The Lamar Fish Health Center’s staff veterinarian assists hatcheries when problems occur. Knowledge of FDA approved drugs and appropriate application methods are needed when diseases occur. The Center works closely with fish hatcheries and the USFWS Aquatic Animal Drug Approval Program to treat fish legally and safely under investigational new animal drug (INAD) permits. Through established patient-client relationships, the Lamar Fish Health Center veterinarian also provides hatcheries with a veterinary feed directive (or script), that is required for the application of these medicated feeds. All these processes, including observation of withdrawal times (fish must be off medicated feeds for a certain amount of time before being released to the wild), assures treatments are safe for the fish, people, and the environment.
Fisheries management, Monitoring, Research