Training

The Advanced Training Course “Diagnostics and Prevention for Fish Parasite Control in Aquaculture” was held in Zaragoza, Spain, from 21 to 25 October 2019. The event was organised by the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM), through the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza (IAMZ), and the ParaFishControl project, with the collaboration of PerformFISH, MedAID, and the University of Zaragoza.

The course was attended by twenty-five aquaculture experts from 13 countries, including research, policy and industry representatives. The primary objective of the course was to provide integrated information on fish parasites affecting marine and freshwater farmed fish in the Mediterranean region, focusing on the most recent findings on the main parasitic diseases, diagnostic methods, disease assessments and preventive and control measures.

The ParaFishControl, PerformFISH and MedAID projects provided attendants with the their latest techniques to diagnose and prevent parasitic diseases in Mediterranean aquaculture farms, and also shared their insights on newly tested alternative treatments and their efficacy. The practical design of the course will allow the attendants to implement what they have learnt on their day-to-day work.

The MedAID project has now developed two on-line modules based on this training course. The first one is provided by Dr Francesc Padrós from the University of Barcelona and Dr Carlos Zarza from Skretting ARC. This module focuses on parasitic diseases prevention, remediation and mitigation. The second module is provided by Dr Georgios Rigos from the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research and it focuses on the management of parasitic diseases. Both modules are available here: www.medaid-h2020.eu/index.php/fishparasites.

Increasing capacity building for the Mediterranean aquaculture sector through training is one of the core activities of PerformFISH. The training carried out by RDI performers or industry in PerformFISH is improving the professional skills and competence of those working and training within the blue economy. Lisen Li is one of the young researchers working on the project.

Lisen Li has an MSc in Aquaculture from Shanghai Ocean University (SHOU), Shanghai, China and is registered for a PhD at the Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal working with P10, CCMAR. Lisen’s PhD is directed at understanding how Gilthead sea bream and European sea bass egg quality affects larval and juvenile quality. The outcomes of his work will be translated to industry, providing additional management tools for egg quality monitoring. Lisen started his project in March 2018.