Public health issues in aquaculture.

Summary The authors address the public health issues associated with the consumption of aquacultural products using numerous examples from the United States of America. As with other foods, public health risks exist but these mostly involve open water environments or products which are consumed raw or undercooked. Unlike wild fisheries, inland aquaculture systems can minimise public health risks by proper site evaluation and good aquacultural practices. Responsible use of pesticides and therapeutants can prevent violative residues to assure product safety and wholesomeness. The implementation of hazard analysis and critical control point regulations will further enhance the preventive approach to hazards control. The most challenging public health risks arise from shellfish production in open, surface waters, where both naturally-occurring and trace environmental residue contaminants can bioaccumulate in tissues and may cause disease outbreaks (and, in severe cases, death). Water quality certification programmes and field surveillance efforts including product sampling, testing and monitoring can address critical safety criteria. This paper focuses primarily on public health risks associated with production: however, the fact that consumer risks also occur as a result of the processing of aquacultural products and that foodborne diseases arise additionally from unsanitary handling or preparation and storage at incorrect temperatures (as is the case for food products from other animals) must also be taken into consideration.