Fish and shellfish health problems have been classically overlooked in Span
ish aquaculture for quite some time. This holds true for both the industry
and the responsible administration, despite the economic importance of the
aquaculture in several areas of the country. In this contribution we will b
riefly analyse the sanitary situation for both marine and freshwater fin-fi
sh culture.
Spain is an important producer of rainbow trout in continental Europe and a
mong the first producers of turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) with the largest
commercial output of this species in mariculture. Spain exports mainly cult
ivated seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and seabream (Sparus aurata) as juven
iles within the European Community and to third countries where they are gr
own to market size. As a consequence of the publication of the European Dir
ectives/Decisions related to the sanitary control requirements in aquacultu
re (EEC 91/67, 93/53, 93/54 and the 92/532 modified by Decision 96/240), th
e Spanish legislation has been adapted, with a certain delay, to the new si
tuation created by the publication of the correspondent Royal Decrees (RD 1
488/1994, RD 1882X, LLX 1994, RD 2581/96 and more recently the RD 138/1997)
.
Spain is divided into 17 autonomous regions each with a correspondent regio
nal government. Spanish legislation requires each regional government to re
sponsibly organize adequate control measures and to nominate authorized lab
oratories to carry out diagnostic analysis with the aim to implement the EE
C Directives and to maintain the necessary health status of fish. Therefore
, the existence of a fish health laboratory within the animal health regula
tory system is very recent whereas just a few people were working in fish h
ealth issues during the 1980s. Besides these efforts, in 1994 the Ministry
of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, established its National Reference Labo
ratory on Fish Diseases (NRLFD) within the Animal Health Laboratory in Madr
id. Moreover, other laboratories located in various parts of Spain and asso
ciated with different universities as well as with various national and reg
ional research centers (i.e. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientifica
s, CSIC; Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agrarias, INIA) are now invo
lved on subjects related to sanitary problems in the marine and freshwater
aquaculture (Ledo et al. 1990; Toranzo et al. 1990; Pinto et al. 1991; Marc
otegui et al. 1992; Vilas et al. 1994; Perez-Prieto and Rodriguez 1997). So
me of the regional governments are using these laboratories for diagnostic
services while fulfilling the EEC regulations. Unfortunately, the lack of c
o-ordination among the NRLFD and the aforementioned institutions within an
organized national network (which at present could easily be organised) sti
ll leaves a painful gap for the effective implementation of available infor
mation on disease control by the regulatory authorities.