 |
||
| 9 May, 2008 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Poll |
| Should other nations follow Alaska's lead in using aquaculture as part of a fishery enhancement programme? |
|
Current Results
Past Results |
|
Award for sea lice research granted 20 March, 2008 -
Intervet's Dieter Lutticken Award has been granted to Professor George Gettinby, in recognition of his innovative statistical and epidemiological research methods in sea-lice treatments in salmon farming. These fully commit to the advancement of the 3R concept - reducing, refining or replacing the use of animals in research, development and production of veterinary medicines. Professor Gettinby's research focused on the application of statistical and epidemiological methods in sea-lice treatments in salmon farming in order to minimise the number of animals required in test groups. He was awarded the prize, worth €20,000 by a panel of experts. Sea-lice treatments are triggered by monitoring sea lice counts on sampled fish and the monitoring practices vary from country to country. Based on Professor Gettinby's expertise in statistics, epidemiology and experimental design, guidance is now available on how many fish should be sampled in order to provide reliable estimates of infections. This has addressed the reduction principle where the right number of fish is sampled. The work demonstrated that due to a phenomenon known as intra-class correlation, it is best to sample few fish from many cages, instead of many fish from few cages. Professor Gettinby's research also provides an alternative to assessing the effectiveness of veterinary medicines in fish, which supports the replacement principle. This alternative is the adoption of mathematical models which can simulate the effects of treatments on lice populations. Professor Coenraad Hendriksen from the Netherlands Centre Alternatives to Animal Use, Utrecht University and chair of the jury panel said: "Prof. Dr Gettingby's mathematical model has been a novel approach for investigating the optimal use of treatments and one which has involved minimal use of animals. By constructing a mathematical model of the various lice stages on farmed salmon, it is possible to test the effects of treatments at different times of the year. "The approaches developed by Prof. Dr Gettinby contribute to the reduction and replacement of animal usage for efficacy, safety and quality confirmation of veterinary products. In addition, these methods also minimise the use of veterinary medicines in the environment." Professor Gettinby's innovative approach has already been adopted by various companies. The sampling principles for monitoring purposes have become the basis for the Scottish Government's new sampling guidelines for triggering the use of veterinary medicines. The procedures are currently being considered by the Norwegian authorities. The Dieter Lutticken Award, established in 2004, aims to encourage research into the use of alternative models for animal testing with significant impact on the development or production of new animal health products. www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish FISHupdate magazine, Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.
|
Printer friendly version
Email this article to a friend
