TO: Wayne Hubert, President, AFS
FROM: Diane Elliott, Immediate Past President, AFS Fish Health Section
DATE: 7/18/2011
I. Motion Report
No motions.
II. Activity Report
(A) Summary of Annual Outcomes and Accomplishments of the AFS Fish Health Section
in 2010-2011 Organized by Goals, Objectives and Strategies of the AFS Strategic Plan
1. Accomplishments under AFS Goal 1: Global Fisheries Leadership
a. The Fish Health Section (FHS) was the host and primary sponsor of the Sixth
International Symposium of Aquatic Animal Health (ISAAH) in Tampa, Florida on
September 5-9, 2010. The theme of the conference was “Global Strategies for a
Changing Environment,” and participants included more than 300 fish health
professionals from 24 countries. Other sponsoring organizations included the Asian
Fisheries Society Fish Health Section, the European Association of Fish
Pathologists, the International Association of Aquatic Animal Medicine, the
Japanese Society for Fish Pathology, and the National Shellfisheries Association.
Plenary lectures, panel discussions, concurrent platform sessions, and poster
sessions were included to highlight a world focus on health issues of cultured and
wild aquatic animals. (AFS Strategic Plan Objective 1.1, Strategy 1; meetings)
b. As part of an effort to increase involvement of FHS members in the AFS annual
meetings, the FHS is sponsoring a half-day symposium on September 6, 2011 at the AFS
141st Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington. The title of the symposium is “Ecology of
Infectious and Parasitic Diseases in Populations of Wild Fish,” and the co-organizers are
Paul Hershberger and Diane Elliott. The symposium program of 14 invited oral
presentations will highlight some of the recent advancements in disease ecology of wild
fishes from an international perspective. Because the overwhelming number of
symposium proposals received by the AFS meeting program committee limited the
available time for contributed oral presentations, the FHS symposium organizers solicited
contributed presentations in poster format from FHS members to augment the oral
presentations and further increase involvement of FHS members in the AFS annual
meeting. The FHS plans to continue sponsoring symposia at future AFS annual meetings,
and may sponsor some of these symposia in cooperation with other AFS units such as the
Fish Culture Section (AFS Strategic Plan Objective 1.1, Strategy 1; meetings)
c. The 2011 Annual Meeting of the FHS was held in conjunction with the 52nd Western
Fish Disease Workshop on June 14-16, 2011 at the Vancouver Island Convention Centre
in Nanaimo, B.C., Canada. This highly successful meeting attracted more attendees than
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anticipated. A continuing education session on Practical Tools for Managing Bacterial
Kidney Disease on the first day was attended by 106 participants, and 144 registrants
attended the following two days of platform and poster presentations. (AFS Strategic
Plan Objective 1.1, Strategy 1; meetings)
d. The 2010 edition of the AFS-FHS Blue Book, “Suggested Procedures for the Detection
and Identification of Certain Finfish and Shellfish Pathogens,” was published in digital
format and includes several new chapters. This AFS-published reference is lavishly
illustrated (including some videos) and has become a common desk and laboratory
reference for all aquatic animal health laboratories. The Diagnostic Methods and Quality
Assurance/Quality Control sections of the Blue Book are available for purchase as a unit
through the AFS Bookstore. The Inspection Manual section is a collaborative effort
between FHS professionals and those of the US Fish & Wildlife Service, and details
procedures for conducting aquatic animal health inspections. The Inspection Manual
section is available free of charge through a link posted on the FHS website. (AFS
Strategic Plan Objective 1.1, Strategy 2; publications)
e. An ad hoc FHS committee chaired by Maureen Purcell completed revision of the
polymerase chain reaction (PCR) chapter of the AFS-FHS Blue Book to include real-time
quantitative PCR (qPCR), a molecular method that is gaining popularity in fish and
shellfish disease diagnosis. Committee members also completed a technical review paper
on the use of qPCR for detecting aquatic animal pathogens; the paper was accepted for
publication in the Journal of Aquatic Animal Health. (AFS Strategic Plan Objective 1.1,
Strategy 2; publications)
f. The FHS Blue Book has been included as an accepted protocol for conducting
health investigations of aquatic animals under the National Aquatic Animal Health
Plan for the U.S. (NAAHP). Participation in implementation of the NAAHP
continues through FHS communications with the three conservation agencies
(USFWS, NOAA and USDA) and other stakeholders in preliminary discussions
involving establishment of the National Aquatic Animal Health Advisory
Committee and National Aquatic Animal Pathogen Testing Network. The FHS
supported the appointment of Andrew Goodwin as aquaculture representative to the
Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Animal Health (SACAH), which advises the
Secretary of Agriculture on important animal health issues.
