Fish health challenges can be solved if the right team is assembled: Examples from the Laurentian Great Lakes

Mohamed Faisal, DVM, PhD, Dr. Honoris Causa, CertAqVet

S.F. Snieszko Distinguished Scholar and Professor Emeritus of Aquatic Animal Medicine

College of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Michigan State University

ABSTRACT

The Great Lakes of North America hold approximately 20% of the world's freshwater and are integral to the lives of 40 million citizens of the United States and Canada. Two decades ago, I was recruited to Michigan State University to develop its first health program with a focus on the Great Lakes. Upon arrival, I was surprised by the magnitude of stressors impacting Great Lakes aquatic species, severe lack of knowledge, and the primitiveness of fish health infrastructure. My long years of experience prior to that could not help much and had to start allover. Equally surprising was the warmth of people at all ranks in this gigantic university and the State’s Department of Natural Resources. With generous support from a number of agencies, I was able to start, slowly but surely, tackling fish health problems I never encountered before. In this presentation, I plan to share with you the highlights of my two-decade road in the Midwest.