A preliminary assessment of indirect impacts on aquaculture species health and welfare in Scotland during COVID-19 lockdown.

Alexander G. Murray, Stephen C. Ives, Ronald J. Smith, Meadhbh Moriarty

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Abstract

COVID-19 led to sudden changes in human activities, mainly due to restrictive measures required to supress the virus. We assess the preliminary evidence for impacts on animal health and welfare in Scottish aquaculture, a key economic activity in remoter areas of the country. We summarise the industry structure, explore pathways of vulnerability to aquatic animal disease within a One Health framework that may be accentuated by impacts of COVID-19, and use basic routine data collection on the key welfare indicators of salmon mortality and parasitic sea lice counts. The indicators were published on schedule and provide no evidence of gross impact on health and welfare, at least for salmon, during the period of intensive lockdown restrictions in Scotland. Longer term effects cannot be ruled out and we do not assess impacts on the economic or social aspects of aquaculture production.
Original languageEnglish
Article number100167
Pages (from-to)1-5
Number of pages5
JournalVeterinary and Animal Science
Volume11
Early online date20 Jan 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished (in print/issue) - 31 Mar 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was funded by the Scottish Government through AQ03O0. The authors would like to acknowledge Graham Ewen, Food Standards Scotland for his insights into shellfish surveillance and Alan Christie for collating the industry data used herein.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021

Keywords

  • Aquaculture management
  • Atlantic salmon
  • Fish disease management
  • Pandemic

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