97 results

Tactical Research Fund: A review of the ecological impacts of selected antibiotics and antifoulants currently used in the Tasmanian salmonid farming industry and development of a research programme to evaluate the environmental impact of selected treatments.

Project number: 2007-246
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $52,560.00
Principal Investigator: Catriona Macleod
Organisation: University of Tasmania (UTAS)
Project start/end date: 1 Sep 2007 - 31 Dec 2008
Contact:
FRDC

Need

The Tasmanian salmonid industry has recently been faced with several significant production issues necessitating increased use of antibiotics and antifoulants. The effects of these chemicals on the local ecology and ecosystem function are currently poorly understood and without evidence to the contrary, it is difficult for the industry to refute the perception that such chemicals have a detrimental effect on the environment.

There is a large body of literature regarding the effects of antibiotics, however the information pertaining to aquaculture is limited. Improvements in husbandry and vaccine development have now all but eliminated the use of antibiotics in aquaculture overseas, consequently there have been few recent aquaculture specific studies, with even fewer studies on ecosystem effects, the available information largely focussing on environmental persistence and antibiotic resistance. However, there is quite a lot of information in the terrestrial livestock and medical areas on the comparative effects of various antibiotics as well as quite a substantial ecotoxicological literature. In contrast there is a substantial local literature on the environmental impacts of antifoulants and heavy metals. There is a need for a targeted review to establish environmental risk factors associated with current antibiotic and antifoulant usage and to develop an appropriate strategy to research and monitor ongoing impacts.

Some data on sediment residue levels for both antibiotics and antifoulants has been collected by the salmon industry in compliance with drug/chemical licensing permit conditions authorities and by the state government in response to concerns regarding antibiotic usage. So far this data has not been collated and has only been subjected to preliminary analysis; a comprehensive evaluation of this data would markedly improve our understanding of current impacts and help to determine what additional information may be required.

Objectives

1. Undertake a review of the international literature and current research to identify the existing state of knowledge regarding the environmental effects of antibiotics and antifoulants currently used or likely to be used in the Tasmanian salmonid farming industry.
2. Analyse local datasets on currently used antibiotics and antifoulants, collected in compliance with current licensing requirements, to determine what additional information is needed (if any) to appropriately evaluate the environmental impact of current management practices.
3. Develop an appropriate and cost effective research proposal to obtain the necessary information to evaluate the impact of current management strategies and design an appropriate ongoing monitoring programme.

Final report

ISBN: 978-1-86295-569-1
Author: Catriona Macleod
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2016-009
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Aquatic Animal Health and Biosecurity Subprogram: Perkinsus olseni in abalone - development of fit-for-purpose tools to support its management

The project was able to successfully propagate a new P. olseni isolate from Queensland and successfully cultured the isolates from Spain, Japan, New Zealand, and South Australia as well as P. chesapeaki, which was used as a negative control. We were unable to culture the Western Australian (WA)...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) WA
Adoption
Industry
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2017-169
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Assessing the nutritional value of Australian Barramundi

Farmed Australian barramundi (Lates calcarifer) is a reasonably well-recognised fish product in the Australian marketplace, however, its nutritional value and health benefits compared to other animal protein and seafoods is not quantified and widely known by consumers. This study assessed the...
ORGANISATION:
James Cook University (JCU)
SPECIES
Communities
PROJECT NUMBER • 2016-263
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Social and Economic Evaluation of the Victorian Wild-catch Seafood and Aquaculture Industry – STAGE 1

The FRDC Victorian Research Advisory Committee identified the need for a research project to measure the multiple social and economic contributions of the professional fishing and aquaculture sectors as an urgent and high priority. FRDC and the Human Dimensions Research (HDR) subprogram also...
ORGANISATION:
Seafood Industry Victoria Inc (SIV)
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2018-118
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Reinvigorating the Queensland Oyster Industry

The overall objective of this study is to provide critical background knowledge to support the reexpansion of Queensland oyster aquaculture, which has been experiencing low levels of production since the 1920s. Once the epicentre of the oyster industry in Australia (Schrobback, 2015),...
ORGANISATION:
Griffith University Nathan Campus
SPECIES
Adoption
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