VN June 2020

Vetnuus | Junie 2020 12 The project culminated in a three-tier grading system that Taylor devised to help famers better manage fish health and biosecurity that will hopefully serve as an industry standard. All three levels build upon each another, increasing in difficulty and qualifying requirements – such as training and rigorous screening – moving from Yellow Flag, to Green Flag and, finally, at the highest level, Blue Flag farms. The scheme is both practical and affordable, as it addresses the fundamentals of basic fish health management by training farmers, while the certification relieves economic pressure. Meeting international OIE (The World Organisation for Animal Health) standards, for example, is too costly for many African farmers, and local laboratory diagnostic capacity is moreover poor. The system is also replicable to other species. While health management would need to be tailored to specific diseases, the principles remain the same. “It’s addressing disease surveillance, its addressing training of people, and it’s keeping things bio-secure,” said Taylor. “With those three pillars, you get a good handle on managing disease.” Taylor acknowledges that the system is not fool proof and that consignments could not be certified as being completely disease- free: “You’re going to get things slipping through the lower grades,” she said. “But I wanted to try at least get them on the ladder, so that they can start addressing things at the bottom and get a measure of control.” A system like Taylor’s could certainly have potential for other developing countries. In the meantime, however, it’s a promising new development for the South African tilapia industry, and particularly for emerging farmers. “For many of them, blue flag may never become achievable, but at least if every consignment of fish has got a yellow flag stamp on it, it’s a wielding tool,”she said. “They can potentially sell their fish for more, and that’s my hope.” v Find the article and more on aquaculture at: https://www.aquaculturealliance.org Article Raise the flag... <<< 11 MANAGING YOUR CPD COMPLIANCE We understand that managing your CPD requirements can be a time consuming and somewhat frustrating process, which is why we want to introduce you to VetEDonline. VetEDonline is an online CPD Management and Education Platform endorsed by the South African Veterinary Association (SAVA), which provide veterinarians with state of the art CPD Compliance and Education Solutions that assist them on their journey to CPD compliance. VetEDonline supports practicing veterinarians with their CPD compliance by providing the following solutions and services: Online Courses from leading providers CPD accredited articles from SAVA To manage your CPD certificates and keep track of your CPD points O N L I N E Ve t Access your SAVA VetNews Article every month and complete the online assessment to receive your CPD points ONLINE COURSES JOURNALS & ARTICLES ONLINE LEARNING PORTFOLIO Contact us for more information and guidance on your CPD compliance +27 12 111 7000 | support@veted.online | www.veted.online