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ABSTRACT
Sea lice, Lepeophtheirus salmonis, mobile stages were caught using a light trap, in cages holding Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, and their abundance determined through calculation. Seasonal changes were shown with an increase in abundance as the temperature increased toward the end of the season. Analysis of manual lice-count data indicated variations in lice abundance between cages with and without deployed light traps. Analysis indicated that these variations were in larval presence (P = 0.006) and presence of gravid females (P = 0.015), but not in abundance of in pre-adults (P = 0.172). Cage net condition also affected the abundance and infection intensity of sea lice on Atlantic salmon within aquaculture cages. Abundance of larvae were affected by net condition (P = 0.01), as were abundance of pre-adults on salmon (P = 0.04). The infection intensity of gravid females, however, did not vary with net condition (P = 0.74). Other species of zooplankton such as, American lobster, Homarus americanus, larvae and various Brachi-pod larvae, were also collected with the light trap. The light trap, as presented in this research, could provide an alternate method of lice control in aquaculture cages.
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