third largest farmed species in Norway in terms of value. “Sweets for the children” “Lumpfish are put into the salmon cages when they weigh around 25 grams. Salmon lice are rather like “snacks” for lumpfish. The lumpfish are given their own food while they are in the salmon cages, but in addition they like to snack on salmon lice while they are small,” says Gøril Voldnes. She is a researcher at Nofima and the Project Manager of a major project called “From waste to food – sustainable exploitation of lumpfish”, which aims to discover if cleaner fish can be used for human consumption. Cleaner fish do not currently have any use when they stop eating lice, and at best they end up as animal feed after slaughtered. “A lot of cleaner fish also die in the salmon cages. This is neither ethically nor sustainably justifiable and it is a challenge that we need to solve,” explains the researcher. Important to make improvements Each cleaner fish costs around NOK 20, and fish farmers need ...
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