Gyrodactylus salaris

1
Gyrodactylus salaris

• Arthur Griffiths MRCVS
• Chair of Task Force

2
Gyrodactylus salaris

• What is it?
• Where is it?
• Resilience
• Risk Factors
• What action can be taken?

3
Gyrodactylus salaris

• WHAT IS IT?
• Notifiable Disease of salmonids
• Fluke feeding on gills and skin
• Highly fecund parasite
• EXOTIC to Scotland
• Allows secondary bacterial infections

4
Gyrodactylus salaris

• WHERE IS IT?
• Norway
• Northern Russia
• Western Sweden
• Northern Finland
• Status of Western Europe is unclear

5
Gyrodactylus salaris

• HOW RESILIENT IS GS?
• Survives 5-7 days off host
• Killed by freezing, high temperatures,
  desiccation and seawater
• Multiplies on salmon, rainbow trout and char
• Uses many other species for transport
• Rapidly finds new hosts.

6
Gyrodactylus salaris

• RISK FACTORS
• Movements and imports of live fish and ova
• Movements of people and equipment

7
Gyrodactylus salaris

• WHAT CAN BE DONE IF GS OCCURS?
• Nothing
• Containment
• Eradication
• Prevention

8
Gyrodactylus salaris

• DO NOTHING
• Probably loose up to 98 of salmon
• Catchment income slashed
• Risk infecting other catchments

9
Gyrodactylus salaris

• CONTAINMENT
• Movement controls
• Fish passes
• Fish Farms
• Surveillance
• Cleansing and disinfection
• Water transfers
• Leisure pursuits

10
Gyrodactylus salaris

• ERADICATION
• Apply all containment measures
• Rotenone
• Aluminium sulphate
• Restocking

11
Gyrodactylus salaris

• TASK FORCE
• Set up June 2005
• To report by 31 March 2006
• Preparation of Contingency Plan

12
Gyrodactylus salaris

• ISSUES IN PREPARING CONTINGENCY PLAN
• Prevention
• Identification, Research and Information
• Legal Issues
• Gene banking

13
Gyrodactylus salaris

• GS CONTINGENCY PLAN
• SEERAD Industries preparedness
• Framework for response
• SEERAD
• Enforcement Bodies
• Fisheries Interests
• Commercial Water Users
• Leisure Pursuits

14
Gyrodactylus salaris

• MAIN ISSUES COVERED
• Disease response
• Legislation
• Management structures
• Roles and responsibilities
• Criteria for containment and eradication
• Operations Manual
• Communications Strategy
• Stakeholders
• Resource provision

15
Gyrodactylus salaris

• KEY MESSAGES
• Prevention is better than cure
• Disease will be costly and damaging
• Biosecurity is a MUST
• Keeping control depends on EVERYBODY doing their
  bit.