The recent FVE Seminar on “Caring for health and welfare of fish: A critical success factor for aquaculture” attracted around 150 participants from European Institutions, National Authorities, veterinarians, fish producers, scientists and many other stakeholders including several WAVMA members who contributed to the debate section from the podium. From a European context this was a very important meeting for WAVMA to be represented at.
Dr Christophe Buhot, President of the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe emphasised during the conference, “Fish, as other food producing animals, get sick, their welfare can be compromised and the food they produce has to be healthy. Veterinarians, through education and experience, have a holistic view on how health, welfare and the environment interlinks and therefore have a key role to play within aquaculture. Vets care for people and animals, including fish. It is essentialto ensure that sufficient veterinary expertise is available to the aquaculture sector.”
Dr Laura Urdes, a WAVMA member, commented,"This was an extremely significant meeting, with two days of rough debates over the importance of global aquaculture and the role that vets should play within the industry, into the future. I'm leaving with very positive feelins about what's about to come for the profession and the vet schools within the EU."
The main conference conclusions were:
Veterinarians are the experts in animal health and welfare, including fish. It is essential to ensure that sufficient veterinary expertise is available to the aquaculture sector. This will also ensure food safety and protect public health.
Close collaboration between the aquaculture industry and the veterinary profession should be ensured, in order to ensure optimal health management of fish farms at all stages of production.
Veterinary schools should be encouraged to include in their curricula aquatic veterinary disciplines and/or training programmes, in order to ensure a high level of knowledge, skills, and competencies of the graduate. This is particularly important in EU countries where aquaculture is a significant food producing industry.
A full report can be obtained from the FVE website.