Hydrogen sulphide in land-based Atlantic salmon production

Norwegian Atlantic salmon aquaculture has made some significant strides in technological innovations, especially in the development of closed and semi-closed rearing systems. This has resulted in the conservation of water and a greater ability to control the production environment. However, other challenges with these systems have presented themselves. Specifically, hydrogen sulphide (H2S) has become increasingly prevalent in Norwegian salmon recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facilities, with several events of mass mortality in recent years. There is, however, a substantial gap in the current understanding concerning the biology and physiology of H2S-fish interactions, specifically in salmon.

H2Salar is a timely and ambitious project that aims to create knowledge and advance our understanding of the risks and impacts of H2S to the physiology of Atlantic salmon in RAS. Instead of immediately developing solutions to combat the threat, the lack of fundamental knowledge prompts this initiative to adapt a process-based, research-driven approach that will:

• identify the risks both under laboratory and field-based trials
• elucidate underlying mechanisms involved in H2S-salmon interaction from molecular to organismal level
• provide a holistic documentation of the impacts to the different physiological systems that are key for fish health, welfare and robustness

It is expected that the results will be valuable across different sectors of the aquaculture industry that are affected by this issue and the challenges of land-based salmon production in general. H2Salar will be pivotal in reducing losses and superior animal welfare.