The Soy Excellence Center (SEC) - MENA presents its 84th Aquaculture Production Training Program on "Biosecurity and Fish Health Management in Commercial Farms," held virtually on Wednesday, January 29th, 2025, at 11:45 AM Cairo Time. This program focuses on equipping aquaculture professionals with essential knowledge and strategies to enhance biosecurity measures and maintain fish health in commercial farming operations.

Key sessions include an overview of common fish diseases in farming systems by Prof. Salah Mesalhy, followed by a presentation on malnutritional diseases in farmed fish by Prof. Abdel Fattah ElSayed. Prof. Safwat Gbran addresses the interaction between water quality management and fish health, emphasizing practical solutions for optimal farm management.

The importance of biosecurity for sustainable fish farming in Egypt is discussed by Prof. Mohamed Faisal, while Prof. Diaa Al-Kenawy provides practical tips and techniques to avoid common mistakes in fish farming.

The training concludes with an open discussion, Q&A session, and closing remarks by the distinguished panel, fostering engagement and knowledge exchange among participants.

This program is ideal for aquaculture professionals seeking to implement sustainable practices, improve biosecurity, and enhance the health and productivity of their operations.

Instructors Bio

Prof. Salah Mesalhy

Chairman, LFRPDA, Cairo, Egypt

Prof Salah Mesalhy Aly, BVMS, MVSc, Ph.D.   Professor of Fish Pathology at Suez Canal University & One of 2% Best Scientists in the world for 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 based on Stirling Univ. Standard, USA. 

• Chairman, Lakes and Fish Resources Protection and Development Agency Board, Egyptian Cabinet. 
• Chairman, Egyptian Mariculture Project Board, Ministry of Agriculture.
• Chairman, Regional Advisory Council of U S Soya Excellence Center.
• A member of Board of Trustee to National New Ismailia University. Ministry of Higher Education.
• A member of WorldFish Board of Trustee, CGIAR, Washington/Malaysia.  A member of the Livestock and Fisheries Research Council at the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Ministry of Higher Education. A member of the General Union of Arab Experts. A member of the General Union for the Protection of Wild and Marine Life in the League of Arab States.  A member in Faculty Council in College of Vet. Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ministry of Higher Education.  A member in Faculty Council in College of Fisheries, Suez University, Ministry of Higher Education.  A member of Egyptian Boards for import and Infectious Diseases, Ministry of Agriculture. A member of National Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography Council, Ministry of Higher Education.
• He has published more than 220 Scientific Research Papers in Local and International Scientific Journals. 
• He also supervised, participated, and discussed more than 250 Master's and Doctoral theses.  He published 4 Scientific Books in the field of Pathology.  He judged Scientific Research for more than 50 Local and International Scientific Journals.  He won 20 international Research Projects.

Formally worked as:

• Chairman, General Authority for Fish Resources Development, Ministry of Agriculture.
• Head of Pathology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Suez Canal University.
• Dean of Fish Farming and Technology Institute, Suez Canal University.
• Head of the Fish Health Program for Africa and West Asia, World Fish Center.
• Head of Fish Diseases Department at World Fish Center (Malaysia/Egypt).
• Expert Consultant for WHO, United Nations. Organizations (Geneva).
• Expert Consultant, FAO, United Nations Organizations (Rome).
• Expert Consultant, OIE, United Nations Organizations (Paris).
• Expert for Consultation Group of International Agricultural Resources, Washington, USA.
• Coordinator for International Cooperation of the Suez Canal University.
• Professor and Head of Medical Laboratories Department, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia.
• Teacher Assistant in Department of Biological Science, University of Texas at El Paso, USA.

