The United Nations declared 2022 the International Year of Fisheries and Aquaculture. Fish farming has an indispensable role on a global scale, not only as a source of food, but also as an important part of cultural heritage. This is no different in the Czech Republic where the development of traditional fish farming dates back to the Middle Ages and is still a sustainable form of natural resource management. In addition to the economic and culinary benefits, founding and maintenance of ponds has a positive effect on the surrounding environment, particularly through their ability to retain water in the landscape and slow down its draining.
The Veterinary Research Institute has long been involved in research on improving the environment and health of domestic fish species. In addition to the Long-term Concept of Development of the Research Organization, in which the issue of fish diseases has a firm place, two national projects are currently being implemented at the Institute. The project “Optimisation of management of parasitic diseases in fish farms with a focus on Ichthyophthirius multifiliis infection in rainbow trout” is funded by the National Agency for Agricultural Research of the Ministry of Agriculture. Another project entitled “Sustainable production of healthy fish in various aquaculture systems PROFISH” is implemented thanks to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports under the Operational Programme Research, Development and Education.
The PROFISH project has started in 2019 and is slowly approaching the end. Therefore, on 22-23 November 2022, a working conference was held at the Balloon Hotel in Radešín. It was attended by senior scientists from the investigator’s institution (VRI) and partners (Mendel University in Brno and the Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters of the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice) and scientists from the research groups. About 40 participants could listen to a series of lectures on the individual research objectives and plans within the project. Part of the conference was devoted to administrative procedures and discussion focusing mainly on the successful completion of the project implementation.
The quality of VRI’s activities in the field of aquaculture is reflected in scientific achievements. In addition to contributing to 6 scientific publications on fish health in 2022, VRI authors received two awards. MVDr. Nikola Hodkovicová, Ph.D. won the first place in the Prize of Czech Minister of Agriculture for Young Scientists with her thesis entitled “Does oral intake of polyethylene microparticles affect the health of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)?”
First prize was also awarded to MVDr. Hana Minářová, Ph.D. in the competition Science for the Country organized by the National Museum of Agriculture and the Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences for her dissertation on “Optimisation of immunological methods in fish”.
In addition to the offer of diagnostic services and counselling within the accredited laboratory for fish diseases, the cooperation with professionals and breeders deepened through the seminar “Health problems in fish”, which took place on 25 May 2022 as part of the VRI Academy workshop series.
