There is a lack of practical skills for on farm fish health investigation and disease management. The National Aquatic Animal Health Technical Working Group (NAAH-TWG) April 2008 workshop highlighted - 'There is ongoing concern that there are too few suitably trained and accredited aquatic animal health professionals to service Australia’s fisheries and aquaculture industries and to ensure succession to a new generation of aquatic animal health professionals.' More recently Dr John Humphrey's presentation at the 2010 Australasian Aquaculture Conference 'Disease investigation in finfish - demystifying the diagnostic process' discussed the need at an industry level for an improvement in investigating fish health skills across the aquaculture industry.

Every state of Australia has an aquaculture industry which requires effective health investigation and disease management. Across Australia aquatic animal health training is being delivered to industry and future stakeholders by vocational trainers using units from the National Seafood Industry Package. Aquatic animal health training is also occurring on the farm informally by other industry professionals.

There is a need to bring together those delivering training, to allow them to update and improve their knowledge and practical skills to enable better delivery and ultimately better outcomes for skill development in farm fish health investigation and disease management to support Australia’s fishing and aquaculture industry.

A Current Priority in the 2011 FRDC AAHS R&D plan (6.2.3 Endemic and exotic aquatic animal disease diagnostics) is “Diagnostics for agents of national/international significance”.

The AAHL Fish Diseases Laboratory (AFDL) role involves detection/confirmation of exotic and newly emerging diseases (particularly those in Australia’s National List of Reportable Diseases of Aquatic Animal), index case confirmation and supporting national response capability.

Ideally, AFDL diagnostic assays are adopted from the OIE Manual of Diagnostic Tests for Aquatic Animals 2010 or ANZSDPs. Unfortunately, for some agents there are either multiple protocols in the OIE Chapter (e.g. ISAV, IHNV, VHSV), real-time PCR protocols for high-throughput screening are not in the OIE Chapter (e.g. VHSV, IHNV) or there is no OIE Chapter (e.g. NNV, IPNV). Where no assays are described, published literature is the only source of information. Due to a time lag between updating the OIE Chapters or publication of test protocols, it is not always possible to be confident that the most current protocols have been implemented. Published methods may not adequately describe the specificity of the tests (e.g. detection of different genotypes by ISAV and VHSV RT-qPCRs).

One way to ensure awareness of the latest developments in diagnostic protocols and to compare AFDL’s capability is through networks with overseas reference laboratories who routinely deal with agents that are exotic to Australia. Nick Moody’s attendance at the EAFP Conference in September will provide an opportunity to visit the EU Reference Laboratory for Fish Diseases in Denmark and the CEFAS Laboratory in the UK.

The ornamental fish industry in Australia, valued at over $200 million (FRDC 2007) is comprised of more than 200 licensed fish breeders, collectors and importers who through a network of wholesalers supply over 2000 pet shops and specialist aquarium outlets distrubuted around the country.

The majority of fish traded within Australia are sourced from imports (around 15 million fish annually), which comprises mostly freshwater finfish, while local production from breeding varies between 5-10 million per annum.

Like all animals, aquarium fish can carry and transmit disease. This includes parasites, bacteria and viruses. These 'diseases' could seriously affect the growth of the ornamental industry in Australia and therefore gaining a better understanding in terms of identification, treatment and management is impecable to allow this industry to flourish.

The project will identify existing and emerging Ornamental Fish Diseases as well as discuss the methodology for diagnosis and treatment of parasitic, bacterial, viral, as well as nutritional, and environmental diseases of warmwater food fish and aquarium species.

Western Australia has a great potential for increased aquaculture activities. According to the Aquaculture Council of WA, the main concern of her members has been lack of easy access to fish health veterinary services. Disease is a major limiting factor in aquaculture of both established as well as potentially important aquaculture fish species in WA, e.g. barramundi, kingfish. Aquaculture will provide an alternate source of food fish amidst reports of declining wild fish stocks. There is the potential of further growing an industry that will provide jobs directly as well as indirectly in downstream activities in seafood processing.

Histopathology has been recognized as an invaluable tool in fish disease diagnosis. The Australian College of Veterinary Scientists recently added aquatic animal health as a new fellowship program in 2010 and there is currently only one person enrolled. This program involves a very intensive professional training program with approved experts amounting to 25 hours a week over 154 weeks, and attendance at relevant workshops and conferences, which will need dedicated funding. This endeavour will not only benefit the local aquaculture industry directly by making available a specialist fish health veterinarian, but also provide better trained veterinarians and farm staff through her teaching activities at the tertiary and postgraduate levels. PI's research into significant diseases in collaboration with her colleagues at Murdoch University and Fish Health Laboratory, Dept. of Fisheries WA will also benefit the industry via better understanding of disease and control strategies.

The recent biosecurity risk assessment of the ornamental fish industry suggests current practices are insufficient and that ornamental fish poses a biological threat to native fish, commercially cultured fish and recreational fisheries. There is negligible disease surveillance with ornamental fish after they depart quarantine facilities. There is a large pool of veterinarians across the country who can conduct disease surveillance, mirroring the practices of the livestock industry. I have generated interest from veterinarians through the sale of a self-published book, “Fish Vetting Essentials”, an e-mail list I have collated and the Unusual and Exotic Pets special interest group of the Australian Veterinary Association.

