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MERYL NAIDOO
September 10, 2008 12:00am
THE deadly abalone virus that devastated Victoria's abalone industry has been found in Tasmania.Abalone at a processing plant in the state's South-East showed signs of the disease Abalone Viral Ganglioneuritis, authorities said yesterday. Tasmanian Abalone Council president Greg Woodham said two abalone had tested positive for the virus. The Department of Primary Industries and Water called Mr Woodham to a meeting yesterday for a briefing on the situation. He said the industry could not afford to panic and would wait on more results. Samples of the diseased tissue have been sent from Tasmania to the Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong for further analysis. Tasmania's wild abalone fishery is the biggest in the world, with about 25 per cent of the global annual harvest. It also supports a very active recreational fishery, involving about 12,500 people. Mr Woodham said he suspected Tasmania's situation might be different from Victoria's. "We are not seeing signs of contamination within the live holding facility that held the two that tested positive," he said. Chief Veterinary Officer Rod Andrewartha said further work was being done to confirm the diagnosis at the local processing plant. The result will be known today. The investigation was triggered when the processor reported suspect signs in abalone as part of Tasmania's abalone disease surveillance program. The virus has been spreading slowly off the Victorian coast and the Tasmanian Government put measures in place to try to stop it spreading to the state's wild fisheries. Dr Andrewartha said the big concern was whether the disease was present in any of the these fisheries. "Our current activities are aimed at trying to determine the location and extent of any disease in the wild so we can develop appropriate control measures," he said. Dr Andrewartha said intensive monitoring over recent months had found no signs of the disease in the wild. Divers from the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute collected samples near Southport yesterday with no obvious disease signs. The infectious herpes-like virus affects the nervous tissue of abalone and kills them in less than a week. A website providing updates is at www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/abalonedisease.Commercial and recreational abalone fishers are urged to check it for the latest findings.
MERYL NAIDOO
September 10, 2008 12:00am
THE deadly abalone virus that devastated Victoria's abalone industry has been found in Tasmania.Abalone at a processing plant in the state's South-East showed signs of the disease Abalone Viral Ganglioneuritis, authorities said yesterday. Tasmanian Abalone Council president Greg Woodham said two abalone had tested positive for the virus. The Department of Primary Industries and Water called Mr Woodham to a meeting yesterday for a briefing on the situation. He said the industry could not afford to panic and would wait on more results. Samples of the diseased tissue have been sent from Tasmania to the Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong for further analysis. Tasmania's wild abalone fishery is the biggest in the world, with about 25 per cent of the global annual harvest. It also supports a very active recreational fishery, involving about 12,500 people. Mr Woodham said he suspected Tasmania's situation might be different from Victoria's. "We are not seeing signs of contamination within the live holding facility that held the two that tested positive," he said. Chief Veterinary Officer Rod Andrewartha said further work was being done to confirm the diagnosis at the local processing plant. The result will be known today. The investigation was triggered when the processor reported suspect signs in abalone as part of Tasmania's abalone disease surveillance program. The virus has been spreading slowly off the Victorian coast and the Tasmanian Government put measures in place to try to stop it spreading to the state's wild fisheries. Dr Andrewartha said the big concern was whether the disease was present in any of the these fisheries. "Our current activities are aimed at trying to determine the location and extent of any disease in the wild so we can develop appropriate control measures," he said. Dr Andrewartha said intensive monitoring over recent months had found no signs of the disease in the wild. Divers from the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute collected samples near Southport yesterday with no obvious disease signs. The infectious herpes-like virus affects the nervous tissue of abalone and kills them in less than a week. A website providing updates is at www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/abalonedisease.Commercial and recreational abalone fishers are urged to check it for the latest findings.
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