Danish Survey Programme

Health Certification for AquaSearch farms

All eyed eggs supplied from AquaSearch farms are certified disease free according to the OIE-standards. All deliveries of eggs are followed by a International Certificate of Origin and Health issued by the Danish Veterinary Animal and Food Administration who are responsible for the surveillance programme in place for brood stock farms producing eyed eggs.

Brood stock screening

Since the brood stock farms are free from relevant fish diseases in general and vertically transmitted fish diseases in particular, screening of the brood stock in relation to spawning is not performed. Samples are taken from brood stock and examined along side with samples from other year classes of fish on regular basis as part of the official surveillance program.

EEC Directive 91/67/EEC, and the Danish aquatic animal disease legislation (# 508 of Oct. 1984 and # 755 of July 28. 2005) provide the regulatory basis for surveillance and monitoring of the health of aquacultural fish in Denmark. This legislation gives the Ministry the legal authority to impose measures for the control and eradication of listed and other diseases of salmonids, including diagnosis, quarantine, movement control and destruction of fish.

Key features of the Danish national surveillance program include:

A mandatory reporting system for listed salmonids diseases including VHS, ISA, IHN, BKD, diseases exotic to Denmark and (only for registered farms) IPN. Notification of unexplained mortalities is also required.
A national health monitoring program for salmonids, including monitoring of the health of farmed salmonids and investigation of unusual events (e.g. mortalities in wild salmonids and other fish.
A veterinary laboratory system for diagnosis of disease in salmonids and other fish is covered. The National Veterinary Institute at Århus is appointed the EU. reference
Laboratory for fish diseases and in addition it serves and in addition it serves as the
OIE-Reference Laboratory for VHS and IHN. Analytical work is accredited by DANAK test reg. nr. 413.
The use of laboratory testing methods based on relevant EU directives consistent with the
OIE Diagnostic Manual for Aquatic Diseases.
A management system for records of findings on salmonid diseases, which is used to identify and maintain disease-free zones (e.g. for VHS) or farms (e.g. for IPN or BKD).
A register of salmonids farms
Conditions for the use of vaccination – which is generally prohibited for viral diseases and permitted for certain bacterial diseases, including furunculosis, enteric red mouth disease and vibriosis.
Legislative authority to undertake emergency disease-control measures and mechanisms to compensate farmers whose farms are affected by disease.
Specialized veterinarian fish pathologist, employed by The Danish Veterinary and Food
Administration, DVFA, are responsible for fish health surveillance and monitoring all over
Denmark. They conduct regular clinical inspections of all fish farms, collect samples of fish for laboratory testing, and provide export certification pertaining to fish diseases.
Brood stock farms are inspected twice a year and samples for laboratory tests are taken at each inspection. Between visits, farms must keep records of introductions and fish mortalities, which are audited periodically by the veterinarians.

Surveillance visits have the following features:

Visits are “unannounced”.
The veterinarian inspects each pond/channel, with the particular attention to outlet channels and records findings of abnormal, sick or dead fish.
Sick or dead fish are subjected to post mortem examination at the pond side and samples submitted to the laboratory as appropriate.
Checking of biosecurity arrangements (fencing, bird screening and truck loading areas).
Normally, the operator meets with the veterinarian to discuss any significant findings.

The result of above surveillance programme is that:
Denmark as a country is recognized, according to the recommendations of the O.I.E., as free of the following fish diseases:

Epizootic Haematopoietic Necrosis (EHN)
Infectious Haematopoietic Necrosis (IHN)
O. masou virus disease (OMV)
Channel catfish virus disease
Infectious Salmon Anaemia (ISA)
Epizootic ulcerative syndrome
Enteric septicaemia of catfish
Spring viraemia of carp (SVC)
Piscirickettsiosis (SRS)
Ceratomyxa Shasta
Red sea bream iridoviral disease
White sturgeon iridoviral disease

In addition to this, the zone where the relevant brood stock farms are situated, are recognised, according to the recommendations of the O.I.E. as free of:

Viral Haemorrhagic septicaemia (VHS)

In addition to both the above, the relevant brood stock farms are recognized, according to the recommendations of the O.I.E. as free of the following diseases:

Viral encephalopathy and retinopathy
Infectious pancreatic necrosis (IPN)
Bacterial Kidney Disease (BKD)

And finally the eggs have been incubated in water free from:

Gyrodactulus salaries
Myxobolus cerabrali

The National Danish Brood stock farm programme includes, not only the above surveillance and listing program, but consists also of the following legislations:

Isolation from the surrounding environment

a.	No introduction of new biological material (fish, semen, eggs etc.) unless approved by the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration
b.	No direct contact to other aquaculture establishments, no transport vehicles allowed on the farm.
c.	Fencing and netting with maximum 25 cm openings along sides and over the farm area.

Surveillance

a.	Compulsory reporting to DVFA in case of rise in mortality or disease symptoms.
b.	Records and traceability of all egg and fish movements from the brood stock farms.
c.	Mortality records.
d.	Movement restrictions and increased surveillance and control in case of specific disease diagnoses in receiving aquaculture establishments.

Disinfection and prevention

a.	Facilities, holding units etc. must be kept tidy, cleaned and disinfected on regular basis.
b.	Eggs are incubated in water free of G. salaries and M. Cerabralis.
c.	Cleaning and disinfection of egg sorting machines etc. after use.
d.	No excess water from the eggs sorting / packing area into fish holding units.
e.	Eyed eggs must be disinfected in 100 ppm iodide solution for 10 min. prior packing and shipping.
f.	All packing material must be clean and unused.
g.	Vaccination against specific fish diseases must be approved by DVFA.

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