I am unique in that I service the needs of a diverse variety of clients that employs the full range of activities that is assumed of a veterinarian – from individual pet fish medicine, through to large operations involving food fish; in clinical practice through to laboratory diagnostics and education.

The “Aquavet I” course I am applying for covers the most diverse range of duties, in a most cost-effective package, that an aquatic veterinarian would perform, with an emphasis on ecosystem health. This scholarship would give me an opportunity for accelerated learning and to fill the gaps in my knowledge. Upon completion of the course, I will be better positioned to provide for the end users and to impart the knowledge to other aquatic animal health providers in Australia, promoting the FRDC brand.

The first veterinary medicine program in South Australia was recently developed at the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences (SAVS), The University of Adelaide. An objective of the school is to foster strong diagnostics, research and training opportunities in aquatic health to support the local and national aquaculture industry. As such, a fully equipped veterinary diagnostic laboratory and a state of the art Marine Biosecurity facility are being completed. A cross-disciplinary team of 10 veterinary academics including diagnostic, pathology, immunology and production experts comprise the Aquatic Special Interest Group (AquaSIG) at SAVS.
As those with the capacity to support the industry, AquaSIG members and local industry/government alike will benefit from further training opportunities in aquatic disease surveillance. AquaSIG members, field veterinarians, government scientists and aquaculturist all identified epidemiological concepts and practices to sample and measure disease in large aquatic populations as priorities. Proper surveillance methodology is paramount to the prevention and control of aquatic diseases.
A 3-day workshop on aquaculture epidemiology is offered sporadically by the University of Tasmania. Sending a suitable number of SA representatives to this course would be cost prohibitive. The organisation of a workshop locally would be cost-effective and would reach a larger audience beyond AquaSIG including: Biosecurity SA veterinarians (responsible for regulatory aquatic disease surveillance); graduate students and research colleagues from SARDI and other local universities; and high-level industry managers. The South Australia community responsible for aquatic health would therefore benefit and support the organisation of a workshop tailored to the region’s specific needs.

Australia periodically experiences outbreaks of new or unusual diseases in both farmed and wild species. Recent examples include oyster herpes virus in New South Wales and Abalone Viral Ganglioneuritis in Victoria and Tasmania. Proper epidemiological investigation early in such outbreaks can assist greatly in identifying source and risk-factors for infection and can often provide clues for future control. Such an investigation goes beyond the identification and characterisation of the causal agent and is an essential part of the response to any disease outbreak or incursion.

However, specific training in epidemiology and the principles of epidemiological investigation has not been routinely provided to aquatic animal health professionals in the past. This project aims to address this situation by providing introductory training in epidemiological principles and disease outbreak investigation for up to 25 aquatic animal health professionals, and provide resources for future training activities.

This project aligns closely with the Biosecurity and Aquatic Animal Health theme of the FRDC RD&E plan, directly through developing the necessary skills to prevent and manage disease incursions and indirectly through improved knowledge and understanding of biosecurity measures required to mitigate and control disease in cultured and wild aquatic populations.

There are very few aquatic health veterinarians Australia wide, in particular, there are only three veterinarians (excluding myself) that are seriously dedicated to aquatic animal health, welfare and medicine in WA. There is a need for passionate veterinarians in this country to specialise in aquatic animal health to ensure that these animals receive first class health care and the full range of services (diagnostic workup, husbandry recommendations, treatment options, surgical opinions and management advice) expected from a veterinarian in any field of practice.

I am a unique veterinarian as I possess a strong and passionate interest in all aspects of aquatic animal health, medicine and pathology and am prepared to dedicate my career to these wonderful creatures to ensure they are healthy, respected and protected.

The AQUAVET I course brings together vets who believe that the profession is in a position to contribute to the wellbeing of aquatic ecosystems and inhabitants. AQUAVET is well-renowned and accepted within the veterinary profession and many of the previous participants have pursued long, meaningful careers in aquatic animal health. This is what I am determined to do! I know that by attending AQUAVET I, I will bring back with me many useful skills, networking connections, the latest and greatest in medical/diagnostic technology and a more detailed knowledge of aquatic animal diseases and husbandry requirements. This scholarship will accelerate my learning and at the end of the course, I will be better educated to impart knowledge to the entire aquatic animal health community in Australia.

Viral diseases are among the most important of all health issues in aquaculture and fisheries. Their rapid and accurate recognition is central to the prevention of spread and the control of emerging diseases. Morphological diagnosis based on gross pathology, histopathology and electron microscopy remain vital in the diagnostic process, and are essential to complement accurate molecular aetiolgical diagnosis. Practitioners of morphological diagnosis are becoming scarce, and this application enables knowledge transfer from one of the world's foremost experts, Dr Teruo Miyazaki from Japan. This knowledge transfer requires a hand-on approach in a small group setting, using a multiheaded microscope with plenty of opportunity for discussion. for this reason a face-to-face visit is essential. Improving aquatic animal health diagnostic capacity is a priority for FRDC specifically to prevent and manage disease incursions, and to develop diagnostic procedures and techniques to rapidly detect and identify pathogens. This is also a priority for state jurisdictions.

In addition to viral diseases, Dr Miyazaki has career long expertise in general fish pathology, so his visit presents diverse opportunities for continuing education of Australian aquatic animal health diagnosticians.