PROPHYLHATCH - Prophylaxis in large scale intensive hatcheries for cod, Gadus morhua, and halibut, Hippoglossus hippoglossus L.

The project aims at identifying and characterising pathogenic and probiotic bacteria associated with early life stages of halibut and cod, and developing prophylactic and therapeutic counteremeasures. A wide range of partners are behind the project: four cod hatcheries, two halibut hatcheries, two fish health services, the Institute of Marine Research and two departments of the University of Bergen, plus one pharmaceutical company and one biotechnological company. The bacterial community of the different compartments of intensive cod and halibut production lines will be characterised using modern molecular “fingerprinting techniques”, followed by a targeted search by hybridisaton and/or PCR-based techniques for suspected pathogens. A targeted search for probiotic bacteria from cod and halibut hatcheries based on state of the art methodology will be carried out. Biological samples will be available from several major commercial cod and halibut hatcheries, and one cod hatchery operating traditional extens ive methods. The microbiota and pathology will be compared among the farms, and with results from controlled challenge experiments verifying the effect of pathogens and probiotic strains. Based on the findings, prophylactic countermeasures will be sugge sted and tried in the cod farming facilities. Therapeutic countermeasures involving probiotic treatments will be tested.