Several salmonid pathogens have been identified to pose a severe problem in RAS-based farming. These pathogens compromise the health and welfare of fish and, in worst-case scenarios, cause mass mortalities that carry significant financial loss to fish producers.
Many microorganisms can form biofilms, an assemblage of surface-associated microbial cells that help them survive better in harsh conditions. We know very little about how pathogens establish and survive in RAS, as well as how effective disinfectants are against biofilms of fish pathogens.
The overall objective of PathoRAS is to ensure biosecurity measures in Atlantic salmon RAS through a better understanding of how pathogens proliferate, establish, and survive in a complex ecosystem of the RAS environment.
The secondary objectives of PathoRAS are:
- Determine the environmental factors affecting pathogen establishment in the different parts of the RAS
- Determine the duration of pathogen survival in the system and the effectiveness of disinfection following a disease outbreak
- Determine how the pathogen breach affects fish health, system performance and microbial communities in RAS
- Investigate the biofilm formation of different aquaculture-relevant pathogens on RAS surfaces and how these pathogens are susceptible to disinfectants
- Collate historical and empirical data to draft a recommended code of practice for RAS biosecurity.
Sintef leads WP2 – Biofilm formation & biofilter infection and participates in WP3 – Disinfection strategies. We contributed our expertise in investigating biofilm formation and testing disinfectants.
