FISH HEALTH NOTES by Rod Getchell
ITHACA, NY – “Bring out your dead” is a famous movie quote that gets at the gist of this column. What the Monty Python folks asserted as humor – the need for quick removal of dead bodies during the plague of the Middle Ages – actually is a sound principle for reducing the spread of disease. This simple hygienic measure ensures the good health of farmed fish as well.
Removing “morts,” the industry term for dead fish, once or twice a day from a 3′ circular tank is an easy operation. Checking hundreds of feet of raceways or circular tanks 30′-40′ in diameter is a little more of a challenge. Ocean net pens 100′ in diameter and 50′ deep require frequent diver visits to gather up mortalities.
Read the rest and much, much more in Issue 4, 2012 of Fish Farming News. Download now for immediate access and keep the .pdf for future reference.