December 17, 2007

Australian vaccinations for thousands of barramundi ongoing

Thousands of baby barramundi have recently been vaccinated at the Darwin Aquaculture Centre (DAC) in Australia before being sent to fish farms.

Jerome Bosmans of the Department of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines (DPIFM) said twelve staff from across the department and from local fish farms spent six days inoculating over 200,000 fish, each measuring only 10-12 cm.

The department inoculated around 30,000 - 40,000 fish each day, one by one over a six hour period, Bosmans said.

The baby barramundi were vaccinated against the bacteria Streptococcus iniae, which can be a major threat to fish farming in the northern territory of Australia.

Bosmans explained that once the fish have been inoculated they are delivered to local fish farms a few days later as stock for their ponds.

The fingerlings are grown to a market size of 2.5-3 kilogrammes within 14-18 months depending on the culture method and the water temperature.

The vaccine, which costs about nine cents per fish, is like insurance for fish farmers, as it would reduce the chance of the barramundi contacting the bacterial disease by 95-99 percent.