Fisheries and Oceans Canada
www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
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Aquatic Animal Health
Ensuring healthy fish and shellfish
Seafood is the world’s – and Canada’s – most globally traded product. With this comes the need to make sure disease is prevented, and when it does occur, that it is effectively managed.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada partners with federal, provincial and territorial governments, the aquaculture industry and academia to prevent and reduce disease in farmed fish and shellfish through:
- Advances in scientific research
- Strict federal and provincial regulations
- Improved farming techniques
- Vaccination programs, as regulated by Health Canada (Veterinary Drugs Directorate)
- Establishment of the National Aquatic Animal Health Program
National Aquatic Animal Health Program
Canada’s National Aquatic Animal Health Program (NAAHP), led by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, ensures our country’s fish and shellfish meet the increasingly stringent international standards for fish health set by the World Organisation for Animal Health, an international veterinary organization responsible for setting standards for land-based and aquatic animal health management programs.
The NAAHP protects Canada’s aquatic resources and maintains our competitive access to markets around the world. Additionally, the NAAHP allows Canada to screen imports for disease – an important step in keeping our own environment disease-free.
Regulations for aquatic animal health
Fish and shellfish health in Canada is regulated regionally by the provinces and territories under their own programs and regulations and federally in British Columbia by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and nationally through the Health of Animals Act.
The Health of Animals Act and Regulations governs international trade in live animals, animal products and by-products in order to prevent the introduction of animal diseases into Canada and to protect the agricultural sectors and the economy. The Act brings Canada’s aquatic and terrestrial animal health programs under the same legislative umbrella.
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The Fish Health Regulations under the Fisheries Act are designed to prevent the spread of infectious fish diseases, both by inspecting production sources of fish stocks and by controlling the movements of infected fish stocks.
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