Low-value fish used as feed is a source of disease in farmed fish

Abstract

Low-value fish is the most commonly used feed in Asian fish farms despite the fact that its application is controversial in regard to the sustainability and biosecurity of aquaculture. In this study, the causal agent of a disease outbreak at a Korean rockfish Sebastes schlegeli farm was investigated to determine whether the low-value fish used at the farm was the source. Infected Korean rockfish and Pacific sand eel used as feed were sampled from the farm, and bacterial cultures recovered from the internal organs of all sampled rockfish were isolated as pure cultures and later identified as Vibrio harveyi. The causal agent of the disease was also isolated from the kidneys of some of the sampled Pacific sand eels. This study provides additional evidence that the low-value fish used as feed at fish farms can be a key source of infectious diseases.