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Salmon lice / Sea lice
Salmon lice or “Sea lice” (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) is a common skin parasite which has occurred from ancient time in the Northern Hemisphere seawaters, included in Norwegian fjords, in coastal area or the open seas.
Salmonids (Atlantic salmon, Sea trout, Rainbow trout) are the main host for the sea lice and different life stages of the parasite will always be present in Norwegian waters and vice versa on the skin of wild and farmed salmon. In other words, wherever salmonids in the Northern Hemisphere is a part of the normal fauna, sea lice is present. It can be added that ectoparasites (skin parasites) are common in all fish species worldwide.
The number of lice on a single salmon may in the wild vary in a wide range, but in aquaculture the lice numbers have in recent years decreased and statistics can be viewed on www.lusedata.no . There is also some seasonal variation in the infestation of salmon lice, i.e. lower figures in the cold water season. In Norway there is a sealice regulation giving maximum limits for when farmers are obliged to perform a treatment. This is supervised by the food safety authority.
The lice will die off within hours after taken out of the water. Salmon infested with sea lice will normally get rid of the skin parasite during the slaughtering and cleaning process. Sometimes a few of them might pass the cleaning process and attached to the salmon skin reach the market.
Due to esthetic reason this should be avoided as far as possible.
After slaughtering the fish, the sea lice dies and can not be transmitted to any other fish, wild or farmed. It should also be stressed that the parasite on the salmon does not represent any harm to the consumer.
From: http://www.fisheries.no/aquaculture/health_welfare/salmonids_food_safety/