WINTERING &

QUARANTINE PONDS

Dr. Soibam Khogen Singh

WINTERING PONDS
 Concept
• This activity restriction is a physiological
necessity, since the optimal temperature
range for carp lies between 20 and 28 0C
• Energy demands as well as the capacity for
food processing in common carp are lower in
winter
• activity restriction is the best strategy to cope
with the environmental conditions in winter, if
undisturbed overwintering is possible
 Wintering ponds
• These are also known as hibernating ponds.
• The winter is known to be a critical period in
the production of common carp, with the risk
of a heavy loss of valuable fish.
• Therefore, in order to optimize wintering,
various guidelines exist which deal with the
necessary features of a wintering pond and
with the preparation of such a pond before
stocking with carps
 Behavior
• It has been noted that carp stop moving and
feeding at low water temperatures in winter
• The behavior of carp in winter (overwintering)
is often described as follows:
• The carp cluster together in large groups; they
form a depression in the bottom of the pond
and there pass the winter without movement
or feeding
 History
• studies of the overwintering of common carp
carried out in the great reservoirs or lakes of
North America and Russia
• As these water bodies are of a significantly
greater size than wintering ponds, it is
debatable whether the “typical” wintering
behavior of common carp—as described for
aquaculture ponds—has been induced by the
small and intensively stocked wintering ponds
 INTRODUCTION
• In temperate climates when the water
temperature reaches below 10°C, the
overwintering season starts
• In Hungary, this season lasts for about five
months from November to March
• Wintering ponds are relatively small (600 - 1 000
m²) and deep (2 m)
• Recommended stocking densities vary between
350000 and 4,00,000 kg ha-1 (fingerlings), in case
of fry @ 600,000-700,000
•  no food distribution in the wintering ponds
 Preparation of the wintering ponds
• The pond bottom is treated with lime (200 kg/ha)
and the pond is filled with water
• The pond water is then treated with malachite
green (5 mg/l) to prevent infections
• This chemical is progressively washed out and the
fingerlings are stocked at the rate of 100 kg per
101/minute water inflow
• In such ponds a maximum of 6 t of fingerlings can
be overwintered, which represents an average
fish density of 3 kg/m³
 HEALTH MONITORING
• Their health condition is checked by a specialized
veterinarian.
• Just as ecto-parasitic infections predominate in
warm conditions, bacterial and viral diseases are
particularly common in cold water.
• Because of the high density of fingerlings in the
wintering pond and their slow swimming, they a
re easily caught by predatory water birds 
 Quarantine
• Quarantine is an important risk management
measure and a key activity that should be
considered when developing national
strategies for aquatic animal health
management.
• It can also be used effectively to increase bio-
security at the farm production level
• The decision of whether or not to require
quarantine or other bio-security measures
should be done on a case-by-case basis and
determined by a risk analysis
 Bio-security
• Sum total of activities and measures taken to
protect its natural aquatic resources, capture
fisheries, aquaculture and biodiversity and the
people who depend on them from the
possible negative impacts resulting from the
introduction and spread of serious trans-
boundary aquatic animal diseases
 Requirements
• The technical requirements for setting up
quarantine facilities are presented at three
levels, based on the general level of risk (as
determined by risk analysis) represented by
the specific consignment of aquatic animals
being moved.
• need to adopt several sets of quarantine
protocols, the standards to be applied to each
proposed movement of live aquatic animals
• The basic requirements for effective
quarantine include:
• adequate physical infrastructure appropriate
to the level of containment required (e.g.
secure facilities, secure intake water source,
etc.)
• established operating protocols (including
traceability and chain of custody) and
• well-trained staff.
 Types
• “high risk” species, e.g. aquatic animals being
moved either internationally (introductions
and transfers) or domestically between
regions of different health status that are
destined for use in aquaculture, capture
fishery development or other applications
where release or escape of animals or any
pathogens they may be carrying into the
natural environment is likely to occur
• quarantine of “lower risk” species, e.g. aquatic
animals destined for the ornamental trade to
improve bio-security for aquatic animals whose
trade is an established practice; and
• routine quarantine of aquatic animals at
production facilities, e.g. new, domestically
produced or locally-captured broodstock or
juveniles or animals whose movement has been
contingent upon additional, more stringent, risk
management measures, such as the use of
specific pathogen free (SPF) stocks, international
health certification, pre-border and/or border
quarantine, etc.).
 Quarantine or Isolation Ponds
• Quarantine is one of the most important
animal management and bio-security
measures.
• Quarantine is the procedure by which an
individual or population is isolated,
acclimated, observed and, if necessary,
treated for specific diseases before its release
onto the farm or for live market sale
 Facilities
• Well-designed quarantine systems physically
separate incoming fish from the rest of the farm.
• Water in quarantine systems also should be
separate from that on the main farm, and
discharges should be handled appropriately.
• Proper quarantine not only protects established
populations from potential exposure to
pathogens but also gives the new animals time to
acclimate to water, feeds and management and
to recover from handling and transport.
• Handling and transport have been shown to
reduce disease resistance and recovery may take
weeks.
 Major components
• All-in-all-out stocking
• This involves bringing animals in as a group from
only one original source population and
maintaining them as a group throughout the
quarantine period.
• It prevents exposure to other pathogens not
currently in that population.
• Ideally, no new animals should be added to a
group currently in quarantine.
• All-in-all-out quarantine may involve an entire
facility, room or system.
• Isolation or separation. A group of animals in
quarantine should be physically isolated from
other quarantined populations and from the
resident populations.
• Methods of isolation should be built into the
facility and system design.
• If logistics prevent complete isolation,
populations should at least be separated by tank
or vat.
• Regardless of the level of isolation, appropriate
sanitation and disinfection measures must be
used to reduce cross-contamination between
quarantined and established populations and
between separate populations in quarantine
• Observation and diet adjustment. Animals
should be observed for normal and abnormal
appearance and behaviors throughout the
quarantine period so disease problems can be
detected early.
• Loss of appetite, for example, is a very
common, early sign of disease.
• Good nutrition will increase disease resistance
and careful adjustment from the diet of origin
to the on-farm diet will reduce problems from
sudden changes
• Sampling and treatment
• Fish in quarantine should be sampled for specific
diseases of concern at the beginning and end of the
quarantine period and at any time that disease signs
develop.
• Although complete necropsy evaluation of a number
of specimens is best, limited sampling of more
valuable specimens can be done without sacrificing the
animals by examining small sections of skin, fin and
gills for parasites and doing a blood culture for
systemic bacterial infections.
• The results can then be used to improve quarantine
methods and the use of drugs. Consult with a fish
health professional to assist with this
• Pathogen Management
• Not all pathogens (disease-causing organisms
such as bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi) are
of equal concern.
• Pathogens vary in their regulatory significance,
survivability in reservoirs, pathogenicity (how
easily they can infect and cause disease),
diagnostics, and control.
• Although some pathogens cause disease more
readily than others, environmental and host
factors—especially the species and its immune
status—will ultimately determine whether fish
become sick.
• Regulatory significance.
• Some diseases and pathogens are considered
important internationally and listed by the OIE
(World Organization for Animal Health)
because of their economic or environmental
importance.