Validating a vaccine candidate as a preventive measure against salmon lice

The purpose of the project is to test a salmon lice vaccine candidate in Atlantic salmon to evaluate if this vaccine and the chosen vaccination regime can be used as a preventive measure against salmon lice. The hypothesis is that vaccination will reduce the amount of sea lice on the fish significantly due to stimulation of antiparasitic immune responses in the fish. Maximum 390 Atlantic salmon will be used in the experiment. A moderate load for the fish is expected during the experiment. There is no alternative method without the use of animals to test the effect of the vaccine and validate the immunologivcal response connected to protective effect. This is a pilot study and number of animals have been calculated based on the experimental set-up with samplings during experiment and the use of a well tested, quality insured lice challenge model. Welfare issues have also been taken into concideration when calculating number of fish to keep the biomass above 10 kg/m3 in the tanks during experiment. It is expected that the experiment will increase the knowledge about the possibility to vaccinate A. salmon to protect them against salmon lice and which immunological mechanisms that lie behind the obtained protection.