Of lice and men - New research is uncovering the genetic secrets of BC's most notorious marine parasite

UVic knowlEDGE
Vol 9 No 2
February 2009

When Ben Koop tells you he’s having a lousy day at work, he isn’t kidding.

The University of Victoria biologist is co-leader of a study that is uncovering the genetic secrets of that tiny nemesis of BC’s wild and farmed salmon—the Pacific sea louse.

The marine parasites—each a mere two centimetres long when fully grown—feed on the skin, mucous and flesh of host fish, weakening and, in some cases, killing them. Each year, sea lice cost the Canadian aquaculture industry millions of dollars in economic losses.

Perhaps most notoriously, sea lice are at the centre of an ongoing debate in BC over the risks posed to wild salmon by open net salmon farms

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