Health and Biosecurity

The Health and Biosecurity Programme assists members to reduce the risks of aquatic animal disease impacting the livelihoods of farmers, national economies, trade, environment and human health by:

  • Improving regional cooperation in aquatic animal health and welfare.
  • Developing and implementing national strategies on aquatic animal health.
  • Improving surveillance, reporting and response to disease emergencies.
  • Promoting harmonisation of diagnostic procedures and risk assessment.
  • Widespread promotion of better aquatic animal health management practices at the farm level.

Key activities

Key activities of the programme include:

  • Convening the annual meeting of the Asia Regional Advisory Group on Aquatic Animal Health, coordinating the Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Report and bringing regional issues to the attention of global standard setting bodies such as the Office International des Epizooties.
  • Establishment and expansion of a three-tier shared resource in aquatic animal health.
  • Development of farm-level health management tools for key aquaculture commodities.
  • Supporting regional disease surveillance and reporting.
  • Strengthening aquatic animal health and biosecurity in the region.
  • Facilitating harmonisation in disease diagnostic techniques.
  • Developing resource material in support of diagnosis and surveillance.

Contacts

Creative Commons Attribution.

Related

Subject tags

A collection of subject tags relating to technical matters.

In this collection

NACA Newsletter, Volume XXVI, No. 3, July-September 2011

In this issue:

22nd Governing Council Meeting and a new Director General. NACA receives the Margarita Lizárraga Medal. NACA receives Gold Medal Award from the Asian Fisheries Society. Special address by Dr E.G. Silas at the inaugural session of the 22nd Governing Council Meeting 9-12 May, Kochi, India. Striped catfish farming in the Mekong Delta: A tumultuous path to a global success. Sign up for the NACA Email Newsletter. Diseases in Asian Aquaculture VIII: Registration and abstract submission open. Food safety and biosecurity. Ramping up adoption of catfish BMPs. Scaling up BMPs: A national workshop. 2nd Aquaclimate project meeting.

Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Report, April-June 2011

This report, the 52nd in the series, contains information about the aquatic animal health status of thirteen states in the Asia-Pacific region. The foreword discusses transboundary disease issues and contingency planning.

NACA Newsletter, Volume XXVI, No. 2, April-June 2011

In this issue:

Collaborative project "Grouper/cluster certification of aqua societies" completed. Report of the Advisory Group on Aquatic Animal Health available. Guidelines on Aquaculture Society Certification released. Listen to us online. Workshop on ecosystem approach to inland fisheries: Data needs and implementation strategies. Disease advisory: Infectious myonecrosis (IMN) status and threat. 7th Regional Grouper Hatchery Production Training Course, 25 September - 15 October, Situbondo, Indonesia.

Report of the ninth meeting of the Asia Regional Advisory Group on Aquatic Animal Health, 8-10 November 2010

The Asia Regional Advisory Group on Aquatic Animal Health meets annually to discuss regional health issues including emerging disease threats. This report includes a review of regional disease status circa 2010, global and regional disease reporting arrangements, global issues and standards, progress in implementation of the the Regional Technical Guidelines on Health management for the Responsible Movement of Live Aquatic Animals, identification and designation of regional aquatic animal health resources and regional and international cooperation.

Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Report, January-March 2011

This report, the 51st in the series, contains information about the aquatic animal health status of twelve states in the Asia-Pacific region. The foreword discusses animal welfare in aquaculture.

Aquaculture Asia Magazine, January-March 2011

In this issue:

Recent developments and future prospects of inland aquaculture in Asia. Factors influencing success of Penaeus vannamei culture. Freshwater prawn farming in a carbon-nitrogen controlled periphyton-based system: A sustainable approach to increase stagnant pond productivity. Constraints to fish production in community ponds in Orissa, India. Continued confidence in inland fisheries developmentg of a Sri Lankan youth begins to pay off. The Asia-Pacific Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Report: 12 years and beyond.

NACA Newsletter, Volume XXVI, No. 1, January-March 2011

In this issue:

Better management practices for catfish aquaculture released. 9th Meeting of the Asia Regional Advisory Group on Aquatic Animal Health. Trialling ocean temperature forecasts for fish farms. Global Conference on Aquaculture 2010: Publications. Capacity of small holder ASEAN aquaculture farmers for competitive and sustainable aquaculture strengthened.

Disease advisory: Infectious myonecrosis

Infectious myonecrosis is a viral disease caused by infectious myonecrosis virus. It affects Pacific white shrimp Penaeus vannamei, tiger shrimp P. monodon and blue shrimp P. stylirostris. IMN is associated with heavy losses in farmed shrimp of 40-70%. Originally reported from Brazil, outbreaks were first reported in Indonesia in May 2006. With the current spread of the disease there is a high threat of the disease spreading to neighbouring P. vannamei-producing countries.

Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Report, October-December 2010

This report, the 50th in the series, contains information about the aquatic animal health status of thirteen states in the Asia-Pacific region. The foreword discusses food safety and biosecurity.

Improving biosecurity: a necessity for aquaculture sustainability

Species movement for farming can be one of the many sources of biological threats to the well-being of farmed aquatic animals, humans and ecosystems. Transboundary aquatic animal diseases may occur due to illegal introductions and transfers of live animals. This session will discuss aspects of biosecurity as possible and will identify successes and failures, issues of importance and the role of biosecurity in the sustainable increase in aquaculture production.