title: Infectious diseases affect marine fisheries and aquaculture economics.
abstract: Seafood is a growing part of the economy, but its economic value is diminished by marine diseases. Infectious diseases are common in the ocean, and here we tabulate 67 examples that can reduce commercial species' growth and survivorship or decrease seafood quality. These impacts seem most problematic in the stressful and crowded conditions of aquaculture, which increasingly dominates seafood production as wild fishery production plateaus. For instance, marine diseases of farmed oysters, shrimp, abalone, and various fishes, particularly Atlantic salmon, cost billions of dollars each year. In comparison, it is often difficult to accurately estimate disease impacts on wild populations, especially those of pelagic and subtidal species. Farmed species often receive infectious diseases from wild species and can, in turn, export infectious agents to wild species. However, the impact of disease export on wild fisheries is controversial because there are few quantitative data demonstrating that wild species near farms suffer more from infectious diseases than those in other areas. The movement of exotic infectious agents to new areas continues to be the greatest concern.
authors.affiliation: Western Ecological Research Center, US Geological Survey, c/o Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106; email: lafferty@lifesci.ucsb.edu *
authors.forename: Kevin D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Lafferty
authors.forename: C Drew
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Harvell
authors.forename: Jon M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Conrad
authors.forename: Carolyn S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Kent
authors.forename: Armand M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Kuris
authors.forename: Eric N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rondeau
authors.forename: Sonja M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Saksida
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017756:Aquaculture / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D059001:Aquatic Organisms; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005398:Fisheries / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005399:Fishes; D010273:Parasitic Diseases, Animal / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D017747:Seafood / Q000191:economics / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000821:virology; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary
keywords: abalone; externality; fish; prawns; salmon; sea lice