Update on Impact of Launch of Aquatic Animal Health Services

27 Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) whether he can provide an update on the launch of the Aquatic Animal Health Services (AAHS) in 2023; and (b) how will the Ministry monitor and evaluate AAHS' impact on the survival, growth rate and overall health of aquatic animals in participating farms.

Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has successfully completed the tender exercise to engage an external vendor to administer the Aquatic Animal Health Services (AAHS) and will launch the service in the third quarter of 2023. Through aggregating services, such as veterinary consultations and diagnostic analyses for animal health screening, SFA, through AAHS, will help local farms to strengthen their biosecurity management, prevent disease outbreaks and adopt sustainable farming and management practices. SFA will assess the impact of AAHS through key indicators, such as the frequency of disease outbreaks of common pathogens and fish mortality due to diseases in the farms.