|
November 21, 2006
The following was prepared by Dr. Andy Goodwin, Professor of fish
Pathology at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Dr. Goodwin has
long been involved in assisting both the aquaculture industry, and the
USDA, with the regulatory aspects of fish health. He is the current
president of the American Fisheries Society Fish Health Section (FHS)
and has served as a co-chair of the committee that wrote and maintains
the Blue Book Inspection Section.
How to Ship Live Fish Under the USDA-APHIS Amended Emergency VHS Order[1]
Dr. Andy Goodwin
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
1) The amended order applies to your farm if all of the facts below are true:
-you are in one of the 8 states described in the amended order
*the current list of states under order includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,
Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Confirm any changes to
the list on the APHIS web site at:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/aqua/pdf/vhs-fed-order_ogc-changes.pdf
- you raise any of the fish species suspected by APHIS to carry VHSV
*the list of susceptible species included in the Federal Order can be found at:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/aqua/pdf/vhs_susceptible_species.pdf
-you intend to export live fish of a listed species out of your state for
reasons other than slaughter or to a research/diagnostic facility (live fish
being shipped for slaughter or research/diagnostics fall under different rules,
see the modified order at the link noted in footnote 1,below)
2) You may ship those fish live out of state only if you do all of the following
-have your fish inspected by qualified laboratory for VHSV according to the
American Fisheries Society Fish Health Section Blue Book or the OIE Aquatic
Animal Manual
*this is the link to the Blue Book
www.fisheries.org/FHS and click
on “Blue Book Access”
*this is the link to the OIE manual [link to OIE manual 2.1.5]
www.oie.int/eng/normes/fmanual/A_00022.htm
-get proper paperwork from your state’s “competent authority” that confirms the
shipment of fish that you want to ship were appropriately tested and are
negative for VHSV according to the above protocols
*contact your state’s aquaculture coordinator to confirm the competent authority
in your state.
* aquaculture coordinators are listed at the following link:
www.aphis.usda.ov/vs/aqua/
- make sure that your shipment also meets all of the regulations of the
destination state
3) To determine what testing is needed you must do all of the following
- Decide how many “lots” of fish are going to be shipped (a “lot” is a group of
fish of the same species and same age, from the same group of brood stock,
raised on the same farm, and living in the same water supply).
- Decide when shipments are likely to occur
- Call your State Competent Authority and learn what testing will be required to
make the anticipated shipments. If the State Authority needs further information
about the Amended Emergency Order, suggest that they contact...
Jill Rolland (APHIS) at 301-734-7727
Or
Gary Egrie (APHIS) at 301-734-0695
If the State Authority needs assistance in interpreting the Blue Book
Guidelines, suggest that
they contact:
Andy Goodwin, AFS-FHS President for assistance 870-575-8137,
agoodwin@uaex.edu
4) These are some of the questions that you need to resolve with your competent
authority
- How many fish from each lot must be tested?
- Is there any requirement for official oversight of the sample collection?
- Does the lot of fish need to be isolated from un-inspected lots during the
testing process?
- Once the test results are complete, how long is the inspection good for? It is
okay to ship today, it is probably okay next week, but will you still sign off
on my shipment next month? In three months?
- From which labs will you accept results?
5) About the testing process
- finding a lab qualified and able to do the work will be difficult. Start with
labs that you have worked with before. Keep in mind that all of the labs are
probably facing unprecedented demand
- the testing will be expensive. The sample from each “lot” of fish is likely to
be 60 fish and the testing may cost several hundred dollars per lot
- testing will take 3-4 weeks if the lab is able to start immediately on the
samples
- ask the lab if the sample needs to be 1) live fish, 2) freshly dead fish on
ice, or 3) just fish organs.
If the lab is far away, shipping can be very expensive, especially overnight for
large live fish or fish on ice.
If the lab will accept only fish organs, you must find somebody with the skills
needed to correctly collect and handle the samples. Ask the disease lab for
suggestions.
- don’t forget to arrange for any other disease testing required by the
receiving state or client
6) You are ready to ship when all the below are true…
- you have received the negative test results
- the state competent authority has produced an official document stating that
your specific fish shipment (date, number of fish, species) is free of VHS by
Blue Book or OIE standards as described in the Amended Order
- you have completed the other inspection or permits that my be required by the
receiving state or client
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] USDA-APHIS Amended Order of November 14, 2006.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/aqua/pdf/vhs-fed-order_ogc-changes.pdf
|
