R&D and management support to Clarence River Fishermen's Cooperative Ltd and their members as a result of the white spot disease outbreak.
Evaluation of point of care (POC) tests for White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV)
Assessment of the capability of Shrimp MultiPath White Spot virus tests: A multiplexed screening platform for pathogen diagnostics in prawns
Water treatment to control influent water biosecurity risk on Australian prawn farms. Effectiveness and impacts on production ponds.
Building biosecurity capability across the wild harvest fisheries
Assessment of Frozen Uncooked Imported Prawns for Antimicrobial-Resistant Micro-organisms of Aquaculture and Public Health Significance and residues of Ag-vet chemicals
Improving early detection surveillance and emergency disease response to Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome (POMS) using a hydrodynamic model for dispersion of OsHV-1
Testing retail commodities for the presence of Taura Syndrome Virus and Yellow head Virus I
The Australian prawn farming industry has been fortunate to remain free from many of the serious viral diseases which have decimated prawn farms internationally. It had been free from WSSV until it hit the Logan River farms in late 2016.
Pathways for movement of disease have been described through the movement of commodities destined for human consumption, such as uncooked prawns. Diversion of such commodities through use as bait or berley by anglers has the potential to generate a release pathway that could see these disease enter prawn farms via their intake of water, or through use of wild broodstock who may develop sub-clinical infections. Recent surveys have suggested that recreational angler use of supermarket origin uncooked prawns for bait has increased, even though such commodities are labelled that they are intended for human consumption only, and are specifically not to be used for bait.
Knowledge of the risks associated with uncooked prawn importations will assist the industry in contributing to the review of the Import Risk Assessment of uncooked crustacean which is currently underway. Data from this testing will also assist farmers in relation to making risk based decisions around major capital expenditure on farms to increase biosecurity and surveillance.