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Industry
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2008-793
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Seafood CRC: prawn Industry black spot management: problem size and appropriate research

Summary: The wild prawn capture industry is under increasing competition from imported and domestic aquaculture product. One problem facing the industry is the frequent occurrence of black pigment on the head and tail surfaces. This condition is known as black spot and can be prevented by treating...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries (QLD)
SPECIES
Environment
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2017-019
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Freshwater fish attracting structures (FAS): Evaluating a new tool to improve fishing quality and access to fisheries resources in Australian impoundments

This document has been compiled from various sources and, to the authors’ knowledge, represents the best advice currently available regarding the use of fish attracting structures to improve recreational angling in Australian impoundments. Although the principles outlined in this document may...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries (QLD)
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 2019-062
PROJECT STATUS:
CURRENT

Knowledge to improve the assessment and management of Giant Mud Crabs (Scylla serrata) in Queensland

Researchers from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) Queensland, CQUniversity (CQU) and the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) NSW Fisheries are collaborating on a Fisheries Research and Development (FRDC) co-funded research project on mud crab populations in Queensland. The...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries (QLD)
SPECIES

Evaluating effective quality monitoring methods for the Australian seafood industry

Project number: 1999-358
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $274,995.00
Principal Investigator: Sue Poole
Organisation: Department of Primary Industries (QLD)
Project start/end date: 25 Jul 1999 - 19 Jul 2004
Contact:
FRDC

Need

The need for effective control and monitoring of safety and quality is obvious following the crisis of confidence caused by the recent viral outbreak which sent shockwaves throughout the seafood industry. Test kits allow industry to control the QA process rather than just follow the recommendations of consultants. They also allow industry to decide the type of processing required and the end use of the products being produced. One example is if a processor can determine the amount of bacteria present on seafood and the storage conditions it has been exposed to when delivered by fishers then they can estimate the length of shelf life that the seafood after processing will attain. This information will also indicate what types of product can be produced. It is a waste of time producing seafood at the limit of an importing country's standards if there is going to be further handling before the consumer purchases it. The Australian processor's target should be mush higher than this.

The new statutory requirements for food safety plans and the increasing adoption of formal quality management systems, necessitate the development of quality measures that are relevant and quantifiable.

For industry to implement QA programmes, there is an essential need for tools by which to monitor the systems. Rapid test kits provide these tools, but are they appropriate and effective for the Australian seafood processing environment? This knowledge is crucial to successful adoption of AQ programme initiatives.

There is a special need for this information by existing small and medium sized seafood enterprises, as well as new players entering the market, who do not have the resources not time to assess available methods themselves. Information providers such as AUSEAS can only provide lists of test kits that may be available but they have no funds to ascertain which ones work reliably under Australian conditions. They have stated that they will not recommend anything they have not tested yet this is what industry really wants. Promotional material accompanying test kits usually does not warn of any limitations.

Three areas of need for objective analysis are identified.

Product specification
As QA becomes more widespread, there is a need to specify and quantify the quality parameters so they can be included in product specifications associated with contracts. Those parameters may be Physical (eg size grades), Chemical (eg K values), Bacterial (eg TPC's), or Sensory (eg Demerit scores).

HACCP and Food Safety Plans
To monitor the effectiveness of a QA program such as proposed by SeaQual and SQMI, an objective, reliable measure of quality is needed. There are few universal measurements of quality and many tests require laboratory facilities. A number of rapid test kits have been developed which reduce delays in obtaining essential information required for processing strategies. Not all kits available are effective or suitable. This investigator has appraised some test kits intended for identifying the presence of sulphite on prawns and found them to be very inaccurate. An assessment of test kits in the Australian seafood processing environment is essential to establish their suitability.

Disputes and Loss Assessment
At the Centre officers are sometimes employed by loss assessors to report on the condition of suspect seafood in the distribution chain. We use a combination of bacterial, chemical and sensory techniques. The use of test kits within the processing sector would clarify many of these disputes.

Objectives

1. Benchmark existing test kits for quality assessment for Australian Seafood species.
2. Assess the effectiveness of different techniques for measuring quality in the Australian processing environment.
3. Document measures of fish and prawn quality which can be assessed by test kits within the processing environment.
4. Disseminate the information obtained to industry in the form of workshops, printed materials and electronic format.

Final report

ISBN: 0-7345-0259-1
Author: Sue Poole and Steve Slattery
Final Report • 2004-02-17 • 849.22 KB
1999-358-DLD.pdf

Summary

A variety of rapid kit methods, both microbiological and chemical, have been evaluated with respect to their accuracy for and application to the Australian seafood industry. The information is now readily available for industry managers to base operational processing decisions on. 

A few kits demonstrated value for monitoring total microbial contamination levels within day to day processing line operations.  Additionally, two kits were successfully applied within industry for measurement of sulphite and histamine residual levels.  However, most kit methods were inappropriate in functional design or provided unreliable results which negate their usefulness for industry application.  The information gained is valuable for industry to base business management decisions on.  In line with this, summary précis for each rapid test kit evaluated will be available through the Seafood Services Australia website.

Industry response to the sulphite and histamine kits was very positive and several seafood processors have indicated they are using the histamine kit.  Additionally, negotiations are occurring with AQIS to have the histamine kit accepted by them as a standard method of testing.

Keywords: quality measures; test kits; rapid methods; seafood; fish; prawns

Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 1998-354
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Electronic cooking end point determination and the effectiveness of alternative cooking methods for Crustacea

A prawn cooking meter and self-centring thermocouple clip has been successfully developed for monitoring the cooking of prawns. This cooking meter provides a much needed control tool for ensuring reliable and consistent quality required of modern quality assurance programs. The design of the prawn...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries (QLD)
Environment
PROJECT NUMBER • 1995-022
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Population dynamics and management of spanner crabs in southern Queensland

Spanner crabs (Ranina ranina) represent a valuable resource to southern Queensland and northern NSW. The fishery became established in the late 1970s, and as a result of an almost exponential increase in fishing effort between 1992 and 1995 an output-controlled limited entry management arrangement...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries (QLD)
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2009-774
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

Seafood CRC: harvest strategy evaluations and co-management for the Moreton Bay trawl fishery

The Moreton Bay otter trawl fishery is a multispecies fishery, with the majority of the catch composed of various species of prawns, squid and Moreton Bay Bugs. The project was an initiative of the MBSIA and developed from concerns over a number of issues. These included concern over declining...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Primary Industries (QLD)
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