【Job Summary】
The Senior RAS Veterinarian is responsible for leading fish health, welfare, and biosecurity across Atlantic salmon land-based (RAS) operations, ensuring a disease-free production system from eggs through harvest. The role focuses on prevention-first health management, including control of bacterial, viral, and parasitic risks, while minimizing the use of veterinary drugs through strong biosecurity, surveillance, and best farming practices.
A core component of the role is the integration of fish health and welfare through the implementation of Operational Welfare Indicators (OWIs), ensuring continuous monitoring of fish condition, behavior, and performance. The position supports antibiotic-free or reduced-antibiotic production strategies through proactive health management, welfare optimization, and robust biosecurity systems.
This is a senior operational and systems role that provides veterinary leadership across the hatchery, freshwater, and grow-out stages. The position ensures alignment between Fish Health Management Plans, SOPs, certification requirements (e.g., RWA/NSF), and daily farm execution, with strong focus on measurable KPIs, audit readiness, and continuous improvement.
A critical responsibility of the role includes the early recognition, diagnosis, and management of salmonid-specific diseases, encompassing bacterial, viral, and parasitic conditions unique to Atlantic salmon production. This includes, but is not limited to, diseases such as Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA), Piscirickettsiosis (SRS), Bacterial Kidney Disease (BKD), Furunculosis, IPN, and parasitic challenges (e.g., sea lice in relevant stages). The role requires strong capability in clinical assessment, lesion recognition, and interpretation of laboratory diagnostics (PCR, histopathology, microbiology), enabling timely decision-making and rapid response protocols within RAS environments where early detection is critical to prevent system-wide impacts.
Experience in the recognition and management of early maturation (precocious puberty) as a key welfare and performance risk, including early indicator identification and mitigation strategies. Additionally, solid understanding of off-flavor management (geosmin and MIB) in RAS systems, including monitoring, assessment, and coordination of depuration processes to ensure product quality.
【Responsibilities】
•Oversee fish health across all life stages (egg to harvest), maintaining disease-free Atlantic salmon production and high welfare standards
•Prevent, diagnose, and manage bacterial, viral, and parasitic diseases, including both infectious and non-infectious conditions linked to RAS environment and handling
•Lead fish health surveillance programs, including sampling design, necropsy/post-mortem routines, laboratory coordination (bacteriology, virology, parasitology, histopathology), and interpretation of results
•Develop, implement, and continuously improve the Fish Health Management Plan, ensuring alignment with SOPs, certification standards, and farm practices
•Implement vaccination programs, monitor vaccine performance, and support continuous improvement of vaccination strategies
•Lead and implement Operational Welfare Indicators (OWIs), including monitoring of fish behavior, feeding response, growth performance, injury scoring, fin condition, gill health, mortality patterns, and recovery after handling or transfer
•Integrate OWIs into routine farm decision-making, defining thresholds and trigger points for intervention to prevent welfare deterioration and health events
•Promote and enforce antibiotic-free or reduced-antibiotic farming through prevention strategies, strong biosecurity, optimized welfare, and early detection systems
•Ensure responsible therapeutant use, including strict veterinary oversight, documentation, withdrawal compliance, and antimicrobial stewardship
•Own and strengthen biosecurity systems: zoning, hygiene barriers, disinfection protocols, quarantine procedures, equipment separation, and staff/visitor control
•Develop, review, and govern SOPs for fish health, biosecurity, mortality management, and welfare (including lifecycle management, training, verification, and continuous improvement)
•Ensure correct implementation of SOPs across hatchery, freshwater, and grow-out operations, including mortality handling, sampling, and reporting
•Ensure welfare-focused practices in Atlantic salmon operations, particularly during handling, grading, vaccination, transfer, and stocking, minimizing stress, scale loss, and physical injury
•Partner closely with RAS operations to manage fish-health-critical water quality parameters (DO, CO₂, temperature, pH, TAN, nitrite), ensuring defined operational limits and escalation procedures
•Lead response to abnormal mortality events and suspected disease outbreaks, including containment, intensified monitoring, and reporting
•Analyze mortality trends, OWIs, surveillance data, and production performance (e.g., Fish Talk systems), and generate actionable technical reports
•Prepare weekly/monthly fish health and welfare reports, including KPI tracking, incident analysis, and CAPA implementation
•Train and coach staff across all levels in fish health, welfare monitoring (including OWIs), biosecurity, and SOP execution
•Support certification, audit readiness, and compliance with disease-free and antibiotic-free production standards
•Collaborate with nutrition, production, and management teams to identify and mitigate health and welfare risks specific to Atlantic salmon in RAS
