HOW KEYHOLE SURGERY IS IMPROVING LUMPFISH WELFARE AND PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES

A veterinarian at Swansea’s Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research has pioneered the use of a non-destructive method to assess the health of lumpfish broodstock.

Utilising his experience with ornamental fish in public aquaria, CSAR’s consultant veterinarian, Dr Richard Lloyd, has adapted the use of laparoscopy (keyhole surgery) to obtain kidney and gonad biopsies from all their male lumpfish over the last two broodstock seasons. This has allowed advanced health assessment, direct visualisation of reproductive status and PCR screening for selected pathogens to pre-assess their suitability as broodstock.

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