Category Archives: educational opportunities

animal husbandry, Antibiotic use, Aquarium Science, aquatic veterinary medicine, bacterial diseases, biosecurity, Continuing education, Drug and Chemical Use/Availability, educational opportunities, Emerging diseases, fish health management, fish health procedures, fish medicine, Fish Pharmaceuticals, Freshwater tropicals, fungal diseases, Husbandry Training, Invertebrate health, Koi, Koi Herpes Virus, Marine Ornamental Fish, Mortality, parasitic diseases, Procedures, quarantine, record keeping, standard operating procedures, Uncategorized, viral disease, water quality, water quality related diseases

2012 Ornamental Fish Medicine Course, Hatfield Marine Science Center, Newport, Oregon

April 10, 2012 millermt 2 Comments

Just finished teaching 1 week intensive Ornamental Fish Medicine Course. Great group of 12 participants: 8 senior veterinary students from OSU, 2 professional aquarists (Oregon Coast Aquarium and Seattle Aquarium), 1 veterinarian from the SEattle Aquarium, and 1 colleague from India ( Dr. Anna Mercy, Kerala College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences). Great learning experience for all of us. Great exchanges during the lectures, labs, group projects and case studies. Looking forward to next year. Considering expanding to 2 weeks. Thanks to my co-instructors: Dennis Glaze, Dr. Jerry Heidel, Stu Clausen, and Dr. Anna Mercy.

Dr. Mercy is from Kerala College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, India. She participated in the course but was also kind enough to give two lectures. One lecture addressed the current status of the Indian ornamental fish industry and outreach work she has lead to train ornamental fish farmers. In the second lecture Dr. Mercy discussed some of the common health problems associated with collecting native broodstock and breeding these fish in captivity. We recorded both of these lectures and you will be able to view them on our YouTube channel soon. I will post the links once the lectures have been posted.

Here’s the course outline for the course this year.

VMB 727
ORNAMENTAL FISH MEDICINE
April 2-6, 2012
Lead Instructor:
Dr. Tim Miller-Morgan, DVM
Oregon Sea Grant – Aquatic Animal Health
College of Veterinary Medicine
tim.miller-morgan@oregonstate.edu
Co-Instructors:
Dr. Jerry Heidel, DVM, PhD, DACVP, Cert. Fish Pathologist
Dennis Glaze, AAS – Aquarium Science
Stuart Clausen, BS, Cert. Aquarium Science

Recommended Texts:
o Wildgoose, W. 2001. BSAVA Manual of Ornamental Fish, Second Edition, BSAVA, Gloucester, UK 304p. Available through Amazon.com and Blackwell Publishing.
o Noga, E. 2010. Fish Disease Diagnosis and Treatment. Mosby, New York. Available through Amazon.com and Blackwell Publishing Roberts, H. 2010.
o Roberts, H. (2010) Fundamentals of Ornamental Fish Health, Wiley-Blackwell, New York. 229p.

MONDAY (We’ll start @ 0900)
AM (Old Library)
• Introduction
• Ornamental Fish: Essential Anatomy and Physiology and the Interface with the Captive Environment. (Old Library)
PM
• Clinical approach and procedures (Old Library)
• Laboratory: fish handling, sedation and common clinical procedures (West Wing – AAHTL)

TUESDAY
AM
• Laboratory: Review – Components water management systems (Dennis Glaze, West Wing – AAHTL)
• Life Support System Assessment (Old Library)
o Fish Health Cases I (Handout) – water management cases

PM
• Fish Necropsy and Dissection (Lab – TBA, Dr. Jerry Heidel)
• Laboratory: fish handling, sedation and common clinical procedures, cont. (West Wing – AAHTL)

• Evening Lecture – An Overview of the Indian Ornamental Fish Industry (Dr. Anna Mercy)

WEDNESDAY
AM
• Common Clinical Problems of Ornamental fish I (Old Library)
• Common Clinical Problems of Pet Fish II (Old Library)

• Common Clinical Problems of Pet Fish II cont. (Old Library)
• Management and treatment of fish disease
• Laboratory: fish handling, sedation and common clinical procedures, cont. (West Wing – AAHTL)
o Fish Health Cases II (Handout) – Medical Cases

THURSDAY
AM
• Biosecurity and the Essential Principles of Fish Health Management (Dr. Tim Miller-Morgan)
• Collection, Transport and Acclimation of Ornamental Fish ( Dr. Tim Miller-Morgan)
• Handout Biosecurity consultation problems (Dr. Tim Miller-Morgan and Dennis Glaze)

PM
• Common Health Management Issues Associated with the Production of Native Indian Fish Species (Dr. Anna Mercy)
• Case Discussions I

FRIDAY
AM (Old Library)
• Laboratory:
o Assessing fish populations (Oregon Coast Aquarium)
o Handling, sedation and clinical examination of elasmobranchs (Stu Clausen, Oregon Coast Aquarium, Passages of the Deep)
PM (Old Library)
• Biosecurity Consultation problem (Old Library)
• Case Discussions II
• Evaluations

animal husbandry, Aquaculture, Aquarium Science, aquatic veterinary medicine, biosecurity, educational opportunities, Emerging diseases, Emerging issues, fish health management, fish health procedures, Freshwater tropicals, Husbandry Training, Marine Ornamental Fish, Marine Science Center, Travel, Views of the industry

So what does Dr. Tim do at the Hatfield Marine Science Center? The lost radio show found!!

