Latin American & Caribbean Aquaculture 2024

September 24 - 27, 2024

Medellín, Colombia

ENHANCING AQUACULTURE HEALTH: THE IMPACT OF THE PROGRAM FOR SANITARY MANAGEMENT IN AQUACULTURE (PGSA) ON SALMONID RICKETTSIAL SEPTICEMIA (SRS) RESEARCH IN CHILE

Fernando O. Mardones*, Francisco Morera, Benjamín Diethelm-Varela, Alicia Gallardo

*Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile. femardones@uc.cl

 



Salmonid Rickettsial Septicemia (SRS) is a significant disease affecting the Chilean salmon industry, causing 50%–97% of salmon mortality during the saltwater rearing stage and costing the industry up to $700 million annually. The disease impacts smolts to harvest-sized fish and is caused by the bacterium Piscirickettsia salmonis, which infects fish through the gills and skin. This bacterium can survive in water for up to 40 days, facilitating its spread between farms. To address this challenge, the Chilean National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca), in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy, Development, and Tourism and the Chilean Salmon Industry Association, implemented the Programme for Sanitary Management in Aquaculture (PGSA) from 2016 to 2019. This program aimed to enhance public and private health management in aquaculture by generating strategic knowledge with a multidisciplinary approach, thereby boosting the competitiveness of Chilean aquaculture. The PGSA targeted existing knowledge gaps in the development of SRS, generating public good knowledge in high-impact areas. A bibliometric analysis was conducted to evaluate the research status, frontier directions, and development trends of SRS research. This analysis employed visual, mathematical, and statistical methods to investigate the literature distribution, quantitative relationships, internal research structure, discipline characteristics, and development patterns for SRS. As illustrated in the attached figure, the number of publications related to SRS research significantly increased after the implementation of the PGSA, with the median number of publications rising from 5 per year (Pre-PGSA) to 16 per year (Post-PGSA). This surge in research activity underscores the program’s effectiveness in addressing the knowledge gaps and fostering advancements in aquaculture health management. Based on this scientific foundation, the PGSA aims to contribute to official health management and facilitate the transfer of essential information for technology, solutions, and policy recommendations, thereby maintaining sustainability and improving the productivity of national aquaculture.