Overview on the Biosecurity Measures of Salmonid Fish Farms: A Case Study in Italy

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

I think it is a very interesting and necessary job for the sector.

But there are some aspects that I think would be necessary to clarify:

In Table 1 it would be convenient to indicate the possible response for each item and indicate how many competent authorities participated in carrying out the surveys and whether they received any prior training to unify criteria since some of the variables may have a subjective interpretation (ex: A_02_01) .

Regarding the coding of table 1, is it possible that category A_04 is missing?

Figures 1 and 2 are redundant, I would delete Figure 1 and include the information in Figure 2 in Materials and Methods in an extra column in Table 1.

I would also eliminate figure 4 since the information is included in the text (lines 248-251).

I would like them to explain how they created the intervals indicated in lines 247 and 248 that categorize the farms.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to submit a reviewed draft of our manuscript entitled “Overview on the biosecurity measures of salmonid fish farms: a case study in Italy” to Fishes (ISSN 2410-3888). We appreciate the valuable feedback and comments provided by the reviewers on the manuscript, and we have incorporated changes following their suggestions/comments, that are tracked within the manuscript. In addition, a specific code for each suggestion/comment was assigned to identify the specific change. The point-to-point responses to the reviewers' comments are presented below.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The article aims to evaluate trout safety measures in Italy based on information on fish farms. Trout are fish of great food and commercial importance in the world and any studies on these fish are important for the production sector.

The manuscript needs to be improved, I call on the authors to re-read the manuscript and add citations to each sentence or paragraph that presents relevant scientific information. The results need to be better presented, the figures have inadequate quality and need to be self-explanatory.

Line 13-17 - Abstract: I recommend describing a single general objective of the work rather than detailing the specific objectives.

Line 25: replace the keyword “biosecurity”, it is already in the title. Avoid using keywords that are in the title.

Line 31-33 – Include a quote in the paragraph.

Line 33-39 – See the paragraph margin or join it to the previous paragraph.

Line 34-36 – Include citation in the sentence, probably FAO (2020).

Line 36-39 – What is the year of the FAO report cited?

Line 42-43 - Include a quote in the sentence.

Line 44 – And the other 1% are from where (77% + 22% = 99%)?

Line 45-46 - Include a quote in the sentence.

Line 58-61 - Include a quote in the sentence.

Line 61-64 - Include a quote in the sentence.

Line 66-68 - Include a quote in the sentence.

Line 72-79 – Replace specific objectives with a single general objective.

Line 81 – What is PAT?

Material and methods

I suggest you create subtopics to make it more attractive and explanatory to the reader.

Results

Line 157-165 – Create a figure or table with these results, it’s better for the reader. I recommend a figure.

Line 165-170 – Create a figure with these results.

The results must be improved in the form of presentation. The figures are of poor quality and are not self-explanatory. Improve the quality of synthesis and presentation of results.

Needs minor revisions.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to submit a reviewed draft of our manuscript entitled “Overview on the biosecurity measures of salmonid fish farms: a case study in Italy” to Fishes (ISSN 2410-3888). We appreciate the valuable feedback and comments provided by the reviewers on the manuscript, and we have incorporated changes following their suggestions/comments, that are tracked within the manuscript. In addition, a specific code for each suggestion/comment was assigned to identify the specific change. The point-to-point responses to the reviewers' comments are presented below.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments to author

Manuscript Number/id - fishes-2684638

The manuscript entitled “Overview on the biosecurity measures of salmonid fish farms: a case study in Italy” Has great potential, this study aimed to photograph the trout farming sector in Italy's Autonomous Province of Trento, identify biosecurity factors affecting farm levels, and define a reusable instrument for ranking fish farms. Data from 62 salmonid farms was collected using a national checklist, assessing biosecurity levels and risk of infectious fish diseases. Key factors identified included cargo truck cleaning, dead fish collection, anti-bird nets, dedicated equipment, and external loading areas. The abstract and Introduction are clear, well well-written.

The topic is of interest, and the manuscript is well illustrated. However, the authors need to respond to some comments/suggestions

Minor correction required

In the materials and methods section                  

Table 1: Fish seed (fry/fingerling) is an important input in a fish farm, why it is excluded in the questionnaire kindly justify

Line 119-116: Authors may please describe why only 12 experts have been chosen for providing scientific consensus. The methods elucidated describe about the questionnaire mode data collection. Up to what mark the data are reliable over the direct call method.

Line 89 describes that the samples were collected from 62 farms, however, in line 165-167 describes an all total of 87 farms. Please explain

In the results section

It is suggested that if possible, the authors may elucidate the results of the Biosecurity aspects in tabular form.

In Figure 3 mentions the horizontal axis title

In the discussion section

The discussion may be more compact from line number 320-340

In the conclusion section

The authors are required to rewrite the conclusion section to reflect their major findings. Should modify, simplify and more clear.

Minor editing of English language required

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to submit a reviewed draft of our manuscript entitled “Overview on the biosecurity measures of salmonid fish farms: a case study in Italy” to Fishes (ISSN 2410-3888). We appreciate the valuable feedback and comments provided by the reviewers on the manuscript, and we have incorporated changes following their suggestions/comments, that are tracked within the manuscript. In addition, a specific code for each suggestion/comment was assigned to identify the specific change. The point-to-point responses to the reviewers' comments are presented below.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

The article aims to evaluate trout safety measures in Italy based on information on fish farms. Trout are fish of great food and commercial importance in the world and any studies on these fish are important for the production sector.

The manuscript is well written and the authors made the proposed revisions.