Aquaculture without antibiotics (113333)

The main aim of the project is to develop tools and strategies which can help to minimize the use and release of antibiotics from aquaculture facilities and hereby reduce the environmental impact of the industry.

The use of antibiotics in aquaculture is currently necessary to treat bacterial infections/diseases against which fish cannot be protected by other means. This not only implies reduced production efficiency due to disease and mortality in fish stocks but also expenses for medicine that reduce the profitability of production. There is much focus on this aspect from authorities, also internationally, as it is assumed that most of the substances used is discharged into the environment. This is undesirable due to the risk of developing resistance among disease-causing bacteria, which is problematic both in terms of environmental aspects and in terms of the antibiotic's long-term usability for both animals and humans.

The project focuses on developing improved vaccines and vaccination strategies along with other prophylactic means (salt treatment) for prevention of two important bacterial diseases in farmed rainbow trout, namely rainbow trout fry syndrome (RTFS) and furunculosis causing loses in fry and large sea reared rainbow trout, respectively.
Apart from reducing the needs for antibiotics, the project will also focus on development and optimizing a wood-chip based technology for removing any residual antibiotics from effluent water from fish farms.

Disease prophylaxis will, in addition to reducing the need for antibiotic use, also lead to improved animal health/welfare and a lower feed conversion ratio which will all benefit the fish farmers. Since the production of feed constitutes the aquaculture industry's main climate footprint, a lower feed conversion ratio will significantly increase environmental sustainability. Additionally, the project’s results will benefit consumers in form of production of healthy aquaculture products without the risk of development of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms. The project’s combined approach to both reducing the use and releasing of antibiotics hereby aims at both economic gains in the short term, as well as more long-term health- and environmental benefits.

The project is a collaboration between DTU Aqua and stakeholders from the Aquaculture industry including the Danish Aquaculture Producers Organization (Dansk Akvakultur), fish producers (Dan Aqua and Aquapri A/S), a fish slaughter/processing company(Danforel), and a veterinary consultant specialized in fish diseases (Simon B. Madsen).

Funding:
The project is co-funded by the European Union through the Danish Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Programme (EMFAF).

Research area: Fish and Shellfish Diseases
Research area: Aquaculture