In 2010 marine biotoxins are being targeted by Chinese and Japanese authorities for import testing of Australian shellfish, including abalone. Australia is a major exporter of ‘wild caught’ abalone, with over 50 % of Australian abalone caught in 2008 exported to Hong Kong and China, therefore the results and cost of these import testing regimes can have a significant impact on this trade.

Codex are progressing an international abalone standard with proposed marine biotoxin testing components. These standards could require Australia to intensively sample abalone from the coast line and would have large cost implications for industry.

The EU have reduced requirements for biotoxins in abalone, however some end product testing of abalone for biotoxins is still required for access and this imposes additional cost on industry.

The proposed project involves testing of wild caught abalone for biotoxins. The core purpose of the data collected in the project is to improve the quality of the risk assessment. This risk assessment can then be used to support:
- negotiations towards risk based biotoxin testing requirements in the international Codex standard, and
- reduced testing requirements for abalone going to China, Japan and the EU (e.g. aim for no end product testing).

The project will also provide scientific information to support risk management strategies to assist in decision making if biotoxins ever do become an issue for abalone in Australia.

An objective in the strategic plan of the Abalone Council of Australia (ACA) is to “Determine the product quality and integrity parameters specific to each product type”. In relation to this objective, the ACA have strongly supported the development of this project, which aims to determine the quality of abalone with respect to marine biotoxins and will underpin future negotiations on international requirements for biotoxins in abalone.

The principal need is to enhance understanding of greenlip abalone population genetic structure, and the degree to which nearby populations are connected, in order to optimally manage exploitation of commercial greenlip reef systems. Greenlip abalone support valuable fisheries across southern Australia. Total catch is >700 t with a landed value of ~$27M. Most of the catch is harvested in SA.

The majority of abalone-related funding has addressed research needs for blacklip abalone. This research has focussed on stock structure and dynamics, developing assessment and management approaches to overcome spatial complexity, and stock rebuilding strategies. Recent projects (FRDC 2004/019, 2005/024, 2005/029), have clearly demonstrated that (1) blacklip abalone populations are effectively isolated from conspecifics at fine spatial scales (Miller et al. 2009), and (2) each has typically variable life-history parameters (e.g. growth rates) that influence productivity and response to fishing.

Historically little effort has been directed towards understanding variation or interconnectedness among greenlip abalone populations. Connectivity among greenlip abalone populations is expected to be substantially different to that observed for blacklip abalone, due, in part, to environmental differences (current, swell, kelp) in reef systems they inhabit. However, there are few data to support this assertion. If, as expected, patterns of connectivity among greenlip populations differ from blacklip abalone, this will require a different approach and different scales of management and assessment.

Understanding greenlip abalone population structure is clearly a high priority in SA, Tas and WA. Development of improved techniques for assessment, definition of metapopulation boundaries and reducing the spatial scale of management are high research priorities of the SA abalone Management Plan. Investment Platform 3 in the ACA Strategic Plan similarly has developing harvest models that incorporate fine-scale fishery management to guide harvest practices and optimise yield as a research priority.

Literature cited:
Miller et al. 2009. Mol Ecol, 18:200-211

Approximately 48% of the total Australian abalone legally captured (5465 tonnes) in 2006/2007 was exported to China (+Hong Kong). The Chinese market accounts for ~70 % of all exported abalone (3911 tonnes).

In China the retail price of Haliotis discus hannai (in shell Japanese abalone) in 2005 was RMB 250/kg (~$52 AUD) and the price in 2008 is RMB 150/kg (~$31 AUD). One possible forecast is for rising volumes of abalone from Chinese aquaculture, with further declines in Chinese domestic prices.

The high reliance of the Australian abalone sector on the Chinese market, falling prices in China, and the introduction of strengthened import requirements for live seafood into China (including requirements for testing seafood for a range of pathogenic bacteria and marine biotoxins) suggests that market diversification would be beneficial.

The EU, North America, and China are the biggest markets for seafood (~350 million seafood consumers), however the EU is the biggest importer of seafood. The EU produces limited quantities of abalone at the moment (e.g. Ireland and France produce small amounts).

Until March 2007 several companies in Australia were exporting abalone to the EU, since this time the EU abalone market has been ‘closed’ due to the EC requirement to classify production areas.

The low scale production of abalone in the EU coupled with the declining prices and new food safety requirements for abalone in China presents a market opportunity for Australian abalone in the EU.

The abalone industry (ACA and AAA) has expressed a desire to re-enter the EU market. This project aims to provide information for use in technical market access negotiations to assist in ‘re-opening’ the EU market for Australian abalone.