Starting in the mid 1980s, Australia has experienced an increased public
awareness of harmful algal blooms, especially their suspected involvement
in causing fish kills and feared public health risks following consumption
of contaminated seafood products and drinking water supplies. If not
adequately monitored and managed, the economic impacts on Australia's
developing aquaculture industry and on both domestic and export markets
could be devastating. An example of the first problem is the 1989 bloom
event by the golden-brown flagellate Heterosigma akashiwo in Big Glory
Bay, New Zealand, which killed NZ$ 12 million worth of cage-reared chinook
salmon. An example of the second problem is the 1993 New Zealand outbreak
of neurotoxic shellfish poisoning by the dinoflagellate Gymnodinium cf.
breve (NSP; 180 illnesses, no deaths) which led to export losses of NZ $
4.5 million in the first quarter of 1993 and a 25% decrease in domestic
shellfish demand . Similarly, positive test results are now available from
Australian shellfish products for paralytic shellfish poisons (NSW,
TAS,VIC,SA), diarrhetic shellfish poisons (TAS), amnesic shellfish poisons
(VIC) , neurotoxic shellfish poisons (VIC) and cyanobacterial peptide
toxins (WA). While algal biotoxins only in extreme cases lead to human
fatalities, it is the so-called "halo"-effect of bad publicity resulting
from a few human poisonings that can devastate aquaculture industries.
Compared to our neighbour New Zealand, which spends $3.2 M per year in
biotoxin monitoring efforts (most comes from the Ministry of Health, with
industry providing $750,000 per year via an industry levy), Australian
efforts in this area of quality assurance and environmental protection of
aquaculture operations are unsatisfactory.
Final report
The FRDC sponsored 9th International Conference on Harmful Algal Blooms held in Hobart, Tasmania, from 7-11 February 2000, was a resounding success. It was the largest conference on this topic (526 participants from 47 countries) ever held anywhere in the world. A total of 130 talks and 308 poster presentations were given. The conference broke important new ground by dedicating a special session to Algal Bloom Monitoring, Management & Mitigation. Special sessions were also dedicated to Impacts on Shellfish Aquaculture and Impacts on Finfish Aquaculture. Two FRDC representatives (Peter Lee and Alex Wells) attended, and as a special service to the Tasmanian finfish aquaculture industry US expert Dr Jack Rensel gave a keynote conference address, a special satellite seminar for fishfarmers and government staff, as well as met with 4 fish farming companies on site. US experts Prof. Sandra Shumway and Dr Monica Bricelj visited several shellfish aquaculture operations. A public forum on "Harmful Algal Blooms: Impacts on Health, Environment & Economy" was scheduled in association with the conference. The publication outputs from this meeting include a 518 pages Conference Proceedings Volume (to be published through the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO) and a special issue of the international journal Phycologia (vol. 40(3)) both to appear in 2001.
Keywords: Harmful Algal Blooms; Shellfish Biotoxins; Aquaculture Finfish Kills