The South Australian seafood industry is possibly the fastest growth industry in the State having climbed rapidly to a position of the State’s 5th largest export industry with a production value of almost $650 million. The entire seafood industry has doubled in size every two and a half years since 1994 and is expected to break the $2 Billion barrier before 2010. The strongest growth has been recorded in the aquaculture sector of the seafood industry which is now nearing $400 million worth of annual value.

The aquaculture industry is made up of land based and marine based operators. The largest South Australian sectors are all marine-based with tuna, oysters and marine finfish all strongly performing. The relatively new mussel industry is currently in a major expansion phase. The most significant land based industry is abalone.

The aquaculture industry in South Australia has expanded considerably over the past twelve months, however there are little or no available disease emergency management plans or training courses for this industry. With further rapid expansion planned for the marine finfish industry, the tonnages of farmed fish will rise very rapidly over the next eight to ten years. There are currently approximately 3000 tonnes of fish currently in the water (non tuna) and this figure is expected to rise to some 10,000 tonnes by 2010. Research priorities have centred on the reproduction and grow-out of new species and have often overlooked the threat of specific disease(s) until they occur.

It is imperative for the successful management of aquatic animal health issues that an immediate, proactive approach be adopted. A continuing reactive stance towards disease management is hazardous, causing high risk to both the industry and the environment, and greater exposure to negative public sentiment, let alone the potential scale of the economic loss.

The aquaculture industry has made serious attempts to train as many personnel as possible and for the past two years the two principal training providers, the Australian Fisheries Academy and the Spencer Institute of TAFE have been training record numbers of personnel.

Seafood Training SA is the industry’s peak body on all training and development support matters. The organisation is the only seafood body in the State that has representation from all industry sectors and peak bodies as well as relevant Government agencies and undertakes detailed research on industry training needs.

Following a series of discussions with sector bodies last year, it was identified that the industry lacked relevant training in emergency management procedures for aquatic animal health. Whilst basic training in aquatic animal health and emergency procedures forms part of the new Seafood Industry Training Package, a large number of both employers and employees have no formal training or access to materials that meet their specific needs.

There is currently an urgent need to develop a number of structured Aquatic Animal Health Emergency Procedures Manual and accompanying training workshop(s) specifically for the each of the State’s burgeoning aquaculture industry sectors and ensure that all staff from farm hand operatives through to farm managers are conversant with the procedures.

Australia’s aquatic animal sector is free from many diseases that occur elsewhere in the world, providing us with a competitive advantage in both production and trade. This is one reason why the number of aquatic animal species and the absolute number of aquatic animals farmed in Australia is increasing annually. However, new/emerging infectious diseases continue to threaten the sustainability of significant enterprises and the need for health services to support the aquatic animal sector is growing. Health R&D is required for all segments of the aquatic animal sector (aquaculture, wild-capture, recreational and ornamental) that share the aquatic environment, interacting with and impinging on each other. Thus aquatic animal health services need to be coordinated across these segments to ensure synergy while avoiding duplication.

Aquatic animal health management includes a risk-based approach to disease prevention, as well as reacting to, and mitigating the affects of, existing diseases. Research of this type is often given a low priority as it is not seen as an immediate need. To overcome this deficiency there is a need for a process that takes a national and future view of investment in aquatic animal health. AAHS, through leadership, direction and focus, provides a national approach to aquatic animal health R&D and other related non-R&D activities. Through the Subprogram’s Committee membership, AAHS has linkages to NAAHTWG, AAHC, NAC, DAFF, industry, State Governments and universities. Thus, AAHS provides an industry/government-based structure through which to develop and maintain strategic direction for investment in aquatic animal health. FRDC, through AAHS, plays a major role in addressing research and training needs in the aquatic animal health sector. AAHS is able to direct this support to the most pressing areas. Thus continuation of AAHS on the basis of a shared financial commitment by stakeholders from industry and governments is highly desirable.

AAHS provides a cohesive national approach to aquatic animal health R&D in Australia by providing leadership, direction and focus for health R&D and other related non-R&D activities. AAHS was renewed in 2008 based on national need, previous performance and strong stakeholder support. Key strengths include its strategic focus and the establishment of a network of aquatic animal health experts and research providers. Continuation of AAHS on the basis of a shared financial commitment by stakeholders from industry and governments is highly desirable.

Australia’s aquatic animal sector is free from many diseases that occur overseas, providing us with a competitive advantage in both production and trade. While the number of aquatic animal species and the absolute number of aquatic animals being farmed in Australia is increasing annually, new diseases caused by emerging infectious agents (e.g. abalone herpesvirus, oyster oedema disease, ostreid herpesvirus) continue to threaten the sustainability of significant enterprises and the call on health services to support this expanding industry is growing.

In addition to aquaculture, aquatic animal health R&D is required for the other aquatic animal sectors, including wild-capture (c.f. Streptococcus agalactiae in grouper), recreational and ornamental (c.f. gourami iridovirus), that share the aquatic environment. Thus health services need to be coordinated across these sectors to ensure synergy while avoiding duplication. FRDC, through AAHS, plays a major role in addressing research needs and training in aquatic animal health. With its incumbent expertise and experience, AAHS is able to direct these activities in the most pressing areas.