Establishing a fish health management system for regulatory authorities

Project description and benefits

The impact of disease on aquaculture and wild fish stocks is considerable. It is a risk that is persistently present and which can devastate industries and ecosystems within a very short period of time. It is vital that the relevant authorities have the necessary checks, controls and contingency plans in place to provide a robust safeguard to combat the outbreak and spread of disease. Cefas currently operates a system comprising a monitoring, research and administrative component. Collectively these activities interact to effectively provide the backbone of fish disease protection and prevention services in England and Wales.

Services provided by Cefas

The provision of the fish health management system for aquaculture starts with a targeted monitoring and analysis programme that involves site visits by Cefas fish health inspectors. These inspectors are backed up with the support of Cefas laboratory analytical services. The planning and coordination of these activities is assisted by a specialist planning software system, developed by Cefas. This system incorporates the position of aquaculture production sites, the movements of fish and the required inspection schedule of fish health inspectors. This serves to automate many levels of the planning and administration of the health monitoring regime and is open to colleagues in the Environment Agency (EA) who monitor the movement of wild fish into fisheries and water courses. All fish movements are licensed and registered by Cefas using this system. In addition, any disease outbreaks discovered by the EA in wild fisheries or water courses are alerted to Cefas who investigates the incident and attempts to provide a diagnosis.

Underpinning the monitoring regime and administration service is a parallel programme of Cefas research and risk analysis. These activities identify areas of particular risk and develop contingency plans and countermeasures for a range of possible scenarios. Continual feedback between the monitoring, research and administrative components provide an ongoing evolution of the system which responds and adapts to the dynamic conditions prevalent within the aquaculture industry.