96 REVIEW – FISH HEALTH
FISH HEALTH Sea lice, viral and bacterial infections, and gill health were all issues for fish farming this year
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n January, mandatory reporting of sea lice numbers moved to a weekly basis for Scottish fish farmers. An Order was laid in the Scottish Parliament in December introducing what the Scottish Government call a “step change” in sea lice reporting. It requires average weekly female sea lice numbers per fish to be reported one week in arrears, in place of current arrangements, which require reporting only where specific levels are met or exceeded. The policy was flagged up earlier in December by (then) Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Tourism Fergus Ewing, while giving evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee. As previously, the Fish Health Inspectorate sea lice reports will
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be available in spreadsheet format via the Scottish Government website. Also in January, we reported that fish health company PatoGen Ltd is to set up a laboratory for preventive and diagnostic services in Oban, Scotland. The move by the Norwegian company is part of its expansion into the UK, which started in 2014. PatoGen established its office at the SAMS campus in Oban in August 2018. Dr Teresa Garzon, PatoGen’s key account manager for the UK, said: “It is an excellent collaboration, and the proactive farmers’ focus on maintaining good fish health and welfare allows us to commit to the next step in PatoGen’s establishment in the UK.” Meanwhile, a novel virus in ballan wrasse hatchlings could be the cause of unexplained high mortality for hatchlings, according to PatoGen. The Norwegian-based company has named the virus Ballan wrasse birnavirus (BWDV). PatoGen worked with a fish farmer to investigate diseased fish for relevant pathogens and histology, and performed a full genome sequencing in which researchers found the genome of the novel
This page from top: Dr Teresa Garzon; Ballan wrasse; PatoGen test tube Opposite: Benchmark CleanTreat tanks
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