Abstract
Aquaculture has undergone extensive development in recent decades due to its use as a source of protein for human consumption, as models for scientific research, and as pets. The purpose of this study was to survey ornamental fish stores in Chiang Mai province, Thailand to identify practices which affect life quality and welfare of pet fish including general management, biosecurity management, and knowledge about fish disease and drug usage of ornamental fish store owners. The results show that most pet fish stores have poor husbandry in terms of fish health based on the observed incidence of skin erosion and fin rot (92.86%) and white spots on the skin (78.57%) in store fish. Moreover, treatment of these health conditions were performed by experienced people working in the stores without consulting a veterinarian. The top three drugs used for treatment included malachite green oxalate, trichlorfon, and formalin. Interestingly, oxytetracycline and chlortetracycline were also used frequently to treat fish disease. Despite a lack of formal training in fish management, fish health, and drug usage in ornamental fish, the knowledge of owners about fish disease and antibacterial agent usage was determined to be of an intermediate level based on testing. The information gained from this study can be used in future studies to identify stressors that affect pet fish welfare and to investigate biosecurity and ornamental fish welfare in the other sectors of the ornamental fish trade supply chain.
Highlights
Over one billion fish are traded globally each year
Serious problems include a lack of good management and fish disease outbreaks from bacteria (Oladele et al, 2015; Sahoo et al, 2016) viruses (Pikulkaew et al, 2009; Pikulkaew et al, 2020), and parasites (Leung and Bates, 2013; Videira et al, 2016) which have been identified as a public health problem due to antimicrobial-resistance (Watts et al, 2017; Saengsitthisak et al, 2020)
The database of the Chiang Mai Fisheries Government that was accessed on 10 June 2018 and 18 ornamental fish stores in Chiang Mai were identified for the survey (Department of fisheries, 2018)
Summary
Over one billion fish are traded globally each year. A shift in the demand for fish promoted a sharp increase in recent years (Qi, 2002; Goessling and Sadler, 2015). Fish have essential roles and are increasingly being used in aquaculture, pet keeping, and in scientific research (Qi, 2002; Goessling and Sadler, 2015). There are many negative impacts of fish production and these problems are difficult to assess adequately (Tavares et al, 2017). Serious problems include a lack of good management and fish disease outbreaks from bacteria (Oladele et al, 2015; Sahoo et al, 2016) viruses (Pikulkaew et al, 2009; Pikulkaew et al, 2020), and parasites (Leung and Bates, 2013; Videira et al, 2016) which have been identified as a public health problem due to antimicrobial-resistance (Watts et al, 2017; Saengsitthisak et al, 2020)
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