Lumpfish are being grown at the Coastal Marine Lab to investigate their use as cleanerfish at cage-reared salmonid farms in the US. Researchers are addressing existing lumpfish culture gaps, developing husbandry guides and SOPs to enable the development of a US lumpfish industry, showing proof of concept that lumpfish are effective cleanerfish for steelhead trout as well as for Atlantic salmon, and providing the salmonid industries with feasible techniques so that sea lice mitigation is less costly and more sustainable. UNH is a founding member of the US Lumpfish Consortium, a collaborative program which provides techniques, knowledge, and protocols to support commercial production of lumpfish in the US and benefit the salmonid industry.
