MODEL AQUATIC ANIMAL HEALTH REGULATION

1. Purpose

   It is the purpose of this regulation to institute the Maryland Aquatic Animal Health Program; a program which depends on prevention, control, eradication and management strategies based on: prevention of exposure; early detection; sanitation; quarantine and elimination of infected and exposed animals without further spread; effective decontamination of both premises and transportation systems; and a statistically valid program of monitoring and surveillance of aquatic animals and their pathogens in cultured and wild stocks.

2. Definitions
   1. Hatchery means incubators, hatchers, and auxiliary equipment on one=s premises operated for the purpose of hatching eggs.

   2. Hatching Eggs means fertile eggs used to produce embryonated eggs, or aquatic animals.

   3. Person means individuals, partnerships, associations, corporations, companies, or any other legal entity.

   4. Integrated company means a person who controls multiple aspects of production and management and contracts for facilities and services associated with the breeding, hatching, growing and processing of aquatic animals.

   5. Laboratory means any diagnostic laboratory operating in or out of the State, capable of conducting differential diagnostic tests for aquatic animal diseases.

   6. Official Laboratory means a laboratory operated or approved by the chief animal health official of any State or by the Federal Government.

   7. Official Establishment means any establishment engaged in the processing of aquatic animals or aquatic animal products capable of use as human food and inspected under approved State or Federal supervision.

   8. Dealer means any individual who engages in the business of selling, buying, exchanging or transferring aquatic animals in any stage of development at any place at any time.

   9. Exhibition means displaying or showing aquatic animals for competition or the advancement of the species, including, among other examples, county and State fairs, farm shows, breeding shows, swap- meets and fishing contests (tournaments) where ponds and/or tanks are used but not streams.

   10. Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture, or his designee. If any part of the regulation is meant to include or refer to the Secretary of DNR or his designee it will specifically so state.

   11. Department means MDA . If a part of the regulation is meant to include or refer to DNR it will specifically so state.

   12. Quarantine means the confinement of aquatic animals, including the existing and subsequent offspring and/or eggs, to a specific premises at a specific location for a specific time. It may include an entire facility or an entire business establishment, or it may only include a portion thereof. Quarantines are issued to prevent the spread of specific diseases and/or the unauthorized release of brood stock which are being held to produce the F-1 generation which generation will then be eligible to be released. There are cases where the physical geography especially the water supply system, makes the imposition of a quarantine impractical. Under these circumstances quarantines will not be issued but other methods will be used to limit the spread of infection.

   13. Participating State means any State which has in effect an aquatic animal disease management program which meets with approval of the State Aquatic Animal Health Advisory Committee.

   14. An epidemiologically controlled area means an area defined by the ecology of the disease, physical geography, transportation systems, and by economic factors but not by political boundaries. Where State boundaries are involved, the appropriate officials of that State shall be notified of the investigation and the probable extent of the problem.

   15. Class 1 Area means an area of the State where the aquatic animal population density is so high that the control of catastrophic diseases requires special precautions and disease control procedures and the most intensive management of biosecurity. It may also include a stream in which the wild stock contains a particularly valuable species or in which an endangered species is known to exist.

   16. Class 2 Area means an area of the State where the aquatic animal population density is sufficiently low that the control of catastrophic diseases requires only normal precautions and disease control procedures.

   17. An infected animal means an animal whose body has been invaded by a disease causing agent and from whose body that agent has been recovered.

   18. The term Alot@ when used in the discussion of a disease scenario is meant to refer to the population group at risk.

3. Reporting Aquatic Animal Diseases.

   Any person having knowledge of, or suspicion of the existence of any infectious or contagious disease shall immediately report this to the appropriate Secretary. Laboratories in the State shall report to the appropriate Department preliminary as well as final results of any diagnostic test performed to determine the presence of any highly infectious or contagious disease. The Departments shall keep each other informed. These reports shall contain as a minimum the date, and if appropriate the name of the grower, and location of the premises in addition to the pertinent disease information. If these reports are concerning disease in wild species then the location information will be as complete as possible and consistent with the Geographic Information System selected by the Departments for the purpose of supporting this program. This information will be kept confidential by the Departments in conformance with the standards of national production statistics.

4. Inventory and Survey of the Population at Risk

   The Department of Agriculture and the Department of Natural Resources shall jointly undertake an inventory of aquatic animals and their pathogens throughout the State.

