Clostridium botulinumin Scottish fish farms and farmed trout

Abstract
SUMMARY: Rainbow trout and specimens of pond mud were collected from three fish farms and examined for the presence ofClostridium botulinum.Two of the farms were constructed with concrete channels and one was mud-bottomed.Cl. botulinumwas isolated only from the mud-bottomed farm (24% of muds), and the isolates were all non-proteolytic type B. The implications of the presence ofCl. botulinumspores in the mud of fish farms is discussed.