November 10, 2011 millermt 1 Comment

It has been quite awhile since I’ve posted. Here is a little interview from the past.

Marine Science Chat is a regular radio show in Newport that showcases individuals and work being done at the Hatfield Marine Science Center. These shows are also available as podcasts.

I participated in one of these programs a number of months ago but the file was lost foe a time. The interview is now available. So if you are interested in what I do at the HMSC have a listen.

I’m heading to Japan later today. Stay tuned for posts about this current trip.

animal husbandry, Aquarium Science, aquatic veterinary medicine, biosecurity, educational opportunities, Emerging diseases, fish health management, Husbandry Training, Invertebrate health, Koi Herpes Virus, Marine Ornamental Fish, public aquariums, quarantine, water quality related diseases

Dr. Tim discusses quarantine of marine ornamental fish and invertebrates

June 7, 2011 millermt Leave a comment

Last week while I was in Singapore I had the opportunity to discuss fish health management and particularly quarantine of marine ornamental fish and invertebrates with Kevin Erickson a director-at-large with the Marine Aquarium Society of North America.

I’m constantly amazed at technology and the capability to communicate globally. We did the interview via Skype. Kevin was in Stirling, Scotland and I was in Singapore. What an amazing world!!

I hope you find the interview interesting. Please feel free to post any comments. I’m always interested in your comments and opinions.

animal husbandry, Aquarium Science, Continuing education, educational opportunities, Entertainment, Fun, Marine Science Center, public aquariums, Special Events, Uncategorized

The Hatfield Marine Science Center – Visitors Center, It’s not just an Aquarium

June 1, 2011 millermt Leave a comment

Here’s a nice article about the Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC). The ornamental fish health program is based at this facility. THe article gives readers a nice overview of the varied activities at the Visitors Center.

animal husbandry, Aquaculture, biosecurity, educational opportunities, Emerging issues, Freshwater tropicals, Husbandry Training, Industry Profiles, Travel, Views of the industry

Views of Ornamental fish farming in India

May 13, 2011 millermt 13 Comments

I’ve been back from my trip to India and lsrael for a bit over two months but until now winding down the quarter has kept me from posting about this trip.

I travelled to India to attend the Asia Pacific Aquaculture Conference held in Kochin. While there I gave three papers related to industry development and training. Perhaps I will provide more on that at a later date.

I had the opportunity to visit some fish farms in the beautiful backwaters of Kerala. These were primarily polyculture operations, rice and fish or rice and prawns. I then had the opportunity to travel with Mr. Krishna Dey and Dr. Narayanan, two private consultants to the ornamental fish industry in India. Mr. Dey arranged for me to meet with representatives from the Kerala Ornamental Fish Farmers Association (KOFFA) and tour some of their facilities in the hills above Kochin. There are about 200 tropical fish farms in Kerala with a focus on many common freshwater ornamental fish and ornamental aquatic plants. There are also a number of native fishes that are collected in the wild or cultured. THese are being exported in low numbers or being developed for export. I hope to have a guest blog on this in the future. At this point most of the local production is going into the domestic market but the industry is working towards building its export capacity.

While touring these facilities Mr. Dey, Dr. Narayanan and myself had the opportunity to film a short educational video that will be released to the local association. The video followed an interview/discussion format between myself , Dr. Narayanan and Mr. Dey as we discussed emerging health issues and principles of health management at each of the facilities. This culminated in a group discussion between the three of us as well as Mr. Rajan Punnoose, Vice President of the KOFFA and Mr. Joy Joseph past president of the KOFFA. The setting was the beautiful garden at Mr. Joy’s home and fish farm/hatchery. I hope to make the video available on this blog in the near future.

I’ve included some images from this trip. I hope you enjoy the tour. I’ll post some images and thoughts about the Israel leg in a few days.

