Utah Administrative Code
Topic - Agriculture and Food
Title R58 - Animal Industry
Rule R58-17 - Aquaculture and Aquatic Animal Health
Section R58-17-5 - Aquatic Animal Health Approval
Universal Citation: UT Admin Code R 58-17-5
Current through Bulletin 2024-06, March 15, 2024
(1) Except as provided in Section R58-17-15, live aquatic animals or their gametes may only be acquired, purchased, sold, or transferred from sources that have been granted health approval by the department or the division.
(a) The department shall be
responsible for granting health approval and assigning a health approval number
to aquaculture facilities in Utah, and to any out-of-state sources pursuant to
Subsection 4-37-501(1).
(b) The department is responsible for
granting health approval for the importation into or transportation through
Utah of aquatic animals.
(c) The
division shall be responsible for granting health approval and assigning a
health approval number to public aquaculture facilities within the state, and
for the movement of live aquatic animals from free range populations in waters
of the state pursuant to Subsection
4-37-501(1).
(d) The division may waive the health
approval requirements for aquatic animals pursuant to Section 4-37-501 and the
Aquatic Animal Health Waiver Policy for the division approved by the
Board.
(e) The Board may review
health approvals of the department or the division and advise the department or
division on appropriate action to be taken pursuant to Subsection
4-37-503(2).
(2) Inspections.
(a) Inspections are conducted pursuant to
Section 4-37-502 and this rule to detect
the presence of any prohibited and restricted pathogens listed in the Aquatic
Animal Inspection Policy.
(b)
Inspections shall be conducted under the direction of an individual certified
by the American Fisheries Society (AFS) as an Aquatic Animal Health Inspector
or as a Fish Pathologist, or by a licensed veterinarian under the guidance of
an AFS certified inspector or fish pathologist.
(i) Collection, transportation, and
laboratory testing of the samples shall follow standard procedures specified by
the AFS for inspecting the health of aquatic animals, or the OIE Manual of
Diagnostic Tests for Aquatic Animals. Testing requirements and procedures in
the AFS-FHS Blue Book Inspection Manual, and OIE testing requirements will only
be superseded by provisions identified in this rule and corresponding
policies.
(c) Inspections
for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) or OIE listed pathogens
are required for imports from international origins or from known endemic
areas.
(d) The State Veterinarian
may require inspection, treatment, or testing for emerging aquatic animal
pathogens or pathogens suspected to be a threat to state aquaculture and
aquatic resources.
(3) Requirements for Health Approval.
(a)
Applicable to each source of aquatic animals.
(i) Facilities shall submit the following to
the department or division for health approval:
(A) current inspection reports-a five year
inspection history for established facilities may be required;
(B) origin and transfer of aquatic animals or
gametes into the facility after the last inspection;
(C) outbreaks of disease and use of
therapeutic agents since last inspection;
(D) identification of water sources;
and
(E) any other information
required by the department or the division.
(ii) Health Approval may be granted following
the statistical attribute sampling of aquatic animals at the facility for
prohibited and restricted pathogens listed in the Aquatic Animal Inspection
Policy in accordance with the Blue Book or OIE procedures as incorporated in
Subsections R58-17-2(7) and
R58-17-2(28).
(A) This shall require minimum sampling at
the 95% confidence level, assuming a 5% pathogen carrier prevalence.
(B) Board approved exceptions to the sampling
protocols in the Blue Book are detailed in the Aquatic Animal Inspection
Policy.
(iii) The
division may use sampling or testing procedures that are more thorough or
sensitive in detecting prohibited pathogens than the procedures required by
rule.
(iv) Under no circumstances
shall health approval be granted to a facility if any lots test positive for
prohibited pathogens listed in the Aquatic Animal Inspection Policy or if any
of the same pathogens contaminate the facility's production waters or water
sources that have not been treated to eliminate the organism.
(v) Health approval is granted for one year
from the date of sample collection.
(vi) After initial approval, annual
inspections shall be conducted to renew health approval.
(A) The information required in Subsection
R58-17-5(3)(a)(i)
for the previous year shall be provided to renew health approval.
(B) A two-month grace period may be granted
to allow a facility to conduct business while waiting for annual health
inspection samples to be processed and for reporting of test
results.
(vii) If aquatic
animals are removed from an approved facility for a period of three months or
more or if health approval is canceled or denied, then subsequent health
approval may be granted after the facility completes the requirements listed in
Subsection R58-17-5-3(a)
listed for initial approval.
(viii)
Pursuant to Subsection
R58-17-10(2),
restricted health approval may be granted to facilities that test positive for
restricted pathogens or have restricted pathogens in the facilities' water
source.
(b) Applicable to
salmonid facilities.
(i) For initial approval
of a new facility or location, two inspections of the same lot, at least four
months apart, is required.
(A) Aquatic animals
shall reside in the water source for at least six months before the first
inspection.
(B) Lots from each
water source at a facility shall be inspected.
(C) Annual inspections are required to
maintain health approval.
(ii) For existing facilities, any lots of
salmonids on site during the annual inspection shall be sampled. Salmonid fish
health approval is applied to the entire facility, not individual lots of
fish.
(iii) Facilities shall
contact the appropriate regulating agency if any salmonid species, not included
in the annual health inspection, is imported into the facility.
(A) Facilities shall provide current health
approval documentation for the source facility and salmonid species before
offering the new species for sale or transfer. This requirement applies to
salmonids transferred from both in-state and out-of-state sources.
(B) The department or division will review
the documentation and may add the species to the facility's health approval
list if:
(I) the species is listed on the
facility's COR; and
(II) the health
testing of the salmonid species and source facility meets health approval
requirements.
(iv) Facilities that transfer salmonids that
do not meet the requirements listed in Subsection
R58-17-5(3)(b)
may be subject to quarantine and fish health testing.
(v) Each lot of aquatic animals at the
facility as well as any outside sources of these aquatic animals shall be
inspected for initial approval and for renewals.
(c) Applicable to non-salmonids, both
facility and free range locations.
(i) For
initial approval one inspection is required. Health approval is applied to
individual lots of fish.
(ii)
Animals shall reside in the facility water source for at least one month before
the first inspection.
(A) Non-salmonid lots
for purposes of inspection are defined as fish of the same species that have
continuously shared a common water source.
(B) For facilities where a lot of fish is
composed of the same species distributed into multiple ponds or rearing units,
a composite sample of 60 aquatic animals collected from across ponds may be
used.
(C) Health Approval is
applied to individual lots and not the entire facility.
(I) Health approval is required for all
species that are sold or transferred as live animals.
(II) Annual health inspections are not
required.
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