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MSU-AAHL Aquatic Animal Disease Ecology (AADE) Program

MSU-AAHL Aquatic Animal Disease Ecology (AADE) Program

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Aade Lab2

Director

Loch Tom 427 V2
Dr. Thomas Loch, Co-PI of MSU-AAHL
Dr. Loch's ResearchGate profile

I was born and raised in the amazing state of Michigan, where I benefited from the tremendous available educational resources, including those provided by Michigan State University. Thus, it’s no wonder why I truly love Michigan and am a passionate, lifelong Spartan! I joined the MSU-AAHL in 2004, at which time I became integrally involved in aquatic animal health research, diagnostics, outreach, and teaching. Indeed, I worked side-by-side with Dr. Faisal to cultivate the accomplishments and notoriety of the MSU-AAHL by teaching and mentoring undergraduate, graduate, and veterinary students; providing diagnostic and aquatic animal health expertise to state and federal fishery management agencies; procuring extramural research funds; developing multiple collaborative aquatic animal health research networks; and conducting an array of research focused on the pathogenesis, ecology, and control of infectious fish diseases. In particular, I became absolutely enamored with flavobacterial fish pathogens (Family Flavobacteriaceae) and continue to have a passion for these fascinating microbes.

In 2018, I joined the accomplished faculty of the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife (College of Agriculture and Natural Resources) and the Department of Pathobiology and Diagnostic Investigation (College of Veterinary Medicine) under a collaborative initiative between Michigan State University and several partners, including the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The initiative is called Partnership for Ecosystem Research and Management (PERM). The primary objectives of PERM are to:

  • augment regional capabilities for ecosystem-level applied research
  • provide outreach services to management agencies, and
  • serve as a liaison between management agencies and other MSU entities that conduct cooperative research, education, and outreach on high priority problems.

As a PERM scientist, assistant professor, and principle investigator of the MSU-AAHL Aquatic Animal Disease Ecology (AADE) Program, my research interests lie at the intersections between fish health/disease, fishery conservation, and aquaculture, under the premise that a more thorough understanding of aquatic animal disease ecology will lead to improved health of both natural and farmed populations of aquatic organisms. To that end, my goal is to support the efforts of fishery management agencies and aquaculture with cutting-edge research, diagnostics, and novel disease prevention and control solutions while simultaneously providing training and professional development for fisheries professionals, students, and international scholars from a variety of backgrounds. Indeed, the rapidly advancing field of aquatic animal medicine has much to offer fishery conservation/restoration and aquaculture efforts that are the keys to rescuing our aquatic ecosystems.

Research

  • Development and implementation of a fish health initiative for Michigan inland and Great Lakes fisheries (funded by MDNR, Grant # 190000001012)
  • Investigating infectious diseases as a “bottleneck” to lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) recruitment (funded by GLFT, Grant # 2018.1806)
  • Assessing the risk of emergent and endemic fish pathogens to Great Lakes lake sturgeon populations (funded by USFWS-GLFWRA, Grant # F19AP00229)
  • Flavobacterial diversity and its effect on disease in aquaculture (funded by USDA, Grant # 2016-67015-24891)
  • Identification of the risks of emerging flavobacteria to early life stages of farmed salmonids and development of improved control strategies (funded by USDA, Grant # 2016-70007-25756)
  • Re-emergence of epizootic epitheliotropic disease virus: potential effects and development of improved diagnostics and control measures (funded by GLFT, Grant # 2014.1455)
Grant: Improving North Central Region Fish Health

Improving Fish Health in the North Central Region by Integrating Extension with the Development of Alternative Disease Prevention Methods

As the Great Lakes State, Michigan is known for fishing; recreational and commercial fishing are valued at $4-7B each year. Fish used for replenishing these wild populations, as well as human consumption and bait, are produced in other ways, too, such as aquaculture.

Collaborators and Liaisons

Co-Principle Investigators

  • Matthew A. Smith, Xylem Analytics America’s
  • Nicholas Phelps, University of Minnesota

Industry Liaison

  • Dan Vogler, Harrietta Hills Trout Farm

Extension Liaison

  • Matthew A. Smith, Xylem Analytics America’s


But Michigan’s farmed fish—and therefore, all fish—are in trouble. Flavobacterium psychrophilum is a destructive pathogen that causes bacterial coldwater disease and rainbow trout fry syndrome in salmon and trout. Flavobacteria are one of the most pressing fish health issues in the North Central Region (NCR) and globally. Recent research Flavobacteria cause more losses than all other pathogens combined in Michigan state hatcheries.

Funded by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the North Central Regional Aquaculture Center at Iowa State University, the Improving Fish Health project aims to arm producers with practical means of improving farmed fish health in the NCR by building upon existing regional capacity to deploy a multifaceted and sustainable fish health extension program. The program will be designed to significantly improve professional capacity, on-farm best-management practices, and real-time responses to fish health challenges.

In addition, the project will integrate flavobacteria solutions into the extension program. Surveys for flavobacteria will be conducted during farm visits to isolate, characterize, and identify the most problematic variants. With this information, targeted and immediately deployable vaccine preparations will be developed and evaluated under laboratory and on-farm conditions.

This research and outreach has the potential for incredible impact. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, total value of trout sales for 2021 across the nation was $97.3 million, but total loss was $8.09 million; disease accounted for 54 percent of these losses.

Objectives:


  1. Develop practical and usable fish health applications for producers and fish health professionals through farm visits, trainings, and the creation of pragmatic resources by NCR fish health veterinarians.
  2. Determine, for the first time, the predominating flavobacteria variants that drive economic losses in the NCR trout industry.
  3. Evaluate the effectiveness of newly developed vaccines in preventing losses caused by regionally predominating flavobacteria under laboratory and field conditions.


Producer Outreach


Dr. Myron Kebus is the regional aquaculture outreach veterinarian for Michigan State’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Kebus is funded by USDA-NIFA’s North Central Regional Aquaculture Center (NCRAC) for his work on USDA-NIFA’s two-year project “Improving fish health in the NCR by integrating extension with the development of alternative disease prevention methods.”

Kebus is working with the NCRAC team to develop practical and usable fish health tools for fish producers and fish health professionals including farm visits, trainings, and the creation of pragmatic resources for use by fish farmers, veterinarians and other fish health professionals, and fishery managers. Specifically, Kebus is:

  • Designing and conducting a regional fish health survey: Design and conduct an NCR-wide fish health survey and analyze survey results to identify additional pressing fish health concerns for NCR aquaculture producers. Survey data will simultaneously fill project-related knowledge gaps and serve as the foundation of continued fish health monitoring within the NCR, as well as identify avenues of research inquiry for the future.
  • Providing outreach veterinary expertise: Support NCR fish farmers by optimizing rapid responses to fish health needs; define best management practices for NCR farms; create fish health-related, multi-media resources; and offer training opportunities for producers and fish health professionals.
  • Visiting farms: Conduct farm visits throughout the NCR to support the industry and the NCRAC-funded project.
  • Offering additional training opportunities: Provide on-farm training and workshops for veterinarians, veterinary students, and NCR producers, and actively work to assist and support local aquaculture veterinarians and fish health professionals throughout the NCR.

After the project’s initial two years, Kebus will continue to serve as a resource from MSU to Michigan, the Great Lakes, and the surrounding regions to support ongoing and new efforts to protect and improve the health of farmed and hatchery-reared aquatic animals.