Jellyfish Problems faced by the Aquaculture Industry

摘要

Since the mid-1980s fish health problems and mortalities due to the exposure to plankton pest species, such as jellyfish swarms and blooms of certain algae, are well known to the aquaculture industry and their insurers. A recent example was the November 2007 mauve stinger jellyfish (Pelagia nocticula) influx, which wiped out 100.000 salmon at Glenarm, Northern Ireland's only salmon farm, and caused fish damage and mortalities at some Scottish sites (e.g. the "Bloody Bay" site at Mull where many fishdied). Swarms were also reported along the west coast to Ullapool and around the Orkney Isles. Pelagia is an oceanic species, one of several that are common in offshore temperate waters and in the Mediterranean Sea. In both recent years and in earlier outbreaks, Pelagia swarms have caused public health concerns, disrupted tourist amenity and have resulted in a loss to industry. Pelagia is related to the lion's mane (Cyanea) and moon (Aurelia) jellyfish species, more common in UK waters.