10 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
Adoption

Global review: Incentivising small and medium scale aquaculture businesses to measure and report Environmental, Social, and Governance outcomes

Project number: 2022-171
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $225,975.00
Principal Investigator: Belinda Yaxley
Organisation: Nautilus Collaboration Pty Ltd
Project start/end date: 30 Aug 2023 - 30 May 2024
Contact:
FRDC

Need

The Australian aquaculture industry is faced with a number of environmental, social and governance (ESG) expectations and challenges now and into the future as we see a growing expectation from major retailers and an investor and increasingly government focus on offsetting carbon, nutrients and land. Specific challenges include measuring and reporting on greenhouse gas emissions, disease and antibiotic use, use of forage fish in feeds, habitat destruction, fish welfare and husbandry, and effluent discharge. While larger corporate businesses and some sectors have made some progress in these areas, the small-medium business enterprises will require support given they often have little to no resources to measure, report and allocate new funding and action to address ESG challenges. This is particularly important in areas where some of the challenges will become expectation e.g. market access and carbon emissions reporting.
There is a substantial disparity on how key ESG indicators are reported and assured across different sectors of the seafood industry, which is dependent on many different factors. These can include (but are not limited to):

- the size of the enterprise;
- local, State or Federal legislation;
- third-party certification requirements;
- global best practices;
- investor expectations
- export market requirements
- company policies

Consistency of reporting across the industry is vital to improve ESG policy and practices, ensure accountability of organisations, and increase consumer confidence of the seafood sector. A review of ESG challenges, and existing reporting frameworks/incentive programs both nationally and internationally will be key to developing a centralised reporting framework that both satisfies compliance and regulation and leads to tangible improvement outcomes for SME in the ESG space.

Objectives

1. Desktop Review – ESG Challenges in Australian Aquaculture SME’s.
2. Global Review on incentive schemes
3. Provide recommendations on actionable steps
Adoption
PROJECT NUMBER • 2019-023
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Practicing aquatic animal welfare: Identifying and mitigating obstacles to uptake and adoption by the Australian Fishing Industry

This FRDC funded research focuses on the obstacles to, and drivers of, positive practice change relating to aquatic animal welfare (AAW) in Australia’s wild-catch commercial fishing and finfish aquaculture sectors. It was conducted between December 2019 and March 2022 in response to...
ORGANISATION:
ENVision Environmental Consulting
Environment
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2017-203
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Risk from Diarrhetic Shellfish Toxins and Dinophysis to the Australian Shellfish Industry

This study first examined DSTs in spiked and naturally contaminated shellfish - Sydney Rock Oysters (Saccostrea glomerata), Pacific Oysters (Magallana gigas/Crassostrea gigas), Blue Mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and Pipis (Plebidonax deltoides/Donax deltoides), using LC-MS/MS ...
ORGANISATION:
University of Technology Sydney (UTS)
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2019-091
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Non-Market Impact Valuation for Fisheries RD&E (Phase I)

This report, titled ‘Non-Market Impact Valuation for Fisheries RD&E – Phase I: An Investigation and Gap Analysis of Non-Market Impact Valuation Studies for Australian Fisheries and Aquaculture RD&E’, presents the findings of the first stage of a process to assess and...
ORGANISATION:
Agtrans Research