Production in aquacultural enterprises is the most rapidly increasing food source worldwide and it is anticipated that this production type will be one of the most dominating activities in the future.
Thus, global catches of wild fish have stagnated at app. 90 mio metric tonnes per year and it is unlikely that a dramatic increase will be seen. It has been estimated that a sustainable annual catch cannot exceed 100 mio tonnes. In contrast, the annual aquacultural production has already exceeded 28 mio metric tonnes and will probably increase significantly during the next decades. The emphasis on aquacultural production is, however, not without problems. Various pathogens have a well-known negative effect on production and profitability and the chemical control of diseases has already been shown to produce un-wanted side-effects. Therefore, one of the main issues is the control of infectious diseases without causing damage to the environment.
Danish researchers in the field of fish diseases have gathered and established the network SCOFDA as a forum for research and development of sustainable disease control in the aquacultural enterprises. During the next years focus will be placed on immuno-prophylaxis (including vaccination of fish and strengthening of innate resistance factors in the fish), breeding of fish for better growth and disease resistance, management of fish diseases, control of bacterial infections by interfering with signalling between pathogenic bacteria and finally the impact of allochemicals in fish production will be determined.
The network-members are researchers from the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, the University of Southern Denmark, the State Serum Institute (Statens Serum Institut), the Danish Veterinary Laboratory, the Danish Institute for Animal Research and the Danish Institute for Fisheries Research.