Fish diseases affect the survival and growth rates of fish under culture. Given that treatments are expensive, fish diseases invariably lead to lower harvest and higher cost. Fish farmers often suffer hefty economic losses due to fish diseases.
To alleviate such losses, it is crucial to take precautions
to prevent fish diseases and reduce pathogen levels in water bodies. It is also
important to prevent water quality from deteriorating and to strengthen the
natural resistance of the fish stock.
Regular monitoring of fish health is an effective way to
identify disease causes and appropriate treatments. One major cause of serious fish
kill is overlooking the contagiousness of fish diseases and thus delaying
treatment. As such, adequate care and treatment should be given to infected
fish promptly.
Causes of Fish
Diseases
There are three major causes of fish diseases:
a.
Presence of environmental pathogens
b.
Low resistance of the fish stock
c.
Unsatisfactory water environment
Pathogens (e.g. bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites)
exist in all natural water bodies, yet healthy fish have adequate resistance
against them. They can also adapt to reasonable environmental changes and in
turn avoid diseases due to pathogenic infection.
When the pathogen level of a water body rises sharply due to
external factors, and the natural resistance of the fish stock cannot cope with
the increased pathogens, the fish will become vulnerable to pathogenic
infection and diseases.
In addition, external factors may also cause drastic changes
in water quality, resulting in poor health and low resistance of fish stock.
The risks of pathogenic infection and fish diseases or deaths are heightened.
Author Bio:
John Chiseba Mwamba
Fish Farming
Consultant at Innovative Farmers and Aquaculture Consultants Zambia Limited.
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