Abstract:

Disease in aquaculture systems is the outcome of three major components, namely, the health of the animals being cultured, the condition of the culture environment and the presence of the pathogen. The early detection of signs of disease or poor health is crucial to taking measures to minimize the economic impact of disease. Routine animal health monitoring allows the generation of information necessary for immediate decision-taking. A well-established surveillance programme is key to achieving these results and it should focus on the primary enzootic pathogens in the key stages of production, as well as in the wild. It should also include exotic pathogens, as these could be introduced to the culture system through various means, including water currents, the importation of aquatic animals from infected countries or via ballast water. This paper describes the current surveillance programme for shrimp diseases being implemented in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by the National Aquaculture Group (NAQUA), which has around 4 500 ha of culture surface. The criteria for identifying the morphological changes that indicate deviation from optimal health, its possible causes, and the mitigation measures are discussed. As the productivity of an aquaculture system is directly related to the health of the stocks, close monitoring and optimization of animal health is a key tool for profitable farming.

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Date 2018/12/31

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