ABSTRACT
In aquatic environments, the use of antibiotics induces the development of resistances (Sarter and Guichard, 2009, Volume 1 of this Series), which can be transferred to other bacteria, including pathogenic bacteria to fi sh or even humans (Cabello, 2006; Sarter et al., 2007). Therefore, the use of antibiotics should be kept to a minimum. Vaccination of juveniles has
1Instituto de Investigacións Mariñas (CSIC), Eduardo Cabello nº 6, 36208 Vigo, Galicia, Spain 2Present address: Institut Català de Recerca de l’Aigua. Parc Científi c i Tecnològic de la Universitat de Girona, Emili Grahit 101, 17003 Girona, Catalonia, Spain 3Institute of Aquaculture, Hellenic Center for Marine Research, P.O. Box 2214, Iraklion, Crete, Greece *Corresponding author: E-mail: pintado@iim.csic.es
drastically reduced the use of chemotherapeutics in aquaculture, increasing the survival of farmed fi sh. However, fi sh larvae have an undeveloped immune system, relying on maternal antibodies and non-specifi c immune response, which prevent the use of vaccination (Vadstein, 1997).
