Short freshwater treatments against gill disease

Freshwater bathing is the go to treatment for amoebic gill disease (AGD) in many farmed fish species. Treatments are typically 2-4 hours long and kill the amoeba. This restricts how and when treatments can be delivered. Dr Daniel Wright from the SALTT lab and co-authors tested if using short, sub-lethal freshwater treatments were just as good at removing amoeba as long, lethal treatments. Sub-lethal (daily 30 min treatments) and lethal (daily 120 min treatment) treatments for 6 days both reduced amoeba compared to short daily 3 min freshwater treatments. In short, repeated sublethal freshwater treatments could be just as effective as longer, lethal doses of freshwater. Danny’s results could be transformative to the industry as they open up new ways to deliver treatments that are easier for farmers to do and less stressful for the fish.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jfd.12834