On Friday, June 9, 2006, Hildigunnur Rut Jónsdóttir defended her research project for a master's degree in aquaculture studies from the Natural Resources Department of the University of Akureyri. Rutar's project was entitled "The use of complementary bacteria to control the microbial flora before and after hatching of halibut larvae"
The project was carried out in collaboration between Fiskey ehf., IFL and the University of Akureyri and Ruth investigated the possibility of using additive bacteria for use in the early stages of halibut farming. The production of halibut juveniles is a delicate process and there are usually large losses in the early stages of farming. This often happens without obvious explanations, but research suggests that the composition of the bacterial flora can have a decisive effect on the performance of halibut larvae in initial feeding.
The results of the study indicate that the performance of eggs and larvae is better when the diversity of bacterial flora is greater. The results also indicate that the mixture of supplementary bacteria used has a positive effect on the proportion of so-called gapers, which is a malformation that occurs at the stage of the larval stage of larvae. Treatment of halibut larvae (artemia) with additive bacteria appeared to have a positive effect on the quality of fodder animals by increasing the diversity of the bacterial flora's species composition. The results of experiments with different concentrations of disinfectants in the treatment of halibut larvae indicated that a lower concentration of disinfectant would give even better results in terms of larval performance.
Rutur's supervisor was Rannveig Björnsdóttir, head of the aquaculture department at IFL and lecturer at the University of Akureyri.
The opponent was Dr. Gunnsteinn Haraldsson, director of research-related studies at the University of Iceland School of Medicine.