5. Quarantine of Animals and Premises
   1. If the Secretary has reasonable evidence that any aquatic animal is infected with or has been exposed to any of the diseases listed in Appendix II and III, will be quarantined; and no aquatic animals regardless of the stage of development or the structures or the waters in which they are maintained, shall be moved to or from the quarantined premises without written permission of the Secretary. Such quarantines will be released if subsequent tests and procedures that the Secretary may require, confirm that the animals are no longer infected and the premises are no longer contaminated. In the case of wild species the Secretary of DNR will undertake such measures that are technically and/or economically feasible to prevent the further spread of the disease.

   2. Where dealers, truckers and/or buying stations are involved, all premises, vehicles, tanks and other materials associated with the handling and/or transportation of the aquatic animals may not be used for any purpose prior to the determination by the Secretary that it is permissible to do so, unless the premises, vehicles, tanks and other materials are cleaned, washed and disinfected under supervision of the Secretary.

   3. Where hatcheries are involved the entire establishment or a portion thereof shall be quarantined at the discretion of the Secretary. Where State hatcheries or hatcheries under contract to the State are involved, the quarantine shall be imposed after consultation with the Secretary of DNR. Discretionary quarantine of a portion of the establishment shall be based on the internal biosecurity procedures practiced by the facility.

   4. Buying stations and dealers in an epidemiologically controlled area may be prohibited from trading in aquatic animals and/or aquatic animal products, unless it has been determined that it is permissible to do so by the Secretary.

   5. Aquatic animal exhibitions may be prohibited in an epidemiologically controlled area.

6. Handling Animals and Premises Confirmed to be Infected with listed diseases:
   1. Where any lot of aquatic animals is shown to be infected with one or more of the listed diseases described in Appendix II and III all aquatic animals on the premises may be depopulated in a manner approved by the Secretary. The waters that held the animals will then be treated under the supervision of the Secretary in order to destroy the infectious agent and then disposed of in an approved manner. The premises shall then be tested in a manner prescribed by the Secretary at appropriate intervals following disinfection for the presence of the disease organism. These tests may include the exposure of sentinel animals in addition to environmental sampling. If these tests are negative, the premises shall be eligible for release of the quarantine and restocking. It should be noted that except for diseases that are considered a hazard to the public health, depopulation procedures for food fish will preferentially mean controlled slaughter and processing for food but will not include the rendering of the product into feed for fish.

   2. When a hatchery in a Class 1 area is found to contain hatching eggs or newly hatched aquatic animals from an infected lot these infected or exposed animals and eggs shall be disposed of in a manner approved by the Secretary and the premises shall then be cleaned, washed and disinfected under supervision of the Secretary. The premises shall then be tested for the presence of the agent at an interval of time consistent with the ability of the organism to survive in the environment. If this test is negative the quarantine shall be released. The testing procedures and the conditions of quarantine release shall be determined in consultation with the Secretary of DNR

7. Controlled Slaughter of Infected Aquatic Animals
   1. Where any lot of aquatic animals is shown to be infected with any of the listed diseases, they may, upon written permission of the Secretary and with the proviso that adequate biosecurity will be maintained, be permitted to be held on the premises for the normal production period of the animals. Tests approved by the Secretary shall be conducted at prescribed intervals during the quarantine. If these tests show no change in the rate of spread of the infection the animals may continue to be held in quarantine until such time as they would normally be harvested. If, however, it is determined that biosecurity cannot be or is not being maintained, then the lot may be ordered to be immediately slaughtered at a time and place designated by the Secretary. Eggs shall be disposed of in a manner approved by the Secretary.

   2. The affected premises, vehicles, tanks and other materials associated with the handling and/or transportation of the animals or eggs, shall be cleaned, washed and disinfected under supervision of the Secretary.

   3. Interference with normal slaughtering operations should be avoided and the salvage slaughter of the animals should be conducted at a time of day or day of week that can accommodate the requisite cleaning and disinfection of the plant that must be done at the end of the operation.

   4. Breeding animals that are infected with one of the listed diseases, may, with the written permission of the Secretary be permitted to be maintained under quarantine until a large enough population of negative brood stock can be produced to maintain the line. It is stipulated, however that adequate biosecurity be maintained during the quarantine period. After the quarantine period the premises must treated and tested as described in F a).,under supervision of the Secretary. The quarantine may then be released.

   5. In (d) above, all vehicles, loading and unloading docks, holding tanks and any other facilities or appurtenances used in the handling and transportation of either animals or eggs shall be cleaned, washed and disinfected under the supervision of the Secretary or they shall be suitably and safely disposed of in a manner approved by the Secretary.

