This subject area in Greece is principally supported by the Ministry of Research and Technology, attached to the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Technology.
The Ministry of Research and Technology controls the funding of the National Centre for Marine Research (EKTHE) at which Mr. Karanikolas carries out fish disease research and also is a major contributor (originally 60% with the Agricultural Bank supplying the other 40%) to the development of the Agriculture Centre at Acheloos (ICHTHIKA).
The total budget of the Ministry of Research and Technology is some 7 billion drachmas per annum and as well as core support, this funding is used to implement three major types of research project in the agricultural field, which are discussed below. “Ear-marked” projects for aquaculture are not available and grants are awarded on a competitive basis between the various branches of agriculture. Fish disease research falls readily within all three categories of research but the major problem at the moment is a lack of applications for funding.
The three types of research programme are as follows:
The PENED programme - this source of funding is available for basic fundamental research in agriculture to be carried out within Universities and Technical Colleges. The budget for this programme last year was some 300–400 million drachmas. Maximum grants awarded for a 2-year project are generally in the order of six million drachmas, although there is no official budget limit. Funding in this programme is generally provided in the form of salaries for postgraduates, Ph.D. studentships and post-doctoral fellowships, with a much smaller budget available for equipment. Application for funding is not limited to heads of department -virtually anyone may apply for a grant and an assessment of the quality and novelty of research is gauged by a panel of experts when deciding between applications. Until this year, no proposals had been submitted in the aquaculture field (and of course specifically not the disease area) but this year a proposal concerning shellfish production (but not disease) has been received from the University of Thessaloniki.
The P.S. programme is designed for the development of cooperation between industry and research bodies in Greece and under the terms of the programme, 30% of the total budget of the submitted programme must be paid for directly by the industry concerned. The intention is to encourage applied research and may be applied for by a wide variety of groups including Universities, Research Centres and even fish farm enterprises themselves. The highest grant so far awarded under this programme is some 12 million drachmas over 2 years, and last year's budget for this programme was some 200 million drachmas. The only study so far applied for and accepted this year was a joint study between Mr. Karanikolas of EKTHE and a commercial fish farm to study bacterial disease implications in bass and bream farming.
The third supported programme of research is the PAVE programme, intended for the development of industrial research, and is generally used to support applications from public and private industry. There is again no upper limit to the value of the application and the Acheloos development was carried out under this programme with a total budget (including grants from the EEC) of about a billion drachmas. The Ministry can officially finance some 50–70% of the personnel costs of such a project (when such personnel are used exclusively within the project). If personnel are only partly involved in the project, but otherwise also working with the company concerned, this percentage is reduced to 35%. Up to 60% of equipment costs can also be met by the Ministry in such a project. Last year's budget for the PAVE programme was some 800 million drachmas.
The three criteria used when considering supporting an application under this programme are:
As an example of aquaculture proposals granted under this programme, the effort in the ICHTHIKA support is expected to be used 80% to provide increased production of bass and bream fry and 20% effort into specific research.
Specific fish disease applications have not been made under this programme.
International Funding of Disease Research
So far, no specific research projects in this area have been funded.
Individual Disease Research Areas
1. National Centre for Marine Research
Essentially three areas of aquaculture research are carried out at EKTHE:
Dr. Klaudatos carries out research in the marine fish and crustacean area, but not in the disease field
Dr. Alexis carries out research in the field of nutritional development in aquaculture
Mr. Karanikolas has established a fish disease laboratory with reasonable histology, bacteriology and parasitology facilities. The work in this area has been the detailed investigation of disease problems as they have arisen in the aquaculture industry but recently a grant awarded under the P.S. programme is allowing development of applied research in the field of fish bacteriology.
Close links are also present between Dr. Alexis and Mr. Karanikolas and nutritional disease research in both marine and fresh water fish is being jointly carried out at present.
Marine environmental pollution is also being studied by Dr. Boussalengos and his team, though much of this work is not primarily linked to aquaculture.
2. Individual research projects have been carried out in the fish disease area from time to time at the Veterinary School, University of Thessaloniki. This work is generally funded from internal University funds or from grants from the National Science Foundation and principally involves Ph.D. studies. Disease problems were recently examined in carp in the Vistonida Lake and at present, a project in myxosporidian infections in wild fish is being carried out jointly between the University of Thessaloniki and the University of Stirling.
Suggested future requirements
1. There seems to be an ample supply of funding available within Greece for the support of fish disease research through the Ministry of Research and Technology, but very few proposals are being put forward. This is probably due principally to the small number of individuals in this area working in research laboratories such as EKTHE and the University of Thessaloniki. There appears to be a need for the expansion of core-staffing and the proper equipping of laboratories (especially with good fish-holding facilities) to allow an expansion of research in this area as much of the research funding available is for the provision of staffing in addition to essential basic staff and “well-found” laboratories.
2. Further effort should also be made to attract funding from international agencies in this field. Efforts are already being made to establish projects under the NATO (Science for stability) programme and bodies such as the International Science Foundation and in the future, certain EEC programmes should also be approached. Such efforts will again require proper laboratory funding and core-staffing before successful applications can be made.
3. There is a need for research into disease agents affecting wild populations so that some estimation can be made of likely disease problems to be faced - this work is especially lacking at the moment in marine species in Greece.
4. Whilst basic studies on disease mechanisms should be a subject for research, especially in more recently cultured species such as bream, bass and mullet, there is likely to be a great need for applied research which will support industry developments, and the forging of strong links between industry and research laboratories is essential. Such cooperation is already being developed and could be further strengthened if diagnostic work is also carried out by the research laboratories. This will also have the effect of bringing the research laboratories into the forefront of development and will enable rapid response to problems as they occur.
