Norway: Skin cell discovery could help Atlantic salmon fend off sea lice

Skin cell discovery could help Atlantic salmon fend off sea lice. A distant cousin of Atlantic salmon could hold the key to improving their resistance to sea lice, a study suggests. Insights into how coho salmon fight off the parasites could pave the way for new genetic approaches to boost Atlantic salmon’s resistance to them, researchers say. Their findings reveal that layers of skin cells – known as keratinocytes – play a key role in triggering localised swelling that helps coho salmon kill and remove sea lice. Damaging impacts The parasites – which feed on fish’s skin and fins, causing open wounds that can lead to infection – reduce the market value of farmed fish and can have knock-on impacts on wild salmon populations. Various treatments have been developed to tackle sea lice infestations in Atlantic salmon aquaculture – which costs the industry more than £700m a year – but these are often costly and ineffective. They can also be damaging to the environment and negatively ...