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Salvatorie
Fish Farm
Kelly Hot Springs
Canby, California
View
of Salvatorie Fish Farm
Lagoon View of Salvatorie Fish Farm Rearing Ponds
Salvatorie Fish Farm was in the business
of catfish and
tropical fish production. The farm's water
runs, streams, and lakes, supplied by hot springs, had been contaminated
and dozens of fish were dying on a daily
basis.
Of the 4,500 fish subjected to the
contamination, as few as one dozen fish had survived. In effect,
the disease had caused organ degeneration in the fish.
The owner, Salvatorie Pantano, had suspected
that aeromonas salmonicida was the culprit.
He made contact in the hopes that the cultures would be able to neutralize
this fish-killing virus. Earlier, the Alturas Department of Fish & Game had
reportedly suspected that nematodes were responsible for the fish
kills, but were unable to undertake testing in order to confirm
this theory. Other suspected causes of the disease were
reportedly Hanta Virus, e-Coli, nematodes, sewage
from runoffs, BTEX, and perhaps MTBE, none of which had been
investigated.
Example of Fin Rot
A
process was begun with the acclimation of the microbes to the contaminated water and
the tropical fish to the microbes. After a few weeks, the microbes were introduced to the fish runs, streams
and lakes.
The results of this treatment with the
cultures on the tropical fish were
very positive with no adverse reactions sustained by the fish. After
treatment, the fish farm's workers commented that they were not able to notice any
of the ill effects which had been present prior to treatment
with the microbes, such as
fin rot.
After a few months of actively introducing
the cultures on a daily basis to the infected waters and injecting the shore lines of the lake,
catfish fry were then introduced into the fish runs containing the microbes.
The large rearing ponds which had contained the diseased fish were
also inoculated with the cultures and within
a very short time the fish deaths ceased. In addition, the ponds were inoculated
with the cultures on an ongoing basis over a one year time span through a drip
system application. This process proved to be highly beneficial in
completely eliminating causes of the disease.
Results:
The Salvatorie Fish Farm site was completely restored to health and catfish and tropical fish production
resumed without any further losses. Mr. Pantano, the owner,
stated that, “If
it weren’t for these cultures, I would have had to abandon the site.”
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