The Norwegian company Stingray Marine Solutions AS has developed a system that uses laser to kill salmon lice.
The exponential growth of salmon farming in Norway since the 1980s has had major economic and ecological consequences. Salmon lice cause physical damage to the fish and have become a major problem in the fish farming industry. The Norwegian company Stingray Marine Solutions AS has developed a system that uses laser to kill salmon lice. The system employs light, advanced cameras and a surgical laser to recognise lice on the salmon‘s skin. In the one to two seconds that it takes the salmon to swim past the system, the exact position of a louse on the fish is identified and the system directs the laser at it. This fires a pulse of light so hot that the louse dies while fish swim away unharmed. The system, known as “The Fish Health Hub”, also monitors the health and welfare of the fish, and some of the key indicators of fish welfare are swimming speed, sexual maturation and winter ulcers