Prof. Abdel Fatah ElSayed

Professor in Oceanography Department, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University

Prof. Abdel-Fattah El-Sayed received his PhD degree in fish nutrition from Michigan State University, USA in 1987. He is currently a professor in Oceanography Department, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Egypt. He has also served as visiting professor to scientific institutions in Japan, Spain, Malaysia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Sultanate of Oman. Prof. El-Sayed has authored and co-authored over 130 peer-reviewed publications on aquaculture and fisheries, in addition to 4 books, 3 book chapters and several technical reports to international organizations. He has participated in many local, regional, and international aquaculture and fishery research projects. He also participated in over 50 international, regional and national conferences, in more than 30 countries on aquaculture and fisheries sciences, many of them as keynote speaker. Prof. El Sayed has also served as an aquaculture consultant for organizations including the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, the World Fisheries Trust (WFT), the WorldFish, the African Union and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). He currently serves as a member of the editorial board or advisory panel of a number of regional and internal aquaculture and fisheries journals and magazines, including Aquaculture Research, Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research and Aquafeed International.

Prof. Safwat A. A. Gomha Gobran

Professor at Central Lab. for Aquaculture Research (CLAR) 

He is currently working as Professor at Central Laboratory for Aquaculture Research (CLAR)-Agricultural Research Center since1992. He worked in the Department of Limnology for 16 years, and then moved to Department of Aquaculture Systems 17 years ago.   He holds Ph.D. in Agricultural Sciences from Cairo University in 2001.  He is Chairman of the Research Committee at the Central Aquaculture Research Laboratory for more than six years.  He arbitrated and discussed eight scientific theses in Egyptian universities. He worked as an evaluator and arbitrator at the Science and Technology Development Fund at the Academy of Scientific Research for several projects.  He was a member of the qualifying exam committee for the doctorate degree for three students at Cairo University. He ranked the seventh place in the creativity and excellence competition that was held at the Agricultural Research. He has published 29 papers 

Prof. Mohamed Faisal

Chaired Professor of Aquatic Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Benha University

Dr. Faisal joined MSU in March of 2001 and prior to that he was a professor at the School of Marine Science, The College of William and Mary, Virginia, USA.  He received his doctoral degrees from the University of Ludwig-Maximillian, Munich, Germany.  As a veterinarian, he devoted his career to the study of diseases affecting aquatic animals (both freshwater and Marine). In specific, he is interested in deciphering the mechanisms of the pathogen-host interactions; how the pathogens invade its host and overcoming its immune system and how the host reacts and combat the intruding microbes.  Over a career that extended 40 years, Professor Faisal has made several milestone discoveries that advanced his field of specialization. During his relatively short tenure at MSU, he was successful in establishing the Aquatic Animal Medicine Program that integrated MSU, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Michigan Department of Agriculture, and the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. Dr. Faisal’s research enabled him to develop several important tools that facilitated the diagnosis of emerging infections and finding promising targets for the biological control of invasive species.  He is instrumental in providing guidance to the Great Lakes states on how to manage their fishery resources in the presence of emerging pathogens.  At the international level, Dr. Faisal is the Lead Scientist and Co-Founder of the Living Oceans Foundation, which is undertaking important research to mitigate the effects of diseases on coral reef biodiversity. He is also on the International Pollution Responses in Marine Organisms Association and is Consultant to the Secretary General of the UN on pollution issues. He established a central laboratory for fish disease diagnosis in Senegal 2008. Dr. Faisal has been recognized by a number of national and international awards and honorary degrees. For his outstanding research serving the community of Aquatic Animal health for several decades, Dr. Faisal has been selected as SF Snieszko Distinguished Fellow and Professor. Among his many awards, Dr. Faisal has received the 2015 Jack Christie/Ken Loftus Award for his contribution toward understanding healthy great lakes ecosystems. He served as the major advisor of 30 masters and 34 PhD students.

Prof. Diaa Al-Kenawy

Head of Research, CLAR, Egypt

Diaa works as Head of Research at the Central Lab for Aquaculture Research, CLAR. He currently has over 30 years of experience in aquaculture. Diaa has studied Agricultural sciences and got a PhD in aquatic toxicology 2006 and has participated in and led many research and development projects as a scientist at WorldFish (1998-2021). He is mostly concerned about environment pollution and water quality and impact on fish resources. Diaa is involved in aquaculture and fisheries training programs to teach participants how to produce more affordable and nutritious food from sustainable fish farming. He led the WorldFish Egypt’s research on fish feeds and nutrition through the Global FISH CRP and is enthusiastic of teaching farmers and student’s the best farming practices.