Strengthening disease control in farmed lobsters

The epidemic situation in aquaculture is complicated , especially for main farming species and aquaculture products with high economic value . Phu Yen Newspaper reporter interviewed Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tien , Head of the Department of Aquatic Products and Fisheries ( Department of Animal Health ) on the issue of quarantine and disease prevention and control for farmed lobsters .​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

 

* To ensure the quality of disease-free lobster seeds, could you please tell us about the quarantine work for imported lobster seeds and disease prevention and control in farmed lobsters in recent times?

 

- Lobster is a valuable seafood product, mainly raised in the provinces of Phu Yen , Khanh Hoa, Binh Dinh, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan. Diseases in cage-raised lobsters in our country are mainly caused by some infectious diseases such as milk disease (caused by intracellular parasitic bacteria rickettsia like bacteria), red body (caused by vibrio alginolyticus bacteria), black gill (caused by polluted environment, vibrio bacteria, fusarium fungus, parasites...) and some other common diseases. These diseases often occur sporadically throughout the year, are localized, and rarely break out into large-scale epidemics.

 

The main cause is that pathogens are often present in the aquatic environment or in wild aquatic species. When the health of farmed shrimp is weakened, stressed by unfavorable environments, pollution of farming areas, poor care and feeding regimes... it creates opportunities for pathogens to invade and cause disease.

 

To date, Vietnam has not been able to produce lobster seeds, and the seeds for production are exploited from the wild and imported. In 2023, the authorities quarantined and allowed the import of 808 batches of lobster seeds with 77.4 million individuals from Singapore, the Philippines, and Malaysia, of which 9 batches with more than 1.6 million individuals were found positive for white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) and had to be destroyed.

 

In the first 10 months of 2024, quarantine and import permission were granted for 65 batches with about 10.8 million pigs from Indonesia, East Timor, Solomon Islands, of which 5 batches with 670,900 pigs were found positive for WSSV virus and had to be destroyed.

 

Veterinary management agencies and enterprises have implemented disease surveillance for lobsters in farming areas. As a result, in 2023, 12/17 lobster samples in Phu Yen tested positive for milk disease, 3/3 samples tested positive for WSSV virus. In 2024, 10/60 lobster samples in Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa tested positive for milk disease.

 

In 2024, the Department of Animal Health did not receive any local reports on outbreaks in farming areas. However, in Phu Yen, 3,670 lobster cages were recorded to have suffered damage of unknown cause. Through testing and analysis of samples by the Department of Animal Health and the Aquaculture Research Institute III, it was shown that the phenomenon of mass deaths of farmed lobsters and marine fish in Phu Yen was not due to disease, but due to environmental factors, low dissolved oxygen content, too high farming density, polluted farming areas, and unfavorable weather changes for farmed aquatic products.

 

The Department of Animal Health has instructed localities to continue monitoring the disease situation to detect and handle it promptly and guide farmers to treat the environment and limit pollution in farming areas. At the same time, it has encouraged farmers to register for farming, release breeds with clear origin, quarantine certificates, and strengthen care and feeding regimes.

 

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tien

* Could you please tell us about the problems and difficulties in disease prevention in farmed lobsters?

 

- The infrastructure of lobster farming areas still has many difficulties, the farming areas are open so they depend entirely on the environment and weather. The farming process and management of the farming areas do not meet practical requirements, dangerous and common pathogens of lobsters are often present in the farming environment. Localities do not arrange or do not arrange enough funds for disease prevention activities on lobsters, especially proactive monitoring, organizing sampling and testing to determine the cause of damage in the farming areas.

 

In addition, the organization of the veterinary management agency is not unified, the number of staff working in aquatic veterinary from central to local levels is still lacking and weak, especially at the grassroots level. Scientific research, especially research on domestic lobster seed production, has not been focused on, farmers mainly buy lobster seeds of unknown origin imported from the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc. During the inspection process, the authorities discovered a large number of imported lobster seeds without documents, not going through the border gate, not completing customs procedures.

 

Despite regulations, local veterinary authorities hardly receive disease reports or share information from farmers, private laboratories, including some research institutes, specialized universities, large enterprises and fisheries management agencies.

 

Reporting of epidemics on the VAHIS system as directed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in some localities has not been strictly implemented. Many people organize high-density farming without proactively applying disease prevention measures. When an epidemic occurs, farmers often handle it themselves and do not report it to veterinary agencies, causing the risk of pathogens spreading widely in the farming area.

 

* In order to minimize risks for farmers, what are the solutions and directions for disease prevention in farmed lobsters in the coming time, sir?

 

- The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has directed specialized agencies and scientists to continue researching the production of domestic lobster breeds to ensure the quality and quantity of lobster breeds provided to farming households. Consider and supplement regulations on concentrated farming areas and shared infrastructure for farming areas to ensure a legal basis for sustainable aquaculture development and more effective prevention of aquatic animal diseases.

 

Supplement detailed regulations on aquaculture conditions for marine aquaculture facilities, specifically the distance between two adjacent facilities, the ratio of cage volume to the total licensed sea area, and regulations on stocking density to ensure favorable growth and development of aquatic products, reducing the risk of disease outbreaks.

 

In addition, specialized agencies and localities need to implement disease prevention measures according to the provisions of the Veterinary Law, circulars, and guiding documents on building aquatic disease-safe facilities. Organize sampling and testing of suspected cases of disease causing large and unusual deaths of lobsters to determine the cause and take drastic measures. Actively monitor, investigate, and handle outbreaks according to plan to proactively prevent and control diseases.

 

Localities also need to enhance their responsibilities, proactively prevent diseases, and strengthen quarantine of lobster seeds exported from the province to ensure control and quarantine before transportation. Breeding facilities must comply with technical standards on seed quality before selling to farmers.

 

Localities should consider strengthening and allocating sufficient resources to quarantine lobster seeds, control and manage imported lobster seeds. Strengthen coordination and information exchange between provinces on the transportation of imported and exported lobster seeds in the area, and strictly handle violations.

 

* Thank you!

In 2024, Phu Yen will have more than 186,000 aquaculture cages (3.8 times higher than planned), of which Tuy An district has about 12,920 cages (10,370 cages for lobsters, 85 cages for lobster meat, more than 2,420 cages for marine fish, 45 cages for other aquatic products), Dong Hoa town has 38,500 cages (36,760 cages for lobster meat, 1,740 cages for marine fish), Song Cau town has 134,610 cages (395 cages for lobsters, 129,320 cages for lobster meat, 4,895 cages for marine fish).

 

ANH NGOC (performed)

Source: https://baophuyen.vn/82/324804/tang-cuong-kiem-soat-dich-benh-tren-tom-hum-nuoi.html