This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is to develop advanced vaccine technology for aquaculture to increase production efficiency. Aquaculture is the fastest growing agricultural industry in the USA and is a $29.4 billion industry world-wide. Due to the accelerating decline in global fisheries, efforts to increase U.S. aquaculture production have recently been intensified. In eight years, between 1984 and 1991, production of farmed fish and shellfish has doubled to a total of 13 million metric tons. The intensification of farming and increased densities involve substantial stress which, as in other captive food animals, has resulted in major outbreaks of disease and related mortalities. Conventional vaccination of fish by immersion or injection have provided limited disease protection due to the method of administration and the primitive immune memory of aquatic animals; the chemical treatment of fish may pose risks to the environment and the food supply. The objective of this Phase I proposal is to show the feasibility of a novel polymer-based, controlled-release delivery system for fish protective antigens (vaccines). AquaPharm will compare the level and duration of the immune response of fish injected with conventional vaccines and a novel controlled release vaccine during the proposal period. When administered to the fish, this polymer system will deliver the vaccines in a sustained manner, thereby maintaining specific and long-term immune response.
