From the Lab to the Field

A collaborative University of Maine Aquaculture Research Institute project to extend Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) to Maine and investigate potential disease benefits is being put to the test in the field. Last month, UMaine graduate student Michael Pietrak went to Machiasport, Maine, to observe the deployment of a mussel raft containing thousands of pounds of seed mussels that was placed on a salmon farm owned by Cooke Aquaculture. ARI researchers will return periodically to look for potential disease benefits including the possible reduction of the infectious pressure of sea lice.