Snorkel success

Above: Snorkel cage The International Sea Lice conference in Westport, Ireland, last month heard that snorkel cages reduced lice load by more than 75 per cent in Norwegian trials. Fish are encouraged to stay low in the cage and away from the infectious sea lice stages that tend to congregate near the surface. Fish can reach the surface through an enclosed tube so they can adjust their swim bladders but otherwise they remain out of reach of the lice. The results of trails showed that at 0m, fish were infected with about 15 lice. This fell to just five at 4m, while at 12m, the louse load was no more than one.

More sea lice conference reports: Page 40