The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has just launched the Aquatic Animal Health Services (AAHS). The service aims to help aquaculture farms prevent and control diseases that can affect the survival and growth rate of aquatic animals and impact harvests.
SFA has engaged Vettrust Singapore Pte Ltd through a tender exercise to administer the AAHS through the provision of professional consultations and disease investigations. Farms can already start to consult aquatic animal health vets/professionals under the service provider for professional consultations and disease investigations up to a cap of three hours per session over the next four years.
The AAHS will also enable SFA to gather aggregate information on the disease situation and areas for improvement on biosecurity practices in each farming region, which will be beneficial in the overall planning and resourcing to better support the local aquaculture industry.
This service is a step towards ensuring the sustainability of Singapore’s tropical marine aquaculture and securing a steady supply of safe seafood. 11 farms have already signed up for AAHS.
According to the Director of one of the farms which has signed up for AAHS, the AAHS is a good initiative from SFA to identify possible diseases and how to handle the situation to prevent spreading of the disease. It also enables workers to learn to identify diseases earlier to minimise fish mortality.
SFA announced intentions to continue to seek feedback from farms on the AAHS to ensure it remains relevant to the industry.
(Source: Singapore Food Agency)
