Health and welfare at the core of Mowi Scotland ambitions
Mowi Scotland’s health and welfare division brings together an impressive and diverse team of ten full-time vets and biologists from all over the world (UK, Italy, Spain, France, Australia and Chile) with a 50/50 gender balance, to look after the health and welfare of farm-raised salmon and cleanerfish throughout Mowi’s UK operations.
The team is spread across Scotland from the stunning Western Isles of Lewis, Harris and Uist through to Skye and the mainland from Ullapool to the Kintyre peninsula and Wales where cleaner fish are produced.
“I am delighted to lead the team and work in such a dynamic and inspiring environment,” says Herve Migaud. “I’m two months into the Health, Welfare and Biology Director role and I’m loving it.”
The main remit of the team is to monitor farmed stock health and welfare using pathobiological and veterinary skills, experience and the latest diagnostic tools, and make informed decisions on the best health management and husbandry strategies to keep stocks healthy and performing optimally. The team is leading the way in all aspects of salmon health and welfare from egg to harvest. This includes water quality monitoring (harmful algal blooms and jellyfish from microscopy to satellite imaging) and mitigation strategies, recirculation technology, vaccination and smoltification in freshwater, pest control through biological use of cleanerfish and many other non-medicinal strategies, and innovation through active participation in collaborative research projects with industry, academia and government. In addition, the team is supported by a laboratory running routine diagnostics including smoltification and health biomarkers.
Herve adds: “All our team members share great dedication, care and passion for aquaculture. Looking forward, the team focus is on building resilience and robustness in farmed stocks to prevent disease outbreaks where possible through breeding, lifecycle management, new vaccines, stress mitigation, functional feeds and early detection of physiological changes.”
Resilience in staff through training and knowledge exchange to promote excellence in biosecurity, husbandry and good practices throughout production which also enables translation of new scientific knowledge into direct applications, will also be key, says Herve.
The team will soon be supported by health observers on all production sites who look after farm-raised salmon and cleanerfish on a daily basis.
If you share the same passion for aquaculture and fish welfare and want to make a difference and contribute to drive the sustainability of the sector, job opportunities are now available. This is an exciting time to be part of Mowi and the salmon sector and to contribute to addressing challenges and implementing new technologies and innovations for the years to come.
Health and Welfare Team presented in alphabetical order:
Debra Brennan – Laboratory manager
Lucy Fry – Health manager
Ronnie Hawkins – Cleanerfish manager
Mark Johnson – Cleanerfish manager
Noemi Lorenzo – Health manager
Dario Mascolo – Freshwater and cleanerfish health manager
Herve Migaud – Director
Juan Ignacio Picarte – Health manager
Hilary Turnbull – Health manager
Silvia Viale – Health manager
