Average female lice per fish

Source

Inspection reports

Case Number: 2021-0210

Download all fish sampled for VMD appeared healthy and showed no clinical signs of disease.
Peaks in mortality
Week 9 - 2020 - 4939 - Seal - 0.97% week 3 - 2020 - 4567 seal - 0.85%
Water was murky on site, lots of fresh water present in the loch. Fish appeared to be in good condition. [Original PDF]

Case Number: 2021-0355

Download Remote inspection undertaken by , observed by on 16/09/2021. Physical inspection undertaken by , observed by .
Input of fish next week. 195,000 at average weight of 200g.
Largest fish (everything over 3kg) on site being emergency harvested at the time of inspection and over the next 3-4 weeks.
Usually harvest fish at 4.5kg but having to harvest early due to pre-empting lice issues.
Reportedly a substantial lice burden. Just Leps, very few Caligus on site.
Blair Mhor processing factory has had to close down due to COVID which hindered efforts to remove fish from area.
Some evidence of gill issues consistent with a plankton bloom. Pharmaq was the company who took the samples and reported on 16/08/2021. Site staff usually take water samples and check themselves to look for plankton but have been unable to due to staff numbers. This staffing issue appears to be long term issue due to poor quality of staff joining the company.
Larger fish are experiencing a higher mortality rate.
New "Skamik 1.5" lice cleaning system used on site. The system uses brushes and jets of water to remove lice. It was used on
Skye (Organic Sea Harvest) before using in Loch Etive and reports were very good. They used it on site at Etive and lice clearance was very good and mortalities were low. Following the treatment lice numbers rose sharply on site. It is thought that there was a leak in the lice collection system that allowed lice to be discharged back into the sea, however, this was not confirmed by Skamik team
Escape: Pen 8 (S8) net lifted before treating. Alphamax bath treatment was about to be used but was aborted as the fish looked distressed during the crowd. Divers called in to check for morts after the crowding and they spotted a hole in the net, this was immediately repaired using cable ties. The hole was approximately 2m x 0.5m (no shape reported), hole 2-3m below base line. Nets are about 17m deep. Net raised by 7m before the treatment. Well boat on site on Monday following remote inspection to count fish and final notification will be sent once this has been completed. Site staff looking up and down Loch looking for escaped RTR. Some RTR caught in River Awe, approximately 40 fish caught. The fishery trust senior fisheries biologist has been in contact with the company about the catches. The site staff are currently in the process of installing seal pro nets on Etive 6. All nets in Loch will be delivered to site by the end of the financial year. They will be installed as they arrive and when staff have time. About 5 years ago there were no seal problems on site but recently there have been more seals observed close to site. Two Ortec systems being used in Loch Etive, on Etive 4 and Etive 6. Been in use for approx. two years, and there was a marked reduction in seal numbers and morts caused by seals when it was first installed, but the affect has reportedly reduced over the years. Many more seals in area being observed by staff. Etive 6 is closest to Connel bridge where most seal activity is.
Increase mortality on Etive 4 and Etive 6. Mortality on other sites in the Loch has been slightly higher than average. Divers used to take fish out but dive team was out of action for 10 days due to COVID. Boat breakdowns also hindered the removal effort. Issues with getting dead fish out of the cages and off the shore base. Biggest issue was getting fish out of the cages.
Divers always used. They had issues getting enough skips to shorebase to shift the fish. Billy Bowie and Gogar used to remove skips. Most of pick-ups were Billy Bowie. Low bridge that has to be passed under to get to the shorebase so Billy
Bowie can only use small skips to remove waste or they won't fit under the bridge. Tide is also an issue and they can't use uplifts in strong tides. Incinerator has been removed as it kept breaking down. Hoping to get a new one soon. Mass mortality
SOP submitted via email. Reportedly followed during the mortality event. Was last reviewed at end of August this year by health manager since the increase in mortality in the area. Actual procedures have not been changed, just the wording of some sections. In the future the Skamik will not be used again as it was not tried and tested. They will only use tried and tested methods to reduce lice numbers. Hoping to use a Ferguson boat in the future to remove fish directly from cages and place the removed fish onto skips on the deck of the boat. These could then be taken away by boat.
Observed daily cage inspection record kept on barge
Whole of Loch Etive not fallowed synchronously. Etive 3, 4 and 6 being emergency harvested at the time of the inspection.
Emergency harvested conducted as the site manager is pre-empting issues from the lice.
Final escape notification has been changed since the initial notification. On the initial notification it was though that the hole observed by the divers was caused by a seal. However, the reason for the hole being created has been revised and now the dive team think the hole was caused by a down weight being dropped too quickly by an inexperienced member of staff.
Currently there are many inexperienced staff on site. [Original PDF]

Case Number: 2023-0119

Download Mortalities stated on FMS as going for incineration but these go to Barkip for biogas via Billy Bowie, this was discussed with the site manager and will be included in the next review. [Original PDF]

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