Division I.1 General requirements

When health inspections and sampling of farms in accordance with the second paragraph of point 2 of part I of Annex V to Directive 2006/88/EC is required to be carried out more than once per year, the intervals between the health inspections or collection of samples shall be as long as possible.

When targeted surveillance in wild populations is required in accordance with the second paragraph of point 2 of Part I of Annex V to Directive 2006/88/EC, the number and geographical distribution of sampling points shall be determined to obtain a reasonable coverage of the F1constituent GB territory, zone or compartment. The sampling points shall also be representative of the different ecosystems where the wild susceptible populations are located.

The health inspections shall be carried out in all production units, such as ponds, tanks and net cages, for the presence of dead, weak or abnormally behaving fish. Particular attention shall be paid to the water outlet area where weak fish tend to accumulate because of the water current.

The fish to be collected as samples shall be selected as follows:

1. (a)

   only moribund or freshly dead fish, but not decomposed fish shall be selected; in particular fish demonstrating anaemia, bleedings or other clinical signs suggesting circulatory disturbances shall be prioritised for collection;

2. (b)

   if Atlantic salmon is among the susceptible species on the site, samples from Atlantic salmon shall be prioritised. If there is no Atlantic salmon in the fish farm, other susceptible species must be sampled;

3. (c)

   if more than one water source is utilised for fish production, fish representing all water sources shall be included in the sample;

4. (d)

   the fish selected shall include fish collected in such a way that all production units, such as net cages, tanks and ponds, of the farm as well as all year classes are proportionally represented in the sample.