28th ANNUAL EASTERN FISH HEALTH WORKSHOP April 21-25, 2003 Fifty Years Of Research On Aquaculture, Biology And Diseases Of Fish Nikola Fijan Department for Biology and Pathology of Fish and Bees, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Heinzelova 55, POB 190,10000 Zagreb, Croatia During the study of veterinary medicine, histological, hematological and microbiological techniques were mastered with the intention to apply them in research on fish biology and pathology. At the beginning of my career, the field research that I conducted on disease treatments led to prolonged stays on carp farms.  During this time it became clear that the main problems were based on an inadequate state of knowledge on pond fertilization and the need for controlled fish reproduction. Application of research results benefited farms and facilitated applied aquaculture research during missions abroad. Findings about fish blood cells that are important for a better understanding of fish hematology and immunology will be presented. The importance of synchronizing clinical and etiological research on fish diseases will be illustrated using carp erythrodermatitis and the swim bladder inflammation as examples. Work on channel catfish virus disease, on spring viremia of carp and on Rana esculenta iridovirus as well as the origin of EPC cell line will be briefly mentioned. Return to 28th Annual Eastern Fish Health Workshop Return to Leetown Science Center Home Page