Trombetta, E. , Jakubiak, S., Kutkova, S., Lipschutz, D., O’Hare, A. and Enright, J. A. (2023) A modeling study of the impact of treatment policies on the evolution of resistance in sea lice on salmon farms. PLoS ONE, 18(11), e0294708. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0294708) (PMID:38019751) (PMCID:PMC10686416)
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Abstract
Salmonid aquaculture is an important source of nutritious food with more than 2 million tonnes of fish produced each year (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, 2019). In most salmon producing countries, sea lice represent a major barrier to the sustainability of salmonid aquaculture. This issue is exacerbated by widespread resistance to chemical treatments on both sides of the Atlantic. Regulation for sea lice management mostly involves reporting lice counts and treatment thresholds, which depending on interpretation may encourage preemptive treatments. We have developed a stochastic simulation model of sea lice infestation including the lice life-cycle, genetic resistance to treatment, a wildlife reservoir, salmon growth and stocking practices in the context of infestation, and coordination of treatment between farms. Farms report infestation levels to a central organisation, and may then cooperate or not when coordinated treatment is triggered. Treatment practice then impacts the level of resistance in the surrounding sea lice population. Our simulation finds that treatment drives selection for resistance and coordination between managers is key. We also find that position in the hydrologically-derived network of farms can impact individual farm infestation levels and the topology of this network can impact overall infestation and resistance. We show how coordination and triggering of treatment alongside varying hydrological topology of farm connections affects the evolution of lice resistance, and thus optimise salmon quality within socio-economic and environmental constraints. Network topology drives infestation levels in cages, treatments, and hence treatment-driven resistance. Thus farmer behaviour may be highly dependent on hydrologically position and local level of infestation.
| Item Type: | Articles |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | This research was funded via a BBSRC project on the evolution to resistance to treatment in sea lice (BBR009309). |
| Status: | Published |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Enright, Dr Jessica and Kutkova, Miss Sara and Jakubiak, Ms Sara Maria and Trombetta, Mr Enrico |
| Creator Roles: | Trombetta, E.Software, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing Jakubiak, S. M.Software Kutkova, S.Conceptualization, Validation, Visualization, Writing – review and editing Enright, J.Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Project administration, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing |
| Authors: | Trombetta, E., Jakubiak, S., Kutkova, S., Lipschutz, D., O’Hare, A., and Enright, J. A. |
| College/School: | College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science |
| Journal Name: | PLoS ONE |
| Publisher: | Public Library of Science |
| ISSN: | 1932-6203 |
| ISSN (Online): | 1932-6203 |
| Copyright Holders: | Copyright © 2023 The Authors |
| First Published: | First published in PLoS ONE 18(11): e0294708 |
| Publisher Policy: | Reproduced under a Creative Commons License |
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