Discussion Documents

Fish Health Management in British Columbia

Public - Private Partnership (P3) Solution
Dr. Joanne Constantine

• Brief history
• Tasks
• Core Objectives/Business Requirements
• Program Objectives
• Program Components
• Elements: The 4 Program Pillars
  • 1. Fish Health Management Plans
  • 2. Disease Monitoring and Surveillance
  • 3. Reporting and Auditing
  • 4. Fish Health Advisory Committe
• Key Messages

Presentation Outline

• Brief history
• Tasks
• Core Objectives/Business Requirements
• Program Objectives
• Program Components
• Partnership Approach and Solutions
• Review and Assessment
• Key Messages

Brief history

“British Columbia circa 1995”
Headlines

• "Salmon are almost a religious icon for some people," {Lynn} Hunter says.

• Environmental and aboriginal groups are starting to turn their sights on salmon farms in much the same way they did on the forest industry. Those confrontations produced hundreds of arrests, countless blockades and damaging international boycotts. ((CTV News)

Fast Forward 2000

• Conclusion of Environmental Assessment Office Review and 5 year moratorium
  
• 5 volume report from independent researchers
• 49 recommendations led to new programs and regulations – Provincial Aquaculture Strategy implementation
• 15 recommendations on fish health

Task

• To build a system to monitor and manage fish health and disease while addressing the political demands and public perception and concerns
• Approach – bring to the table stakeholders [with fish health qualifications] who have a vested interest in the task and creating solutions

Who?

• Industry
• Veterinarian and health professionals
• Government – Fisheries, Agriculture and Environment
• Academia
• Scientific advisors

Core Objectives

Program had to be:

• Practical and economically viable for farms
• Meet scientific criteria for surveillance, disease prevention, management of health and disease issues in context of possible environmental effects
• Balance public transparency with business confidentiality
• Apply equally to all sectors – private and public

Program Objectives

• Recognition program is about “health management” not “disease management”
• Proactive not reactive
• More inclusive of activities that could impact health – not just pathogen testing
• Improve knowledge and response capacity
• Identify gaps and adapt to meet new priorities or needs

Elements: The 4 Program Pillars

• Fish Health Management plans (FHMP)
  3 components
• Monitoring and Surveillance
  Industry and government routine sampling
• Reporting and Auditing
• Industry results and government audit findings
• Fish Health Advisory Committee
  Third party input and science advice

1. Fish Health Management Plans

Goal:
Information for evidence - based decisions when managing health and disease problems

Principles:
1. Characterize health risks based on daily observations during routine activities
2. Manage the risks to reduce probability of disease occurrence
3. Manage disease when it did occur

Overview of Scope

Monitor health of animals the same way industry wide:

• Water quality
• Activities such as handling, anesthesia, predators, nutrition
• Vaccination Broodstock management
• Outbreak Investigation
• Managing Dead fish
• Biosecurity
• Release or escape of fish
• Movement of fish
• Therapeutant use
• Record keeping
  FHMP information contributes to Active Observational Surveillance which is part of overall surveillance system

Challenges

• Agreement amongst fish health professionals in uniformity of clinical practices related to the listed activities
• Scope and details of the task – agreement what was in/what was out
• How to administer a system that met the core objectives
  • (Practical/Scientific/Transparent/Equal application)

Achieving Implementation Success

• Developed a discussion document
• Consulted with those affected for 2 years on details
• Made the FHMP a license requirement so it was enforceable (industry acceptance of accountability)
• Established a government audit and review function (public confidence)

• Last 2 elements were critical for success

2. Disease Monitoring and Surveillance

• Also built upon the existing industry system of Fish Health professionals
• Standardize sampling and reporting of mortalities amongst all farms
• Government audit function – randomized farm selection and targeted sampling
• Improve information on endemic disease status and detection of emerging diseases

Challenges

• Agreement on scope of practice standards
• Meeting core objectives
• Economic challenges of cost to industry and government balanced with benefit
• Balance of epidemiological sampling requirements with practicality of sample selection
• Technical challenges – lab testing uniformity, sample sizes and availability, data base design etc.

Achieving Success

• Benefit of arguing with knowledge vs. speculation and fear - Information is power!
• Selling the benefits of the program in addressing more than one goal (global market concerns for industry, local government obstacles and public perception, level playing field for private facilities and public enhancement facilities)
• For smaller players and new commodities, provided health service
• Those with a vested interest worked together to identify problems and overcome obstacles

3. Reporting and Auditing

• 2 data management systems based on:
  1.Industry collection and evaluation of health information with a third party audit
  2.Government sampling and reporting as an audit of industry reporting
• All reporting was mandatory and posted on the web

Challenges

• Costly endeavour for industry
• Concerns with collecting and distributing private sector data – FOI
• Credibility – need to ensure the data is accurate and audited – scientific scrutiny
• Meet the core objectives (practical, scientific, transparent and equal application)
• Government access to private sector info

Achieving Success

Create partnership based on:

• Shared costs of operation
• Maintenance of the right to “audit” without “ownership”
• Credibility built-into the system based on third party audit by contractor
• Included enhancement/wild fish disease findings
• Public transparency by posting reports of compliance and summary results

Overview

[D]

Farmer Level Reporting

[D]

Audits by BCMAL

[D]

Implications for the "Wild Side"

[D]

4. Fish Health Advisory Committee

• Representatives to provide science advice on the FHMP
• Review new practices and procedures
• Advise on the standards used to compare to industry practices in the “Manual”
• Advise on new and emerging issues

Challenges

• Needed science input and avenues for resolution of management of fish health issues
• Expert opinion and critical evaluation of information that can be applied
• Third party review of standards used to measure impact of activities on “health”

Achieving Success

• Review and input of science into farming practices and regulation of those activities
• Assisted in providing expert advise to government on regulations to ensure FHMP’s were: practical/ economic/ transparent/ scientific
• Allowed for input from “outside” not just industry

Key Messages

• Huge political and public confidence challenge
• Information helps to balance “science” and “public perception”
• Assess economic impacts and benefits
• Third party audit and review
• Need for continued critical evaluation and assessment
• Commitment to adapt and improve
• Consider wild species and disease dynamics between farmed and wild