According to The Times of India, the programme, led by NBFGR, was initiated in 14 selected states in the first phase initially for five years and was operated by about 20 leading fisheries institutions of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and State Agricultural Universities of the country.
The programme has been funded by the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), Hyderabad. More than 50 experts from India, including all the principal investigators and co-investigators of the nodal institute and all collaborating organisations, participated in the workshop.
Several important figures from various fisheries sectors attended the workshop's inaugural session.
Emphasis was laid on the importance of the project in deciding national disease control programmes, taking policy decisions for investments, depending on the extent of economic losses, and fulfillment of India's international reporting obligations to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
The workshop also stressed on the involvement of state fisheries departments for the successful implementation of this programme.
The importance of the national surveillance programme in providing credible information which can help the competent authority of the country for facilitating trade and management of trans-boundary diseases was also emphasised.
The workshop attendees also learned that the end product of the project is meant to help India's fish farmers.
It was intimated that this project should be institutionalised after completion of five years, so that fish disease surveillance will be a continuous activity like the disease surveillance systems in animal husbandry.
