NIFS announced that it established the 4th comprehensive plan to develop techniques for aquatic organism disease management (2026-2030) in accordance with the Article 5 of the Aquatic Organism Disease Control Act.

Taking into consideration of recent changing aquaculture environments at home and abroad, NIFS decided to set up four goals and carry out eight key tasks with the vision of ‘technical innovation in aquatic organism disease management for future changing environment’. 

The four goals consist of △responding to new environmental changes such as climate change, new diseases, etc., △addressing advanced and intelligent diseases with advanced techniques, △enhancing data construction to bolster monitoring and epidemiological management of pathogens, △expanding research cooperation in and outside the country as well as international standardization of disease management. 

For those goals, the key tasks are comprised of △monitoring and reducing aquatic disease to step up climate risk management, △developing a platform for aquatic medicine and managing hazards in preventive and therapeutic aquafeed, △advancing pathogen management and developing biosecurity measures, △strengthening the ecosystem for research and cooperation, etc. 

In the 4th plan, especially, were new plans to develop techniques for such as biosafety of national fisheries research facilities, AI- and digital data -based disease prediction, etc., which will be followed by a new guideline for the establishmenet of biosafety system in fisheries. 

NIFS president Kwon Soon-wook said, “By developing leading aquatic organism disease management techniques, built on the comprehensive plan, NIFS will create a safe production environment for fisheries products, which the people can consume and enjoy with confidence.”