Board acts on aquatic veterinary medicine proposals

The Executive Board approved a number of recommendations concerning aquatic veterinary medicine.

The board approved a revised description of the Aquatic Veterinary Medicine Committee specifying that one of the committee members represent private clinical practice. The committee recommended the change, saying that the AVMA would best be served if one of the committee members is a private practitioner dealing with companion aquatic animals.

Also approved was a recommendation strengthening the "Aquatic animal therapeutic agents" policy. The revised policy was prompted by legislative and regulatory changes—the Minor Use and Minor Species Animal Health Act—as well as changes in AVMA policy concerning veterinary feed directives involving medicated feed for aquaculture.

Board members approved a recommendation to rescind the AVMA's aquaculture education policy. While the inclusion of aquatic animal medicine within veterinary medical curricula is important, the AqVMC believed the policy does not comply with AVMA's policies of not dictating what is included in veterinary curricula.

The AqVMC also recommended that the AVMA co-sponsor two continuing education programs of the American Fisheries Society, Fish Health Section, during the summer of 2007. The topics are "Using clinical pathology for fish health assessment—nonlethal sample collection" and "Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus."