Renate
Johansen
What is
the point of health monitoring of fish used in research?
We use only healthy fish in our research, or don’t we?
What do
we know of the health status of the fish that we use in our research
and what should we know?
Why is it
so important to provide better knowledge of the health status of the fish that
we use in research?
These are
the questions that I will aim to answer in my presentation. One of the main
problems in fish research today is that the results from different trials and
tests are difficult to compare due to lack of harmonisation. We need to
harmonise both the fish and the methods that we use. Guidelines for health
monitoring are one important step in this process.
To get the
total picture of the health status of the fish you need to look at both the
fish and the environment. The health status of the fish is highly influenced by
the genome of the fish and the water quality and these factors will be further
discussed by other speakers at the meeting (Unni Grimholt og Trond Rosten). My
presentation will be aimed towards monitoring of diseases.
Clinically
diseased fish are of course not used in research. Infections, inflammations and
deformities are common in fish with no clinical signs of disease. Clinical
signs as the only criteria for selection of fish are therefore not sufficient.
Pathogen-free
fish are often not obtainable and it is therefore of major importance not only
to state which infectious agents is present, but also how this may influence
the fish.
Different
fish species used in different types of research may need different guidelines
for health monitoring. Few papers have been published on this topic and before
guidelines for health monitoring can be made we need more background
documentation. With my colleagues I have 2 papers in progress on this matter:
1. Health and welfare monitoring of fish used in research
2. Disease monitoring of Atlantic salmon used in research related to
aquaculture
Hopefully
more papers will follow from other research groups.