National training workshop on aquatic animal health management

Aquaculture is a diverse production sector that encompasses a wide range of culture species, environments, production systems and practices. The complex and diverse nature of the sector leads to a broad range of hazards and related risks that have the potential to impact production, food security, profitability, livelihoods and biodiversity. In this respect, disease represents one of the most significant threats to sustainable aquaculture.

Aquatic animal health management and biosecurity comprises an array of strategic and integrated approaches that encompass policy, regulatory and management frameworks to mitigate risks to human, animal and plant life and health, and the associated risks to the environment. Integrated aquatic animal health management requires a risk-based approach to addressing biosecurity. The re-establishment of fish farms and the concomitant proliferation of new entrants to the production sector inevitably raises a number of aquatic animal health management and biosecurity issues. Typically, new entrants focus on establishing production as rapidly as possible, and fail to adequately address aquatic animal health management and on-farm biosecurity issues. In this regard, aquatic animal health management issues tend to be addressed retrospectively, and only once they have negatively affected production. A precautionary approach to mitigating disease risks needs to be taken, and farmers and veterinarians require training ensure their stock remains healthy and disease free.

The workshop will be conducted as part of the FAO project `Development of aquafeed value chain and aquatic animal health management capacity`.

The objectives of the workshop are twofold: (i) to provide the participants with information on main diseases of fish and their causes, diagnosis, and treatments; and (ii) to provide a basis for the development aquatic animal health management systems in the country.