processing techniques, and control of aquatic vegetation hampers 

 the engineering, construction, and operation of new facilities. 

 Costs associated with all phases of construction and maintenance 

 are high. 



State, territorial, and Federal laws regulate the discharge from 

 aquaculture facilities. The industry considers the costs involved 

 in meeting the requirements of these laws prohibitive and has urged 

 the Environmental Protection Agency and State agencies to 

 re-examine standards for aquaculture operations. 



Control of Disease and Parasites 



Trained personnel are lacking and scientific and technical 

 knowledge are insufficient to adequately address disease detection, 

 prevention, and treatment needs. Private aquaculturists often must 

 rely on handbooks or leaflets to diagnose and treat disease 

 problems and no diagnosis or a faulty diagnosis can easily lead to 

 loss of the entire crop. Specialists are particularly lacking for 

 molluscan and crustacean culture. 



Disease detection is especially important when health certification 

 is required for transportation (required by law in some States) . 

 Another problem is often the lack of on-site record-keeping or 

 documentation of circumstances surrounding a disease problem. 



One of the greatest hindrances to disease control is the lack of 

 registered therapeutic compounds. Some drugs have been banned 

 because of potential harmful side effects to humans or because they 

 have not gone through the lengthy and expensive process of 

 registration for aquaculture use. Pharmaceutical companies are 

 unwilling to spend the funds required to register therapeutics, n'. 

 because their generic nature precludes patent protection and the 

 aquaculture industry is a comparatively small market for their 

 products. : :o ^•..; - ; ■ 



At present, no effective registered drug treatments exist for viral 

 diseases, many bacterial diseases, several internal protozoans, and 

 some fungi. Immunization is not available against most pathogens. 

 Operators often must rely for control on stock eradication, 

 isolation, and facility disinfection for control of parasites and 

 diseases . 



Production of Seed Stock 



A common practice in laboratory studies and small-scale production 

 is to obtain seed stock or fingerlings by spawning wild, gravid 

 females. This is impractical for large-scale commercial ventures 

 or for those located at a considerable distance from sources of 

 wild broodstock. 



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