In conclusion, the use of illegal antimicrobials in aquaculture is
widespread and largely unregulated and undocumented all over
the world, resulting in consumer exposure to residues and
contributing to selection of resistant bacteria. The strength of our
study is that it provides an accurate assessment of the residues of
banned antimicrobials detected in aquaculture fish and feed. The
fact that we evaluated a single Sicilian aquaculture plant, albeit
possibly a weak point, did however provide baseline data in view of
a larger and more exhaustive study. Surveys of larger samples of
fish and feeds are needed to achieve more reliable consumer risk
assessments. Consumer protection policies aimed at reducing drug
residues in aquaculture products must therefore involve the entire
supply chain through wider and more frequent monitoring