(AFS Strategic Plan Objective 1.2; increasing interactions with AFS members
and government policy makers)
Accomplishments under AFS Goal 2: Education/Continuing Education
a. The FHS offers two professional certifications for fish health professionals; lists
of certified individuals can be found on the FHS Website:
Aquatic Animal Health Inspector – certifies an individual with appropriate
education, training and experience to conduct disease inspections according to the
AFS-FHS “Suggested Procedures for the Detection and Identification of Certain
Finfish and Shellfish Pathogens” (Blue Book). This certification is a recognized
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credential in the National Aquatic Animal Health Plan task force of the interagency
Joint Subcommittee on Aquaculture (JSA). One new Aquatic Animal Health
Inspector certification has been awarded since September 2010, and three
additional applicants have registered to take the certification examination.
Fish Pathologist – certifies individuals capable of utilizing multiple disciplines and
extensive experience in the process of evaluating and diagnosing diseases in
aquatic animals. One new Fish Pathologist certification has awarded since
September 2010, and one additional applicant has registered to take the certification
examination.
Recertification – most certified individuals seek 5-year recertification unless they have
retired or had a career change. Ten Aquatic Animal Health Inspectors and four Fish
Pathologists have been re-certified in 2011. (AFS Strategic Plan Objective 2.2;
professional certification)
b. It has become apparent in recent years that many fish health professionals who have
obtained academic specialization in a particular discipline of the fish health field (e.g.
histopathology, microbiology, parasitology, toxicology, or molecular biology) may have
difficulty fulfilling the educational requirements for Aquatic Animal Health Inspector and
(especially) for Fish Pathologist certification. Therefore, the FHS is working on the
development of online continuing education (CE) modules and other types of CE courses
such as laboratory proficiency training and subsequent testing through a private
proficiency testing firm, to help fill the educational gaps of potential applicants. A
procedure for development of the new system of CE training has been developed, and the
first online CE module (normal histology module #1) is scheduled for release in
September 2011. Additional histology/histopathology modules and a module on
molecular (PCR) methods for fish pathogen detection are under development. (AFS
Strategic Plan Objective 2.3; broaden CE opportunities using innovative methods)
c. The FHS has been recently been certified as a “RACE” (Registry of Approved
Continuing Education) provider (No. 546) through the American Association of
Veterinary State Boards. This certification will eliminate the need for veterinarian AFS-
FHS members to seek individual approval for AFS-FHS CE credits from their state
veterinary boards. The first RACE-approved FHS CE course was held in conjunction
with the Eastern Fish Health Workshop in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina on March 28-
April 1, 2011, and the second was held on June 14, 2011 in conjunction with the FHS
Annual Meeting-Western Fish Disease Workshop in Nanaimo, B.C., Canada. (AFS
Strategic Plan Objective 2.3; broaden CE opportunities using innovative methods)
Accomplishments under AFS Goal 3: Value of membership
a. The FHS website has been redesigned to improve navigation and search
functions, and a discussion forum on the website is open to all FHS members. In
addition, online survey methodology has been used to solicit opinions and input
from FHS members. (AFS Strategic Plan Objective 3.1; determine and respond
to needs and opinions of members)
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b. The FHS conducted its annual election online, through SurveyMonkey, for the first
time in 2011. A total of 135 ballots were cast in 2011 (47.5% return) compared with 52,
48, and 82 ballots cast in 2010, 2009, and 2008, respectively. The online election process
supervised by Nominating and Balloting Committee Chair Ben LaFrentz significantly
increased voter participation and provided greater anonymity to voters. (AFS Strategic
Plan Objective 3.1; determine and respond to needs and opinions of members)
c. The FHS presented 11 Snieszko Student Travel Awards to support travel expenses for
U.S. and foreign students to attend the International Symposium of Aquatic Animal
Health (ISAAH) in Florida in September 2010. Five of the students receiving travel
awards were from the U.S., three were from Australia, and one each hailed from Iceland,
Poland, and South Korea. The awards ranged from $800 to $1,000 each, and applications
were judged on the basis of the abstract quality, financial need, academic and
professional achievement, and significance of interest in the research. In addition to
Student Travel Awards, a Student Best Paper Award was also presented at the ISAAH.
