Veterinarians in the USA lack federal licences
Veterinarians in the United States(U.S.) are having a difficult time obtaining licenses to practice in the aquaculture industry.
Each state in the U.S. is governed independently. Currently, veterinary licences are handed out by individual states. This leaves veterinarians wanting to work within the federal aquaculture industry with very few options.
“Looking at a veterinarian doing work on animals that are in federal waters, outside of state jurisdiction, we saw a regulatory issue that needed to be talked about,” said Dr Warren Hess, assistant director, American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).
We do have a gap
“More importantly, this needed to be communicated to the states that might be facing this, to make them aware of the fact that we do have a gap here, “ said Hess in an interview with Aquaculture North America.
In November, 50 representatives from 17 states, AVMA and stakeholders met to discuss the ongoing issue.
The AVMA suggested four recommendations:
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If a veterinarian is unable to obtain a federal licence to work in federal waters then the individual must hold a licence in another state.
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Accreditation required by the US Department of Agriculture Veterinarian Service as a Category 2 veterinarian. This will allow them to work federally with various species.
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Accreditation courses in aquaculture.
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The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service should be the animal health authority for animals in federal waters.
“It is an area where veterinarians may feel more vulnerable, because they’re thinking there’s no licensing body to back me up. If things fall back to either one or more of the states in which I’m licensed because of an issue in federal waters, how is that state going to react to it?”
No unifying governing body
Each state has different rules and regulations regarding the veterinarians who choose to work in federal aquaculture. Therefore, there is no unifying governing body to oversee if veterinarians are following proper protocols and procedures.
The AVMA will be presenting all the recommendations at the United States Animal Health Association’s annual meeting in October 2019.
The United States produced $1.4 billion worth of aquaculture seafood in 2015, and the top U.S. marine aquaculture species were oysters ($173 million), clams ($112 million), and Atlantic salmon ($88 million). The U.S. aquaculture industry produced 627 million pounds of seafood in 2015.
The AVMA is Americas leading advocate for the veterinary profession. Representing more than 93,000 members they protect, promote and advance the needs of all veterinarians.
