World Aquaculture March 2019

52 MARCH 2019 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WA S.ORG When we started our quest, there was very little information on the use of PAA in aquaculture, in either the U.S. and Europe, so we devised a plan to develop research and promote the use of PAA. My personal goal was to get this product introduced and approved for use in U.S. aquaculture. We understand that there are other publications on the use of PAA in aquaculture, but there has not been a concerted effort like ours: to date we have 19 joint peer-reviewed publications. Our collaboration is important because of the complementary expertise of each scientist and limitations on live fish experimentation in the European Union (EU). In the U.S., PAA (also called peroxyacetic acid) is an antimicrobial disinfectant that was originally registered by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1985 for indoor use on hard surfaces, mainly hospitals. Over the years, its use has expanded and EPA registrations now include sanitation in food and beverage plants, agricultural facilities, wineries and breweries, greenhouse equipment, animal housing, meat processing, medical device sterilant, preventing biofilm formation in paper and pulp industries, as a disinfectant for wastewater treatment, and as a whitener in commercial laundries. Chemically, PAA is produced from acetic acid, hydrogen peroxide and water; it also contains a stabilizing agent. The resulting What is Peracetic Acid? That is the question I asked myself while walking down a beach with Dr. Thomas Meinelt discussing research prior to a conference in 2008. Our communications had started the previous year in connection with his recent publication on Ich disease. Although it was published in a German veterinary monthly magazine, there was an abstract in English that I found during a literature search (Meinelt et al. 2007a, b). Through email I learned we had similar research interests and careers (toxicology backgrounds, aquaculture, disease treatments, beer, etc.). This is the story of our research collaboration and the relationships we made with other investigators. Thomas began research with peracetic acid (PAA) in 2002 and his first publication was in 2004. The title was “Wofasteril ® undWofasteril E 250 zur Bekämpfung von Fischschimmel - Erste Erfahrungen” which translates to “Wofasteril ® andWofasteril E 250 for Controlling Fish Mold - First Experience” (Meinelt et al. 2004). Wofasteril is the trade name for the PAA product he used and the fish molds were isolates of Saprolegnia and Achlya . His initial manuscripts appeared in German magazines and journals, with little exposure to me or the rest of the world. An International Research Collaboration on Peracetic Acid: A Retrospective Summary David L. Straus and Thomas Meinelt LEFT: The international peracetic acid research collaboration at the 2016 International Conference on Recirculating Aquaculture. From left to right: Dibo Liu, Thomas Meinelt, Chris Good, Paula Rojas Tirado, Lars-Flemming Pedersen, John Davidson, Dave Straus and Greg Fischer. RIGHT: Thomas Meinelt holding Dave Straus as he harvests a spawn of catfish eggs. When we started our quest, there was very little information on the use of PAA in aquaculture, in either the U.S. and Europe, so we devised a plan to develop research and promote the use of PAA. My personal goal was to get this product introduced and approved for use in U.S. aquaculture. We understand that there are other publications on the use of PAA in aquaculture, but there has not been a concerted effort like ours: to date we have 19 joint peer-reviewed publications. Our collaboration is important because of the complementary expertise of each scientist and limitations on live fish experimentation in the European Union (EU).