Words from a Wet Vet

In less than 4 weeks the AVMA Annual Convention will occur in Seattle, WA, July, 11-14, 2009. We have assembled 4 days of training seminars for veterinarians and veterinary technicians with an interest in pet fish and commercial production of shellfish. Click here for a schedule of the sessions we will offer. Further, the World Aquatic Veterinary Medical Association will hold its Annual General Meeting and two days of clinical presentations related to symptomatology, diagnosis and treatment of common aquatic maladies.

I hope to see you there.

Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) are a growing global concern. The ornamental fish industry is certainly coming under increased scrutiny as it is involved with the international movement of thousand of aquatic species.

In an effort to educate industry members Ornamental Fish International (OFI) has organized an Invasive Alien Species Conference at the 2009 Aquarama Trade Show in Singapore, May 30, 2009. 

OFI has also posted some articles from the OFI Journal that provide some industry perspective on this issue.

The ornamental industry is just one of many industries that will be impacted by this emerging issue which posses significant threats to ecosystem health, human health and economic health on a local, national and global scale.

Oregon Extension Sea Grant has been heavily involved in AIS outreach for a number of years primarily through Sam Chan our Aquatic Ecosystem Health Educator. If you would like to learn more about AIS, particularly in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, visit Sam Chan’s web site. Through his site you can also link to many other sources of information regarding this important topic.

I wanted to make you all aware of two upcoming continuing education opportunities, the Aquatic Ecology and Koi Health Academy and the Aquatic section of the American Veterinary Medical Association Annual meeting.

This will be the third year that Oregon Sea Grant Extension and the College of Veterinary Medicine has partnered with Rail City Garden Center to coordinate the speakers, seminar and wet lab for the Aquatic Ecology and Koi Health Academy. The program has been well received by past participants. Here is some more information from the press release:

In an effort to preserve the knowledge and awareness of Koi health and water ecology, Rail City Garden Center is pleased to announce the 3^rd Annual “Greater Nevada Aquatic Ecology & Koi Health Academy.”

A one of a kind event in North America, we have in place an event scheduled for February 28^th and March 1^st, 2009. This event will be held at the University of Nevada, College of Agriculture building, located in beautiful downtown Reno Nevada. Two tracks available: Pond Professional and Veterinarian track.

Some of the featured speakers include: Dr. Tim Miller-Morgan, DVM – Oregon State University, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oregon Sea Grant Extension; Dr. Scott Weber, VMD, MS – University of California, College of Veterinary Medicine; Dr. Richard Strange, PhD – University of Tennessee, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife; Dr. Allen Riggs, DVM – Hawaii Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture Development Program and Dr. David S. Thain, DVM – University of Nevada, State Extension Veterinarian.

Rail City Garden Center is looking forward to seeing you at the 2009 event. Please call

(775) 355-1551, visit our website at www.railcitygarden.net, or email us directly at justin@railcitygarden.net.

Downloadable .pdfs:

• The current program schedule
• A poster promoting the event.

Please feel free to pass these along to anyone you feel might be interested in the program.

Also, for the veterinarians, keep July, 18-22, 2009 open. This is the AVMA annual meeting which will be in Seattle. We will be offering 4 days of aquatic medicine training with a focus on pet fish. Additionally we will be offering a seminar and wet lab on shellfish medicine. I will make more detailed information available in the near future.