Student Travel Awards ranging from $1,000 to $1,420 provided travel funds for three
students to attend the FHS Annual Meeting in Nanaimo, B.C. in June 2011. Four Student
Paper Awards were presented at the Nanaimo meeting. The activities of the FHS Student
Involvement Committee have helped to enhance student membership and participation in
the Section. The committee has established a Facebook group called AFS-FHS Students
to facilitate discussion and networking for student members. Student mixers are held at
FHS meetings, allowing for students to meet informally and discuss their research, future
plans, and job prospects. FHS “veterans” are always on hand at these meetings to share
advice and professional insight with students. (AFS Strategic Plan Objective 3.2;
enhance participation of students and professionals)
d. The Fish Health Section Listserv has continued to be a valuable communications tool
for the Section. The FHS Updates are sent out to Listserv members (FHS Membership) at
least twice monthly and include items relevant to Section news, national/international fish
health news, regulatory information, job announcements, meeting announcements,
training opportunities, etc. The FHS Website is also a central location for FHS
information and resources for all of the above, and includes procedures and forms for
certification, registration for meetings and workshops, and links to training and other
resources. (AFS Strategic Plan Objective 3.4; innovative and cost-effective ways to
make fisheries science and management information available)
e. Since early 2010, the FHS Procedures Manual has been undergoing a major revision to
reflect current Section practices. The last major revision of the FHS Procedures Manual
occurred in 2007. (AFS Strategic Plan Objective 3.5; good governance and
organizational management; Strategy 1; continuity of governance procedures—
updated documentation of Section practices)
f. Articles on the early history of the FHS and the history of the FHS professional
certification programs were prepared by Archives Committee Chair Drew Mitchell and
are available on the Section website for members to download. Drew Mitchell recently
completed an article on the life and contributions of fish health pioneer Dr. Stanislas F.
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Snieszko, after whom the Section’s highest award is named. This article will also be
uploaded to the FHS website. The FHS Archives Committee is engaged in discussions
with personnel at the D.C. Booth National Historic Fish Hatchery and Archives
concerning the possibility of establishing a permanent home for the FHS archives at that
facility. (AFS Strategic Plan Objective 3.5; good governance and organizational
management; Strategy 3; archiving important documents and other
communications)
g. Financial report for FHS sent to AFS Executive Director. (AFS Strategic Plan
Objective 3.5; good governance and organizational management; Strategy 4;
financial security)
(B) Recommendations or suggestions for future consideration.
1. Automatic updating of unit membership lists
Improvements could be made by the parent society in implementing automatic updating
of AFS unit membership lists. Periodically the FHS requests an updated list of AFS-FHS
members from the AFS so that the list of recipients of the FHS Listserv updates (AFS-
FHS members) can be kept current. However, there is often a significant lag time
between dues payment by a new member and the time that member is added to the FHS
Listserv update recipient list. Because the FHS Listserv updates contain time-sensitive
information that is important to members (meetings, employment opportunities, etc.), and
certain areas of the FHS website are restricted to members, maintaining a current
membership list is essential. Although the AFS Executive Director indicated at the AFS
midyear meeting that changes had been made to allow unit leaders online access to their
membership lists, this access was not yet fully operational when the FHS inquired after
the meeting.
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