Reduced use and release of environmentally damaging antibiotics from fish farms (Healthy Fish Farm) (39934 & 39936)

This project aims at reducing the environmental impact of drug residues from rainbow trout farming in freshwater fish farms through reduced use of antibiotics for disease control and cleaning of the effluent water from drug residues before release to the environment.

The project combines two complementary innovative technologies:
1) Prevention of diseases in rainbow trout farming, for which the use of antibiotics today is the only treatment option. The focus will be on rainbow trout fry mortality syndrome (RTFS) and Red Mark Syndrome (RMS). The project will develop an applied strategy for establishment of natural immunity in the fish by targeted exposure to infection under controlled conditions, where disease is avoided by adjusting water parameters, while activating the fish's immune system and fighting the infection (RTFS), or by exposing and immunizing the fish at the hatchery stage, where the course of the disease is milder and has no effect on the value of the fish (RMS). For RTFS, immunization with killed bacteria will be used to induce / enhance immunity.
2) Use of wood chip filters to absorb any residual antibiotics from the effluent water before release to the environment.

The workplan includes initial testing and optimizing the technologies under controlled laboratory conditions and subsequently testing of selected approaches on fish farms.

Partners
National Institute of Aquatic Resources, DTU Aqua
Danish Aquaculture Association, Denmark
Ny Vraa Bioenergy, Denmark

Funding
The project is funded by the European Maritime Fisheries Foundation and the Danish Fisheries Agency. 

Research area: Fish and Shellfish Diseases
Research area: Aquaculture