Risk-based pedigree-analysis for regulation of prophylactic aquaculture health products and improved smallholder health management in Bangladesh

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Rapidly growing demand for seafood products for domestic and export markets is driving intensification of aquaculture sectors still dominated by small-holders in Bangladesh. Ensuring effective health management has become the single most important challenge for sustainable intensification of the smallholder sector just increasing restrictions on use antibiotic and other therapeutants are being imposed. Farmers are increasingly dependent on a proliferating range of poorly regulated prophylactic health products including probiotics (beneficial bacteria), often of uncertain provenance & efficacy. Although probiotics are often viewed as a response to the problem of 'imprudent' antibiotic use in aquaculture, screening of probiotics in a previous BBSRC and DFID funded project (IMAQulate Project, Ref: BB/N005082/1) revealed serious problems with a number of commercial products including; ineffective active ingredient concentrations, contamination with bacteria pathogenic to humans, fraudulent inclusion of antibiotics, presence of antimicrobial resistance genes. In addition many products lack of credibility regarding their mode of action & efficacy claims. Findings also point to a lack of effective sampling approaches as part of emergent regulatory efforts resulting in lack of detection of some problem-products in screening efforts whilst the economic burden of poor quality assurance and unjustified claims is likely to fall most heavily on small-holders. In response the project has developed a PHP risk analysis tool helping users to identify 'high-risk' products based on label-information and other secondary indicators. Focusing on emergent market for PHPs in pangasius and shrimp sectors, this project (PEDIGREE) aims to increase awareness of these issues to support improved regulation for safety and quality assurance in Bangladesh and more effective small-holder health management.To do this the project will feed into a national health management regulatory strategy being developed by the Department of Fisheries as well as providing probiotic quality and management advice to farmers through a farmer advisory hotline established and operated by project NGO partner Practical Action Bangladesh.Lead by the University of Stirling (UK), other partners in Bangladesh include the Bangladesh Aquaculture Product Companies Association (BAPCA), the WorldFish Center Bangladesh (WFC) and Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU).