Vaccination for emergency and long-term control of nodavirus in Australian marine aquaculture
Investigations into the toxicology of pectenotoxin 2 seco acid and 7-epi pectenotoxin 2 seco acid to aid in a health risk assessment for the consumption of shellfish contaminated with these diarrhetic shellfish toxins in Australia
The need for the research lies in the fact that no guideline values exist for pectenotoxins in shellfish. To produce these guidelines toxicological data need to be produced and currently there is a lack of knowledge of the PTX metabolism and mechanisms of toxicity. There is currently no oral toxicology data on the PTX2- seco acids and thus their inpact on human health cannot be assessed. There have been no published works of their metabolism in mammals or humans, and their chronic effects on health are unknown. The clinical symptoms are non-specific to DSP poisoning and it is believed that cases of bacterial poisoning and DSP are mis-diagnosed due to lack of toxicological information.
The presence of pectenotoxins can impose significant economic burden on the shellfish industry. Clear toxicological data on pectenotoxins will be used to undertake a risk assessment of pectenotoxins to enable the shellfish industry and regulators to make informed decisions about the withdrawal of product from sale or closure of farms in the presence of pectenotoxins in shellfish.
Final report
Spatial arrangement of estuarine and coastal habitats and the implications for fisheries production and diversity
Final report
Control of Perkinsus disease in abalone
Disease, particularly Perkinsus disease, is seen as the fourth major risk to the sustainability of the abalone fishery in SA (SA Fisheries & Aquaculture Five Year Research and Development Strategy). Perkinsus disease causes ongoing losses to the industry, losses that are expected to increase with global warming unless some action is taken to curb the disease. This project will explore one approach that may be feasible to control Perkinsus and thus reduce its impact on the industry.
A recent project in California (Culver and Kuris, in press) successfully eradicated a species of mudworm from abalone by removal of the most susceptible shell (N. Bax, CSIRO, pers. com.)