Lower Vertebrate Immunostimulation and effects on host-parasite interactions

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Atlantic salmon farming contributes over $600 million annually to the Canadian economy. The industry is controversial due to the perceived damage it causes to the environment, in part, through the spread of sea lice, Lepeophtheirus salmonis infections to wild stocks. Losses to Canadian industry, attributed to L. salmonis infection and the associated cost of chemotherapeutic treatment, have been estimated at more than $50 million/yr. Therefore, sea lice infection in farmed salmon is both an important environmental and economic issue, especially within coastal communities and First Nations. Over the last two decades only a handful of different treatments against sea lice have been available, the most effective treatment, through the early part of the new millennium, was an in-feed treatment called SLICETM (Schering-Plough), which now has exhibited inefficacy due to resistance by sea lice in numerous countries over the past couple years. Any new treatment regime, vaccine or immunostimulant that can provide significant protection, would have immediate economic impact and improve Canadian salmon farming industry efficiency of production and sustainability.