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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Auburn, Alabama » Aquatic Animal Health Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #430994
Research Project: Reducing On-Farm Losses to Disease in Crustacean Aquaculture

Location: Aquatic Animal Health Research

Title: The Alabama Fish Farming Center: A Three-Tiered Approach to Disease Management

Author
item KELLY, ANITA - Auburn University
item TUTTLE, JAMES - Auburn University
item JAMES, JESSE - Auburn University
item OLADIPUPO, ABDULMALIK - Auburn University
item BRUCE, TIMOTHY - Auburn State University
item WANG, HONGYE - California State University
item LI, XIRAN - University Of California, Davis
item WANG, LUXIN - University Of California, Davis
item SOTO, ESTEBAN - University Of California, Davis
item ABDELRAHMAN, HISHAM - Texas A&M University
item Garcia, Julio
item SIMPSON, KELLY - Auburn University
item MARTIN, BRITTANY - Auburn University
item ROY, LUKE - Auburn University

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/5/2025
Publication Date: 10/9/2025
Citation: Kelly, A.M., Tuttle, J.T., James, J., Oladipupo, A., Bruce, T.J., Wang, H., Li, X., Wang, L., Soto, E., Abdelrahman, H.A., Garcia, J.C., Simpson, K., Martin, B., Roy, L.A. 2025. The Alabama Fish Farming Center: A Three-Tiered Approach to Disease Management [ABSTRACT]. Meeting Abstract. 2025 MSU Aquatic Antimicrobial Resistance Workshop

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The Alabama Fish Farming Center (AFFC) in Greensboro, Alabama, a satellite facility of Auburn University School of Fisheries, Aquaculture & Aquatic Sciences, is a Research, Extension, and Diagnostic facility located in the heart of the Alabama catfish industry. The AFFC uses a three-tiered approach to assist commercial farmers. The diagnostic laboratory assists producers with disease identification and recommendations for treatment. Our research program centers around disease management, and the Extension component relays timely information to stakeholders to reduce diseases and improve farm profitability. This facility conducts between 300-350 disease diagnostic cases annually. We routinely assess antibiotic resistance in our diagnostic cases. Research in aquatic animal health at the AFFC includes antimicrobial resistance to the three approved FDA antibiotics; use of peracetic acid to reduce Vibrio spp. in Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), spread of pathogens by fish-eating birds, use of probiotics to increase immune system efficiency in aquatic animals, development of pond-side quadraplex LAMP assays for quicker disease diagnosis, testing various strains of bacteria for the potential of disease outbreaks in catfish and other fish species, disease surveillance and long-term epidemiological trends, and identification of new pathogens.