Aquaculture Disinfectant Listing scheme launched

10 February 2011

Defra has developed an Aquaculture Disinfectant Listing scheme to list tested disinfectant products and to set standards by which to prove their effectiveness.

This scheme was developed because the Defra statutory disinfectant approval scheme applies to products used in the control of notifiable diseases of terrestrial animals and birds, but does not extend to the pathogens of fish and shellfish.

The Aquaculture Disinfectant Listing scheme is voluntary. It is operated on behalf of Defra by the Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI) at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas). It is also supported by Marine Scotland Science and Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Northern Ireland (AFBINI).

The list is publicly available (Aquaculture Disinfectant List) and may be used by aquaculture and related industries to aid selection of effective products. Two disinfectants have been listed so far.