Located at the Brest-Iroise technology park in Plouzané – near Brest – where it has approved experimental fish facilities, the VIMEP unit is situated in one of the most dynamic regions in France for the marine and aquaculture sector, with organisations such as Ifremer, the European Institute for Marine Studies (IUEM), the Mer-Bretagne-Atlantique cluster and numerous fish farming companies. The VIMEP unit carries out reference missions and research activities focusing on fish health. Its overall aim is to contribute to better management of the health and welfare of farmed fish while taking account of infectious hazards, particularly viruses, and the impact of human activities and climate change on their environment.

Reference activities

The unit has the mandate of National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for regulated fish diseases, which covers all non-exotic and exotic viruses currently listed at European level (Directive 2006/88/EC). The VIMEP Unit also investigates problematic and/or emerging non-regulated viruses.

Research activities

The unit works on two of ANSES's cross-cutting strategic themes:

• "Animal health and welfare" for its infectiology activities. In this area, which includes reference and research activities, the objectives are to i) contribute to the smooth operation and ongoing improvement of the national surveillance system for regulated diseases; ii) maintain active monitoring in order to detect emerging threats as early as possible; iii) extend knowledge of certain pathogenic viruses that are insufficiently characterised and particularly damaging; iv) initiate work on the effects of climate change on viral evolution and host/pathogen interactions; and v) develop and test approaches aimed at improving the resistance of farmed fish to pathogens (FORTIOR Genetics collaborative platform with the French Poultry and Aquaculture Breeders Technical Centre – SYSAAF) and their robustness to changes in their environment.
• "Exposure to and toxicology of chemical contaminants" for activities aimed at assessing the impact of chemical or physical stresses – generally chronic and applied over several generations so as to reflect environmental reality as closely as possible – on overall fish health. Assessing the impact of exposure involves a wide range of approaches, such as measuring immunological biomarkers, examining anti-infectious defence capabilities or, more recently, determining changes in the microbiome.

Main research projects

HEALTHSEA (2023-2026)

Integrative approach to assessing the effects of global change on the robustness of the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax). 

Funding: National Research Programme for Environmental and Occupational Health

SEPIAA (2024-2028) 

Artificial intelligence-assisted genetic selection in aquaculture.  

Funding: 2030 recovery plan

LIPEP (2024-2026) 

Valorisation of lipids and peptides from thraustochytrid biomass as aquafeed ingredients.  

Funding: French Research Agency

SUSPECT (2023-2025) 

Assessment of the potential effects of sodium fluoride on the thyroid system, immunity and microbiota of rainbow trout.

Funding: National Research Programme for Environmental and Occupational Health

EU AHW PROJECT (2024-2026) 

Animal health and welfare.      

Funding: Horizon Europe

AQUATERM (2023-2026) 

Impact of global warming on host-pathogen interactions in a novirhabdovirus/rainbow trout model.  

Funding: Thesis co-funded by ANSES-INRAE

Projects completed

EISA-CAM project (2023-2024) 

Ecological intensification and sustainable aquaculture for Cambodia.  

Funding: European Union

MEDMAX (2021-2024) 

Maximising gains in genetic resistance to pathogens in two Mediterranean species: sea bass and sea bream.    

Funding: European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF)

STAYIN'ALIVE project (2021-2023)

Understanding and preventing mortality induced by sexual maturation in Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus).

Funding: EMFAF/Brittany Regional Council

POMELO (2021-2023)

High-throughput multi-omics platform for analysing endocrine-disrupting stress in fish.

Funding: National Research Programme for Environmental and Occupational Health

CEVIRAL project (2022-2023)

Epidemiology of carpal edema virus (CEV). 

Funding: EMFAF/Brittany Regional Council

AOP ITHIS project (2022-2023)

Construction of a potential pathway for adverse effects to explain the relationship between thyroid hormone modulation and immunity in fish exposed to endocrine-disrupting compounds. 

Funding: Brittany Regional Council (Post-doctorate)

SEA2SEA (2020-2024)

Development and validation of marine probiotics encapsulated in seaweed for the health and productivity of aquaculture animals.

Funding: Regional pivotal projects for competitiveness (PSPC)

PAQMAN (2020-2023) 

Development of innovative probiotics for marine aquaculture.    

Funding: EMFAF/Brittany Regional Council

TELEVIR project (2020-2022)

High-throughput molecular diagnosis on a farm site in the epidemic phase.

Funding: One Health EJP    

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