Aquaculture is playing an increasingly important role in global food security, especially for low-income and food-deficit countries. The majority of aquaculture production occurs in freshwater earthen ponds and tilapia has quickly become one of the most widely adopted culture species in these systems. Tilapia are now farmed in over 140 countries facilitated by their ease of production, adaptability to a wide range of environme...

In 2017, the base population of a family-based silver carp ( Hypophthalmichthys molitrix ) genetic improvement program was spawned in Bangladesh. This program aims to improve the growth rate of silver carp under polyculture production systems, through direct selection on the primary trait of harvest-age weight. The objective of this study was to quantify genetic variation in, and genetic correlations between, harvest-age weigh...

Tilapia is an affordable protein source farmed in over 140 countries with the majority of production in low‐ and middle‐income countries. Intensification of tilapia farming has exacerbated losses caused by emerging and re‐emerging infectious diseases. Disease diagnostics play a crucial role in biosecurity and health management to mitigate disease loss and improve animal welfare in aquaculture. Three continuous levels of diagno...

Inland aquaculture contributed by three major fish groups, including carps, tilapias, and catfish plays a vital role in global food security and nutrition, particularly in low and middle‐income countries. However, the sustainable development of this sector is hampered by disease epidemics, especially those caused by bacteria such as Aeromonas species. At least eight pathogenic motile Aeromonas species ( A. hydrophila , A. vero...

In recent years, Egyptian tilapia aquaculture has experienced mortality episodes during the summer months. The causative agents responsible for such mortalities have not been clearly identified. A total of 400 fish specimens were collected from affected tilapia farms within five Egyptian governorates. A total of 344 bacterial isolates were identified from the examined fish specimens. Bacterial isolates were grouped into seven...

Sixteen countries, including Bangladesh, have reported the presence of tilapia lake virus (TiLV), an emerging tilapia pathogen. Fish polyculture is a common farming practice in Bangladesh. Some unusual mortalities reported in species co‐cultivated with TiLV‐infected tilapia led us to investigate whether any of the co‐cultivated species would also test positive for TiLV and whether they were susceptible to TiLV infection under...

Infectious diseases represent one of the major challenges to sustainable aquaculture production. Rapid, accurate diagnosis and genotyping of emerging pathogens during early‐suspected disease cases is critical to facilitate timely response to deploy adequate control measures and prevent or reduce spread. Currently, most laboratories use PCR to amplify partial pathogen genomic regions, occasionally combined with sequencing of PC...

A 12‐point checklist in the design and practical application of active surveillance of diseases in aquatic organisms (farmed and wild) has been developed to serve as a methodological approach and guidance for a multidisciplinary team particularly in countries where surveillance expertise is limited. The checklist is based on a review of available main aquatic surveillance references and scientific literature and was further de...

Tilapia lake virus (TiLV) is an emerging pathogen in aquaculture, reportedly affecting farmed tilapia in 16 countries across multiple continents. Following an early warning in 2017 that TiLV might be widespread, we executed a surveillance programme on tilapia grow‐out farms and hatcheries from 10 districts of Bangladesh in 2017 and 2019. Among farms experiencing unusual mortality, eight out of 11 farms tested positive for TiLV...

Tilapia lake virus (TiLV) is a recently described virus affecting wild and farmed tilapines. At present, it has been reported on three continents (Asia, Africa and South America) and the number of countries where the agent has been detected is likely to increase rapidly as a result of increased awareness, surveillance and availability of diagnostic methods. Any lack of openness regarding the TiLV status of a translocating live...

The Hilsa shad, Tenualosa ilisha popularly known as ‘Hilsa’, is one of the most commercially important fish species in South Asian countries. The species is widely distributed from the Persian Gulf to Bay of Bengal and ascends into estuaries, rivers and brackish‐water lagoons of the Indo‐Pacific region. Recently, the availability of hilsa has drastically dwindled in aquatic systems across this region, due to anthropogenic pres...

Culture of shrimp, mainly Penaeus monodon, makes an important contribution to Bangladesh's aquaculture industry. Shrimp hatcheries are the foundation on which the shrimp industry is built. Hatchery performance and management therefore has extremely important implications for the long‐term viability of the entire shrimp sector, especially given its vulnerability to diseases such as white spot syndrome virus ( WSSV ). This artic...