Researcher’s books open
RESEARCHERS tracing the origins of the south-east Queensland white spot disease outbreak, which decimated prawn stocks, say their books are open for inspection.
The declaration came after the Federal Department of Agriculture and Water Resources said it was aware of the research done by the University of the Sunshine Coast team, but to date they had not made their methodology or data available to the department.
“The department would welcome detailed information and test data from USC researchers,” a statement from the department read.
Associate Professor Wayne Knibb, the leader of the university’s aquaculture genetics research team, said their books were open and “available for anyone to inspect”.
“All methods (are) open, we have signed legal lab books. They get signed every day and all lab work is recorded there,” he said.
The University of the Sunshine Coast research team is ranked number one in the world for research into shrimp genetics by SciVal, the international ranking system for academics and universities.
Assoc Prof Knibb and the team revealed they’d found white spot disease in 14 of 15 frozen food samples purchased from two Coast supermarkets in recent weeks.
Dim sims, spring rolls and marinara mix were among the samples tested, which included cooked food samples.
“We don’t know if the detection of white spot in frozen products means the virus is infective, but this is a question that needs to be tested,” Assoc Prof Knibb said last week.
“In any case, it means these prawns were once infected with a living virus, and we cannot guarantee that processing will always be conducted in a way that kills the virus.”
The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources said its prawn risk analysis found highly processed uncooked prawn products from retail outlets may test positive for white spot disease, but they were “considered to be unlikely to cause a WSSV (white spot syndrome virus) outbreak”.
“Cooking significantly reduces WSSV levels and may completely inactivate the virus. Cooking also reduces the likelihood that prawns will be diverted to bait or aquaculture feed,” the Department said.
“The department considers uncooked prawns, marinated prawns, and Australian prawns processed overseas to present the highest risk of diversion to bait and aquaculture feed.”
A Biosecurity Queensland spokesman said the results of the university team’s testing backed up previous detections in imported seafoods made by Biosecurity Queensland and the Federal Government.