CEFAS2d3352dd-a679-48cb-82ba-50a38bf6740a English dataset Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory Pakefield Road Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 0HT UK data.manager@cefas.co.uk pointOfContact 2022-02-16T04:12:30 EPSG Geodetic Parameter Registry 2022-01-07 revision WGS 84 Expert consultation and Epidemiological study results for fish parasites Ceratothoa oestroides, Enteromixum leei and Sparicotyle chrysophrii 2019-11-15 publication 2022-02-16 revision 2019-11-08 creation CEFAS20141 https://data.cefas.co.uk This dataset comprises the results of an expert consultation and epidemiological study conducted by Cefas and partners, as part of the Parafish Control project. The data were collected in order to produce a farm level modelling tool which fish farmers can use to assess the potential economic impact of parasites *Ceratothoa oestroides*, *Enteromixum leei* and *Sparicotyle chrysophrii *at the farm level. The relative risk posed to a potential or existing site based on characteristics such as the number of supplying hatcheries, and number of farms operating in the area. Site management practices such as frequency of mortality removal, use of fallowing, and frequency of net changes are also considered, and farmers are offered the chance to consider the cost associated with changing their practices to a lower risk option. The underlying data used in the model calculations are yet to be published (as of 12/11/2019). They are derived from two connected studies which are described briefly below. The first of these was an expert consultation. Various risk factors associated with the introduction and proliferation of these parasites at aquaculture sites were identified and an online questionnaire exploring their impacts in relation to these risk factors was completed independently by a group of experts (veterinarians, officials etc.). A Delphi style consultation meeting was then held, where the questionnaire results were presented by a moderator and discussed by the experts, and agreement reached on numerical values. The second study collected information from 39 mediterranean cage farms. The information collected covered the same range of risk factors as the previous study (farm location, size, environment, management and husbandry practices) together with information on their experience with the parasites (presence, associated mortalities and growth retardation, parasite monitoring and treatment). The .csv files contain a subset of all the data collected which are relevant to the economic model, the factors having been determined based on statistical significance and practical relevance. The full datasets from the two studies are not available at present. The data and associated reports are Confidential within the Parafish project but are being developed into peer-reviewed manuscripts. Links will be provided when these are published. The economic model can be found `here`_. .. _`here`: https://openscience.cefas.co.uk/parafish_economic/ Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory Pakefield Road Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 0HT UK data.manager@cefas.co.uk originator Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory Pakefield Road Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 0HT UK data.manager@cefas.co.uk custodian Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory Pakefield Road Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 0HT UK data.manager@cefas.co.uk distributor European Commission info@publications.europa.eu owner notPlanned Fish disease and parasites SeaDataNet P02 parameter discovery vocabulary 2011-03-25 revision Fish Fisheries SeaDataNet P03 parameter discovery vocabulary 2011-03-25 revision Economics GEMET, version 1.0 2008-06-01 publication Agricultural and aquaculture facilities GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 2008-06-01 publication Unknown SeaVoX Vertical Co-ordinate Coverages 2010-05-18 revision Marine Environmental Data and Information Network MEDIN metadata record availability 2012-01-11 publication data.gov.uk MEDIN metadata record availability 2012-01-11 publication otherRestrictions noLimitations otherRestrictions Public data - no limitations to reuse English farming 1.73881 1.74086 52.4581 52.4595 2015-03-31 2020-03-30 Delimited Unknown https://data.cefas.co.uk/view/20141 Cefas Data Portal download The Cefas Data Portal contains metadata records and data sets available to download and connect to in support of our commitment to open science. Data is available in the following formats: CSV. dataset INSPIRE Data Specification on Agricultural and Aquaculture Facilities – Technical Guidelines 2013-12-10 publication false See the referenced specification Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services 2010-12-08 publication true See the referenced specification **Expert consultation ** There were two stages to the expert consultation. Firstly, selected experts were asked to independently complete an online questionnaire for each parasite they had significant experience with. The number of completed questionnaires for each parasite ranged from 10 to 18. The questionnaires asked for quantitative estimates for the relevance of risk routes of infection with the respective parasites, the relevance of management procedures for reducing or increasing mortality due to parasite infection, relevance of environmental factors, such as water exchange rate. They also asked for quantitative estimates of impacts of parasite infection on aquaculture production in terms of delay in reaching harvest size or cumulative mortality during certain phases of production. The second stage of the consultation was a face to face meeting for each parasite, which was attended by 10 to 17 experts (mainly the same ones who completed the questionnaires). Here the results of the online questionnaire were presented and discussed (median results and range) with the conversation managed by a facilitator. Some answers were revised as a result of clarifications by the facilitator and/or discussions amongst the experts. For most parameter estimates obtained there was good agreement on the median value by the experts, although in some cases the range was quite large. Regional differences in things such as temperature, sea conditions, culture methods and the availability of treatment were responsible for this in many cases, but in other cases large ranges simply reflected uncertainty. Whilst all of the experts were highly experienced with these parasites (some had worked in this field for over 20 years) it must be noted that the results are best estimates and may not be correct. **Epidemiological study** This study collected (in a questionnaire type format) detailed information on 39 cage farms. This included farm location, size, depth, sea conditions, proximity of other farms, fish supply, husbandry practices, hygiene and management practices, parasite monitoring and treatments used. It also captured information on the presence, severity of infection, and losses experienced through infection with these parasites. This allowed a statistical analysis to be carried out to identify the strength of associations between the various risk factors and the presence and severity of the parasitic infections. Some farms were unwilling or unable to answer some of the questions. The majority of risk factors did not have a statistically significant influence on the presence and severity of infection, but the general pattern of findings was similar to that of the expert consultation, and some strong effects were detected. A larger sample size would have improved the outcome. The Eastern Mediterranean was under-represented in the sample as a high number of farms from this region could not complete the study for various reasons. This meant that only 7 of the 39 sites had experience with *Ceratothoa oestroides* so few conclusions could be reached for this parasite. Significant contributions to these studies were made by Birgit Oidtmann (DEFRA, UK), Ariadna Sitjà-Bobadilla (CSIC, Spain), Alastair Cook (CEFAS, UK), Ivona Mladineo (IOR, Croatia), Paola Beraldo (University of Udine, Italy), Oswaldo Palenzuela (CSIC, Spain), Panos Christofilogiannis (AQUARK, Greece), Michela Massimo (University of Udine, Italy), Maria Letizia Fioravanti (University of Bologna, Italy), Carlos Zarza (Skretting, Spain), Ioannis Petropoulos (Andromeda, Greece). We would also like to thank the numerous other contributing experts and fish farmers. MEDIN 3.1.1