A new strategic research plan for NSW is required to guide research planning and investment for NSW's fisheries, aquaculture and aquatic conservation.

The new 5-year plan reflects all those priorities gathered during an exhaustive process of consultation with 33 different stakeholder groups and includes text outlining the broad priority areas. This plan will provide a co-ordinated approach to research to underpin the management of NSW's fisheries, aquaculture and aquatic conservation and will provide an excellent tool for research providers and funders as they call for, develop and fund new research projects.

The NSW oyster industry and the Australian shellfish industry at large can ill afford further food poisoning episodes either from seage borne viral contamination or potential deaths from organisms such vibro vulnificus. Other diseases such as hepatitis A and salmonellaosis can also pose a continuing underlying risk to growers and consumers of shellfish. As urban development continues along the NSW coast there is also a concomitant increase in proposals for sewage treatment plants to discharge treated effluent into rivers and clear STP performance standards, guidelines and recommendations from a shellfish farming perspective are needed.

The development of a broader understanding of the limitations of purification and the possible development of technology to enhance and render the current purification process a more active technique, which does more than just rely on the shellfish to "self clean" would make an important contribution to public health as well as the the image, confidence and ultimate financial well being of the industry.

Current purification techniques alone are now seen to be incomplete in ensuring that oysters are safe for human consumption, especially in regard to viral infection. It is now recognised that the current UV purification process has to be linked to water quality monitoring at the time of harvest and monitoring at the time of harvest and monitoring of meat samples. However, there has been considerable work done around the world related to R&D in purification technology since the legislation was first introduced in NSW. A number of purification related R&D project proposals have been referred to the NSW Oyster Research Advisory Committee for support for funding by the FRDC. Although the NSW Shellfish Quality Assurance Committee does not believe that there is likely to be a "one step cure all", in purification technology, an appraisal of the current state of play, the practical limitations of purification and recommendations on areas worth pursuing in shellfish purification technology development by a suitably qualified consultant is timely if not overdue. The form of this investigation would be a desk top review and such a review has potential application for emerging shellfish farming industries in other states. This review was identified as one of the urgent priorities in the recently completed NSW Oyster Industry R&D Strategic Plan.