THE COSTS OF FISH HEALTH TESTING REGULATIONS ON U.S. PRODUCERS OF BAITFISH AND SPORTFISH.

Fish health costs can be a significant portion of total regulatory compliance costs for U.S. producers of baitfish and sportfish. Within an already complex, and what is often described as a stifling regulatory environment, fish health testing requirements have often been described as sources of increased cost, redundancy, and inefficiency. In an effort to combat the spread of diseases and pathogens across state and international borders, many state and federal agencies have developed fish health regulations that have resulted in added complexity for producers and in some instances have directly limited sales and affected business investments and decisions. Fish health regulations have therefore become an area where there has been a call for a "level playing field", where one set of standards and requirements can be applied to the industry as a whole. Such a model, a federal code for commercial aquaculture, has been proposed by the Animal and Plant Inspection Service (APHIS) of the USDA.

In 2014, a survey was conducted as a census of all baitfish and sportfish growers in 13 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin). These states represented 59% of all baitfish/sportfish farms and 80% of all baitfish/sportfish production value in the U.S. The overall response rate was 31% of all farms and 77% of all U.S. production value of baitfish and sportfish.  Data were collected on the direct and indirect costs of compliance with fish health regulations.  Detailed data were collected on costs associated with fish health testing, certification, and veterinary services as well as sales lost as a result of various types of regulations.  This unique dataset has given us an understanding of the average fish health testing costs faced by existing baitfish and sportfish producers, and the cost effects of the differences in fish health testing requirements by state.