Scientists involved with the Food Futures Salmon research project.

A project led by CSIRO is exploring the genes of farmed Atlantic salmon with a view to breeding fish resistant to an amoeba that attacks their gills.

The three-year project is one of several seeking ways to counter amoebic gill disease (AGD), a significant health problem for Tasmania’s $150 million Atlantic salmon industry.

Within the CSIRO Food Futures Flagship initiative, the project is jointly funded by the Aquafin Cooperative Research Centre and the Australian Government through the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and supported by industry.

In January, CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences (CMIS) joined forces with Marine & Atmospheric Research (CMAR) combining CSIRO’s expertise in statistics and salmon genetics for this Food Futures project.

The problem with amoebae

Amoebic gill disease is a major problem for Australia’s salmon aquaculture industry. Fish infected with AGD are safe to eat, but they lose condition. 

The infecting amoeba, Neoparamoeba pemaquidensis, lodges in the salmon’s gills, slows the growth of the salmon; and if untreated the fish will die. Currently the treatment used is to bathe the fish in freshwater to detach the amoebae from their gills. This is an expensive and time-consuming process. AGD is estimated to cost the Australian salmon industry $15 million annually in treatment and lost productivity – about 10% of farm gate revenue.

CMIS and CMR will be testing whether certain lines of salmon in the local population are more resistant to AGD, and are exploring gene expression associated with the progression of the infection.

 Transforming the salmon industry

This commercial application of research has the potential to transform Australia’s salmon industry, according to Food Futures Flagship director, Dr Bruce Lee.

“The production of AGD-resistant fish will give consumers reliable access to top-quality salmon,” Dr Lee says. “It will help make the industry more cost-competitive, yielding higher returns for salmon growers.”

Identifying AGD-resistant salmon

James Wynne, a PhD student with CSIRO and the School of Aquaculture, University of Tasmania, has studied a group of genes known to influence the immune response in Atlantic salmon.

In this project he will further explore these and other genes with the aim of identifying variations in the genes of individual fish that make them more or less resistant to AGD.

A population of AGD-naïve fish will be exposed to AGD in a purpose-built facility at the School of Aquaculture in Launceston. The genes of fish showing high and low resistance to AGD will then be examined for differences.

If gene forms relating to resistance can be identified, parent stock carrying these can be selected to breed new lines of AGD-resistant fish.

Tasmanian salmon farmers have noted that individual fish in the same population show clear, measurable differences in amoeba infection.

“If we can demonstrate that this is consistent and an inherited trait, we have a good chance of developing an amoeba-resistant line of salmon in Tasmania,” project leader Dr Nick Elliott of CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research says.

Industry partners agree that this would improve fish welfare through the summer months and reduce or eliminate the need to bathe the fish in freshwater. This in turn would enable Tasmanian salmon to be more cost competitive in the global market.

The project is one of 10 AGD-related projects in the Aquafin CRC Health Program. Other projects are examining alternative treatments, including a Food Futures collaboration between CMR and CSIRO Livestock Industries investigating the use of a DNA vaccine against AGD.

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The Food Futures Flagship is a CSIRO initiative and part of the National Research Flagships program that aims to deliver scientific solutions to advance Australia's most important national objectives. One of the largest scientific initiatives ever mounted in Australia, it aligns closely with the Federal Government's National Research Priorities. The initiative brings together our national research resources to deliver breakthroughs in fields ranging from healthcare to light metals and the environment.