Cultured freshwater prawns

Enjoying the stop, rice field in the background

Backwaters scenes, sunrise

Ornamental fish farm, pond culture, sorting for sale

ornamental fish farm, tank culture, hatchery

ornamental fish farm, tank culture - Mr. Joy (Owner) and Mr. Punnoose discuss production.

ornamental fish farm, tank culture - discussing rearing techniques

Discussing biosecurity in the hatchery - Dr. Narayanan, Mr. Joy and Mr. Punnoose

Getting ready to have our final taped discussion about health management, biosecurity and industry development

animal husbandry, Antibiotic use, Aquarium Science, aquatic veterinary medicine, Continuing education, Drug and Chemical Use/Availability, educational opportunities, fish health management, fish health procedures, fish medicine, Fish Pharmaceuticals, Freshwater tropicals, Industry Profiles, Koi, Marine Ornamental Fish, Uncategorized, Views of the industry, viral disease, water quality related diseases

Industry Profile: Aquatic Animal Veterinarian

March 9, 2011 millermt Leave a comment

THE PET FISH DOCTOR

March 2011

When your dog or cat needs medical care, it’s generally not difficult to find a local veterinarian who is familiar with the general afflictions facing these species. But if your fish needs a doctor, whom are you going to call? Veterinarians with knowledge of pet fish medicine may be few and far between, but they do exist.

Dr. Helen Roberts is a small and exotic animal veterinarian who is one of the few practitioners in the country who provide medical and surgical care for fish. Located only 15 minutes from Niagara Falls, she is a partner at the 5 Corners Animal Hospital and is the go-to fish doctor at her associated practice, Aquatic Veterinary Medicine of Western New York. She says that when she talks to people about her work, most are “amazed” that she treats fish, and that she even performs surgery on fish. “I think the public perception is once a fish is sick, it’s dead,” she says. But through her veterinary practice, her educational publications and her lectures to all kinds of audiences about fish health, this outdated perception is beginning to change.

animal husbandry, Aquarium Science, educational opportunities, Emerging issues, Freshwater tropicals, Husbandry Training, Industry Profiles, Marine Ornamental Fish, Uncategorized, Views of the industry

Industry Profile: Fish Retailer

March 9, 2011 millermt Leave a comment

THE WORLD OF WET PETS
September 2010

With 72 aquariums and more than 1000 fish in a studio apartment, Eric Rasmussen was, in his own words, “an intense hobbyist.”

He was in college then. But you might say it was a sign of things to come.

Today Rasmussen owns and operates The World of Wet Pets in Portland, Oregon, where he now houses 222 aquariums and more than 10,000 fish.

More businessman than hobbyist these days, Rasmussen and his staff – Jerry Craig, Tereasa McKay, Paul Dubay, Mike Pool, Tyler Watkins, Tasha Ochoa — together offer customers more than 100 years of multi-faceted experience in the “world of wet pets.”

In fact, that experience is what sets his store apart. Even competing stores know to send customers to Rasmussen when they need help with fish health issues and problem-solving.

educational opportunities, Entertainment, Fun

The Oyster Cloyster 2010 – Annual fundraising event for the Aquarium Science Program

October 21, 2010 millermt Leave a comment

The Oyster Cloyster, the annual fundraising event for the Aquarium Science Program at Oregon Coast Community College occurs Saturday November 6th, 2010 at the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

If you are in the Pacific Northwest this is a great evening event. Plan to spend the weekend. Spend the day Saturday at the Hatfield Marine Science Center – Visitor Center (HMSC-VC) and theOregon Coast Aquarium. Then return to the Oregon Coast Aquarium for an evening of oysters prepared by our PNW chefs, desserts, wine, various musical entertainments and a chance to view the aquarium at night.

For those that wish to stay overnight in Newport I will offer a tour of our newly remodeled Aquatic Animal Health Laboratory at the Hatfield Marine Science Center Sunday morning at 1030. This is the primary teaching laboratory for the Ornamental Fish Health Program. This facility is where we offer many of our industry oriented training programs as well as programs for our aquarium Scienece students, veterinary students and veterinarians. Please meet me at the Front entrance to the HMSC – VC at 1030.

If you are interested in the Sunday tour please email me by Friday 11/5 at tim.miller-morgan@oregonstate.edu so that I can get a rough head count. Please put Post Oyster Cloyster Tour in the subject line.

Hope to see you there. It’s a fun event and supports a great cause, training future aquarists from the ornamental fish industry, public aquaria, aquatic research laboratories and resource hatcheries.

Follow the Oyster Cloyster on Facebook.

aquatic veterinary medicine, bacterial diseases, biosecurity, Continuing education, educational opportunities, fish health management, fish medicine, Invertebrate health, Shellfish Health, viral disease, water quality, water quality related diseases

Aquatic Veterinary Medicine Sessions, Seattle – American Veterinary Medical Association Annual Meeting

June 18, 2009 millermt 2 Comments

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.

Continuing education, educational opportunities, fish health management

Some upcoming educational opportunities in ornamental fish health

October 27, 2008 millermt Leave a comment

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:

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.

Words from a Wet Vet