USAHA/AAVLD Committee on Aquaculture



USAHA/AAVLD Committee on AquacultureChair: William Keleher, MEVice Chair: Danielle Nelson, WASara Ahola, CO; James Averill, MI; Peter Belinsky, RI; Carolynn Bissett, VA; Y Reddy Bommineni, FL; Gary Brickler, CA; Beverly Byrum, OH; Fred Cunningham, MS; Ignacio dela Cruz, MP; Leonard Eldridge, WA; Larry Elsken, IA; Tony Forshey, OH; Nancy Frank, MI; Richard French, NH; Jennifer Haugland, NC; Jerry Heidel, OR; Warren Hess, IL; Donald Hoenig, ME; John Huntley, AZ; Brian Joseph, WA; Myron Kebus, WI; William Keleher, ME; Donna Kelly, PA; Lester Khoo, MS; Bruce King, UT; Anne Lichtenwalner, ME; Christina Loiacono, IA; Beatriz Martinez Lopez, CA; Michael Neault, NC; Danielle Nelson, WA; Jenee Odani, HI; Lanny Pace, MS; Amar Patil, NJ; William Pittenger, MO; James Roth, IA; John Sanders, WV; John Schiltz, IA; Kevin Snekvik, WA; Manoel Tamassia, NJ; Lee Thomas, MD; Michele Walsh, ME; Richard Whittington, AL; John Williams, MD; Pamela Yochem, CA; Paul Zajicek, FL.The Committee met on October 21, 2018 at the Sheraton Hotel Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri from 12:30 to 4:45 p.m. There were 14 members and 31 guests present. Presentations & Reports National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Perspective on Aquaculture in Federal WatersJanet Whaley, International Affairs and Seafood InspectionAs representative for NOAA, Dr. Whaley discussed the growing state of aquaculture in the United States, in particular off-shore activities. She discussed concerns for the $14 billion seafood trade deficit in the U.S., and the fact that we underutilize our land and water resources as compared to other countries. She covered in process legislation such as the NOAA Blue Economy Initiative and discussed the use of veterinary pharmaceuticals for marine use and the American Association of Fish Veterinarians. She supported collaboration between NOAA and the USDA regarding CAHPS standards.U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Talking PointsJoel Bader, U.S. Fish and WildlifeQuality Assurance and Quality Control - Lab Certification: The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has nine aquatic animal health laboratories called Fish Health Centers (FHCs). In order to streamline and standardize operations, all facilities are participating in a three-tiered laboratory certification process driven by the Standing Committee for Quality Assurance for the Fish Health Section (FHS) of the American Fisheries Society (AFS FHS). To this point, seven FHCs have been granted tier 1 laboratory certification. Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) for FHCs: Last year a contract was awarded to Accelerated Technology Laboratories (ATL) to purchase their TITAN laboratory database software, and implementation continues. To date, the software has been installed on a national server and testing is underway. Current planning targets a system-wide launch (user access, activation, and training) by the end of calendar year 2018 or early 2019. FWS 713 Aquatic Animal Health Policy: The Aquatic Animal Health Policy (FWS 713) governs how the Service conducts work in the area of aquatic animal health. The policy, which was last drafted in 2004, is being updating. The new draft policy is undergoing internal review and should be completed in 2019. Once completed, the policy will be available online.Title 50 program: The Service under an MOU (2015) is a co-competent authority for aquatic animal health. It implements Lacey CFR Part 16.13 salmonid fish import regulations. These regulations help ensure the health of wild fish population in the United States. During the past 12 months the Service has certified ten individuals as Title 50 signing officials from seven countries. This has allowed the Service to authorize the importation of 32 million fish (both gametes and adult) over the past 12 months. American Fisheries Society-Fish Health Section “Bluebook”Bill Keleher, Kennebec River BiosciencesThe talk focused on the regulatory structure of aquatic animal health within the United States. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and USDA have roles that effectively have them as competent authorities, one for import and one for export but both have limited oversight when it comes to pathogen surveillance. States have the ultimate say on what is required to import aquatic animals into the state. The American Fisheries Society (AFS) – Fish Health Section’s (FHS) “Blue Book” is used by most states and is divided into?diagnostic, inspection, and quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) sections. The last few slides gave an update on motions approved by the AFS-FHS which included the establishment of an ad-hoc committee which will look at the various issues related to the “Blue Book”. The hope is that they will look at updating the manual.Veterinary Services (VS) Aquatic Animal Health Program Update and Commercial Aquaculture Health Programs Standards (CAHPS)Kathleen H. Hartman, USDA-APHIS-VSAs representative for the USDA Aquaculture Program, Dr. Hartman discussed the Veterinary Services Aquatic Health Program members, projects, and priorities including responses to emerging diseases such as diseases of Koi and Goldfish, increased efforts to improve communication, efficiency, and customer service, and the Commercial Aquaculture Health Programs Standards (CAHPS) outline, outreach, challenges, and future mercial Aquaculture Health Program Standards (CAHPS) OutreachPaul W. Zajicek, National Aquaculture AssociationThe focus of the talk was on USDA’s outreach related to their Commercial Aquaculture Health Program Standards (CAHPS). There was an emphasize on the huge aquatic diversity of species and of the production systems used to grow them. He discussed the need to move to a risk-based system versus a hazard-based system and the need to have a system that is voluntary and flexible for the farm. He covered the five principles of CAHPS and how they allow for management of risk on farms. Challenges include getting acceptance by natural resource agencies for a voluntary program is a challenge. Some discussion occurred related to antibiotic resistance, multiyear versus all in all out production, and the use of veterinarians on mittee Business:Discussed, adapted and unanimously passed two resolutions:American Fisheries Society: Fish Health Section “Blue Book”Commercial Aquaculture Health Program Standards (CAHPS) ................
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