September 14, 2020 — Mandatory self-monitoring can save taxpayers money, but a study out of Simon Fraser University found bias in the routine counting of sea-lice on farmed salmon in pens off the coast of British Columbia.
The scientists found that industry’s monthly counts two species of sea-lice are underestimated significantly. Canada’s federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans found the numbers increased by a factor of nearly 2 for one species of lice and just over a factor of 1 (in other words, doubling the amount) for another. Less lice means less delousing treatments, which are costly.