* KEYNOTE *

How The Hobby Lured Me Away From Sick People and to Sick Fish

Roy Yanong

University of Florida

ABSTRACT

Unlike the more mature, monospecific Atlantic salmon and channel catfish industries – fairly well-defined with regard to production methods, nutrition, and disease – Florida’s tropical fish industry can be considered, in many respects, adolescent.  With hundreds of tropical species produced under a variety of scenarios, opportunities to gain an equivalent level of knowledge as exists for salmon and channel catfish are limited by economics and other resources. My fascination for this expansive variety led me to aquarium fish health as a career. A review of my ongoing journey (now entering year 30) through the disease realm of Florida’s aquarium fish production highlights the early challenges of disease diagnostics, the importance of colleagues and collaboration, and the use of both old and new tools to characterize diseases and optimize management and prevention.  A number of interesting and important cases (including some current emerging diseases) “solved” over the years will illustrate these challenges, opportunities, and some new approaches to disease management of aquarium fish.

BIOSKETCH

Roy Yanong joined the UF IFAS Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory in 1996, after serving as staff veterinarian at a large aquarium fish farm/wholesaler. Currently Professor and Extension Veterinarian, Roy provides extension, research, and educational programs in fish health management and aquatic animal health, including on-site veterinary assistance and disease diagnostic support for aquaculturists throughout the state. Roy also works closely with state and federal agriculture and natural resources agencies, veterinarians, and other fish health professionals.

Roy’s work focuses on baseline health parameters, health management and regulatory issues, disease characterization, disease prevention and diagnostics, chemotherapeutics and biologics, and biosecurity for finfish aquaculture. In collaboration with other faculty and staff at UF/IFAS, Roy has been involved with aquatic invertebrate, amphibian, and reptile species health and disease work.

Roy is currently Chair of the Aquatics Working Group for the American Veterinary Medical Association’s (AVMA’s) Panel on Euthanasia; a former member and Chair of the AVMA’s Aquatic Veterinary Medicine Committee; and a past member of the AVMA’s Animal Agriculture Liaison Committee. He is also co-founder and former President of the American Association of Fish Veterinarians; a member of the American Fisheries Society-Fish Health Section, the U.S. Aquaculture Society, and the World Aquaculture Society; and steering committee chair of the Eastern Fish Health Workshop (which hopefully will meet in person again in 2022!). Roy hosts the podcast “Aquariumania,” the “fishy” part of the PetLifeRadio network.