Gyrodactylosis: an emerging threat to cod mariculture

旋虫病是一种由小型体外寄生虫引起的鱼类皮肤和鳃疾病。申请人的初步研究表明，在北大西洋的野生类鱼类（鳕鱼、黑线鳕、鳕鱼和黑线鳕）上有一个丰富但知之甚少的寄生虫物种库。在挪威水域养殖鳕鱼的网箱作业中，已开始爆发回旋虫病，目前正在制定处理海网箱内鱼群的方法。完全可以预见的是，北大西洋鳕鱼的回肠病的出现将遵循与海虱类似的模式，海虱是在水产养殖条件下种植大西洋鲑鱼的任何地方都存在的严重问题。就像回旋虫病一样，海虱问题首先出现在挪威，随着大西洋鲑鱼养殖业在其他地方的发展，同样的问题出现在苏格兰、爱尔兰、加拿大东部，最近在加拿大西部。本提案将汇集来自加拿大、挪威、苏格兰、丹麦、冰岛和美利坚合众国的专家以及加拿大东部的工业和政府代表。讨论了梭子鱼病对发展鳕鱼养殖的潜在危害。这将导致制定合作研发建议，以对抗这种疾病。这种疾病不仅会影响水产养殖中的鳕鱼，因为寄生虫在海网箱内繁殖得非常快，而且这些网箱也会成为再次入侵野生鱼类的感染焦点。对寄生虫生态和疾病传播有充分的了解，将为开发诊断工具和在海笼中有效提供治疗的方案等产品以及制定预防措施提供商业机会。

Gyrodactylosis is a skin and gill disease of fish caused by small ectoparasitic worms. Preliminary research by the applicants indicates that there is a rich, but poorly understood, species pool of these parasites on wild gadoid fishes (cod, haddock, pollock and hake) in the North Atlantic. Outbreaks of gyrodactylosis have started to occur in cage operations growing cod in Norwegian waters, with methods to treat stocks held in sea cages being developed. It is totally predictable that the emergence of gyrodactylosis of cod in the North Atlantic will follow a similar pattern to that of sea lice, a serious problem wherever Atlantic salmon are being grown under aquaculture conditions. Like gyrodactylosis, the sea lice problem became first established in Norway, and as Atlantic salmon aquaculture developed elsewhere, the same problem appeared in Scotland, Ireland, Eastern Canada, and most recently in Western Canada. The present proposal will bring together experts from Canada, Norway, Scotland, Denmark, Iceland, and the United States of America and representatives of industry and government in eastern Canada. Discussion will address the potential damage of gyrodactylosis to the developing mariculture of cod. This will result in the development of collaborative R&D proposals to combat this disease. Not only will this disease effect cod grown in aquaculture, because the parasites proliferate so rapidly within the sea cages, but these would also become the foci of infection reinvading wild fish. Having a sound understanding of the ecology of the parasites and disease transmission will provide commercial opportunities for the development of such products as diagnostic tools and protocols for effective delivery of treatments in sea cages as well as the development of prophylactic measures.