Section 1 General requirements for health visits and sampling

Health visits and sampling for the surveillance referred to in point (b)(ii) of Article 3(2) must comply with the following requirements:

1. (a)

   the sampling of crustaceans for laboratory examination must be carried out whenever the water temperature is likely to reach its highest annual point. That requirement concerning water temperature must also apply to health visits where these are feasible;

2. (b)

   when farmed crustaceans must be sampled in accordance with the requirements set out in Sections 2 to 4, the following criteria must apply:

   1. (i)

      if weak or moribund crustaceans are present in the production units, such crustaceans must primarily be selected. If such crustaceans are not present, those selected must include crustaceans of different size cohorts namely juveniles and adults of the selected susceptible species, proportionally represented in the sample;

   2. (ii)

      if more than one water source is utilised for crustacean production, susceptible crustaceans representing all water sources must be included for sampling;

3. (c)

   when targeted surveillance in wild populations is required due to the small number of establishments covered by the eradication programme, the number and geographical distribution of the sampling points must be determined to obtain a reasonable coverage of the Member State, zone or compartment. The sampling points must also be representative of the different ecosystems where the wild populations of susceptible species are located namely marine, estuary, river and lake systems. In such situations, the crustaceans to be sampled must be selected as follows:

   1. (i)

      in marine and estuary systems areas, one or more of the following species must be selected: Carcinus maenas, Cancer pagurus, Eriocheir sinensis, Liocarcinus depurator, Liocarcinus puber, Crangon crangon, Homarus gammarus, Palaemon adspersus or penaeid shrimp species namely Penaeus japonicus, Penaeus kerathurus, Penaeus semisulcatus. If those species are not present, the sample must be representative of other susceptible decapod species present;

   2. (ii)

      in river and lake systems, one or more of the following species must be selected: Pacifastacus leniusculus, Astacus leptodactylus, Austropotamobius pallipes or Orconectes limosus. If those species are not present, the sample must be representative of other susceptible decapod species present;

   3. (iii)

      if weak or moribund crustaceans are present, such crustaceans must primarily be selected. If such crustaceans are not present, those selected must include crustaceans of different size cohorts namely juveniles and adults of the selected susceptible species, proportionally represented in the sample.