White spot comes the raw prawn

FRESH testing for white spot disease in imported prawns sold at Queensland supermarkets has rattled prawn farmers on the Logan River who must decide within months whether to risk restocking their farms.

Australian Prawn Farmers Association executive officer Kim Hooper said the organisation commissioned testing on uncooked prawn products in Gold Coast supermarkets in May. She said one sample out of 18 tested positive but any positive sample was one too many and they had sent the results to the Federal Agriculture Department.

“This is only a small sample but concerning to us nonetheless,” she said.

The APFA detection follows a Four Corners report of University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) testing which allegedly found white spot in nearly a third of imported supermarket prawns.

The report has been called into question by the Department of Agriculture.