2013/706 Shrimp pathology short course 2013

By Caitlin Ringuet

Central to the success of a health and biosecurity support network for prawn aquaculture is training of industry members. Without an understanding of specific diseases and their mechanisms, it is difficult to correctly diagnose an outbreak and carryout appropriate biosecurity measure in response to contain and prevent further spread. Training of technical farm staff is important to reduce potential deleterious impacts of disease outbreaks from overseas on the industry and is essential to safeguard our small yet resilient farming community. This industry bursary was intended to facilitate the training of a farm technician in the detection and diagnosis of known diseases of significance to global prawn production.

The lessons learnt during the two-week pathology course highlighted the gaps in current understanding of diseases endemic to Australia as well as the necessity of an immediate and strategic response by farmers to disease outbreak events. Training of farm staff in practical disease management skills including preliminary diagnosis of diseases, sampling, preparation and preservation of specimens, was regarded as an activity which would greatly improve disease response management. Thus the outcome for this bursary was to instigate a plan of action that would incorporate both research into overseas endemic diseases and dissemination of practical diagnostic skills to the broader prawn farming community.