanerfish use, in general, and to transfer all known technology to the US to stimulate growth in this aquaculture sector. The major goals of the US Lumpfish Consortium are to: a dvance the use of cleanerfish in the US by stimulating transdisciplinary research groups to tackle barriers limiting US commercialization of lumpfish; demonstrate commercial-scale production protocols and analyze costs-and-return and scale of growing lumpfish to support industry needs; integration and bioeconomic modeling of lumpfish in salmonid farms; p romote lumpfish as cleanerfish by transferring knowledge and technology gained through the Consortium through educational activities, farm tours, manuals and outreach materials, workshops, online media, and presentations.