8. Handling of Exposed and Neighboring Premises and Other Facilities.
   1. In every case an epidemiological survey will be conducted involving all source lots and all neighboring lots including wild stock within a prescribed area around the infected premises. The size of the area will be determined by the epidemiologist and it shall include an epidemiologically significant area defined by the ecology of the disease, physical geography, transportation systems, and by economic factors but not by political boundaries. Where State boundaries are involved, the appropriate officials of that State shall be notified of the investigation and the probable extent of the problem. Where integrated companies are involved the survey shall include the trade area of the affected service segment of that company. Where dealers, truckers and/or buying stations are involved, no premises, vehicles, tanks or other materials associated with the handling and/or transportation of the animals may be used for any purpose until the premises, vehicles, tanks and other materials are cleaned, washed and disinfected under supervision of the Secretary.

   2. Buying stations and dealers in an epidemiologically controlled area may be prohibited from trading in aquatic animals and/or aquatic animal products, unless it has been determined that it is permissible to do so by the Secretary.

   3. Aquatic animal exhibitions may be prohibited in the epidemiologically controlled area.

9. Monitoring and Surveillance
   1. A monitoring program approved by the Secretary will be instituted and maintained continuously in the State. The elements of the plan will include:

      1. Samples collected at slaughtering plants.
      2. Samples, including eggs, collected at hatcheries.
      3. Special surveillance of licensed dealers and their premises.
      4. Wild stocks

   2. This program shall be a statistically designed sampling program which will account for the population of each segment of the industry and the wild stock, the spatial distribution of each segment and specifically those natural factors which limit the spatial distribution, and the risk of exposure associated with each segment. The sampling strategy will be modified if a disease outbreak occurs in the State or if the trade area of an outbreak in a neighboring state involves the State, or in the case of wild species, if an outbreak occurs in those waters of the drainage system of the Chesapeake Bay which the Secretary of DNR determines have no natural or man-made barriers which would limit the presence of the species and/or the presence of specific pathogens.

10. Vaccination Policy

    It shall be the policy of the State to reserve the right to restrict the use of vaccination to those circumstances where the vaccination alternative is in the best interest of the entire industry. Even though the current use of serology to detect antibodies is limited this policy anticipates the day when it will be possible to detect such antibody levels and it will then be necessary to differentiate between a vaccine response and the response to an actual infection.

11. Indemnity

    In Maryland the order of the Secretary to destroy infected or exposed animals carries with it the obligation to indemnify the owner. The animals must by appraised by an official appraiser who shall represent the Department and by a second appraiser who shall represent the owner and if necessary by a third independent party. The owner may elect to accept the appraisal of the official appraiser. The agreed-to appraisal shall be submitted to the Department. The appraisal is based on the current fair market value of the animals. The Department shall pay no more than 90 percent of that fair market appraisal. If feed and/or buildings or other structures are damaged or destroyed as a part of the clean-up procedures they too shall be appraised and included in the indemnity payment.

12. Movement of Aquatic Animals and Aquatic Animal Products into the State.
    1. A joint permit, obtainable from the State Veterinarian office (MDA), and Fisheries Service (DNR) is required for the importation of live aquatic animals in any stage of development, or aquatic animal products from a non participating State. In addition, all imported aquatic animals shall be accompanied by an interstate Certificate of Veterinary Inspection which shall certify that the lot and premises of origin has been inspected and found to be free from signs of any of the listed diseases. In addition it shall certify that the listed diseases are not known to exist in the State of origin and the animals or eggs being imported originated from a lot which has been statistically sampled and tested in an approved manner for the presence of the listed diseases. The permit number must be placed on the Certificate of Veterinary Inspection.

    2. Prior permits are not required by participating states but notification of the movement is required within 30 days of the date of movement.

    3. Prior permits are not required for animals moving into the State for immediate slaughter but the slaughter establishment shall maintain a record of receiving animals for a period of one year. This record shall show state of origin, shipper, date of receipt, species, and number received.

    4. Hatcheries that supply seed, fry and/or fingerlings need a mechanism to meet specific pathogen free status without individual lot inspections. A large number of hatcheries in the United States and some foreign countries have an aquatic animal health testing history with annual pathogen testing. This annual testing and history should enable the hatchery to provide their product to Maryland aquafarmers and private pond owners without lot inspections, provided testing has been and is for Priority One and Two pathogens. Certification requirements can be found in Appendix IV.