J B (Jim) Brackett, DVM.  Fish Health Veterinarian and President

Jim received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the Ontario Veterinary College, Guelph, Canada in 1980.  He has worked with health management in farmed and wild fish and shellfish since 1987.

Dr. Brackett's experience includes health management practices, pathogen identification and control, and the regulatory environment affecting fish health, welfare and the use of pharmaceuticals in the aquaculture industry.  He has directed registration efforts for products in Canada, Chile, India, China, Australia and the United States. 

Jim obtained funding and started up the non-profit BC Centre for Aquatic Health Sciences in Campbell River, BC and serves as the Chairman of the Board.  He established the fish pharmaceutical contract research company, Atlantic Fish Health Inc. at the Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island; and served as Chair of the External Advisory Committee of the Canadian Aquaculture Institute. 

As Special Advisor to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, he prepared a draft document on revised fish health regulations for Canada.   Dr. Brackett has been the principal investigator in a series of surveys to establish a baseline for disease incidence among salmon farms in the Pacific Northwest.  

He is currently a Board Member of the Mid-Island Science and Technology Innovation Council, a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the BC Pacific Salmon Forum and President and founding member of the Canadian Association of Aquatic Veterinarians. He is a representative of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association on the Consultative Committee for Canada’s National Aquatic Animal Health Program.

e-mail: brackett@syndel.com

Presentations and Papers

The Uses and Abuses of Science in Aquaculture: Managing Scientific Risk from How to Farm the Seas: The science, economics, and politics of aquaculture, September 28-30, 2000, Montague, PEI