Management of coldwater disease in rainbow trout

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Coldwater disease has a marked deleterious impact on the Freshwater Fisheries Society of British Columbia's production of rainbow trout that are stocked into ~900 lakes across the province. With mortality of some strains approaching 80% the cost to the operation is substantial. Management tools to reduce this impact are required. This project has three major goals; to characterize the strains of Flavobacterium psychrophilum that cause coldwater disease; to understand the immune response to autogenous and to oral vaccination and to determine how triploids differ in their response from diploid fish; and finally to dissect the mechanisms of F. psychrophilum antigen per os uptake using patented technology in order to evaluate experimental oral vaccination for coldwater disease. The results of this project will provide concrete immediately applicable management tools to blunt the effect of coldwater disease for FFSBC and will further the development of management tools for future use.