Current Prophylactic Approach in Indonesian Aquaculture Health Management

Disease outbreaks are a major constraint to the sustainable growth of aquaculture production. In Indonesia, the irresponsible use of antibiotics to treat and prevent fish diseases has led to the development of bacterial resistance, residue in aquaculture products and allergy in humans. As such today, Indonesia has banned and restricted the use of antibiotics in aquaculture. The need to eliminate the use of antibiotics has led to the application of prophylactic approaches. These approaches include vaccination in the frame of national movement (GERVIKAN), the administration of immunostimulant, probiotics, herbal extracts and other curative measures.

Various studies showed that the application of prophylactic approaches were able to improve the survival and immune system of aquatic organisms against pathogen infection. There are several improvements proposed to enhance the future plans for aquaculture health management. These include the application of biosecurity including import risk analysis (IRA), implementation of regional and national guidelines to limit and control the use of antibiotics, research support for alternative strategies, improvement of the knowledge and skills of fish health officers, monitoring, surveillance and epidemiology study and guidance for fish farmers to perform green farming without the use of antibiotics.