A two day disease emergency response workshop was held at Geraldton, Western Australia, in October 2002.  The objective of the exercise was to test the industry and government response to a disease emergency among non-maxima pearl farms at the Abrolhos Islands.  The exercise was coordinated by staff from the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Australia and involved regional and head office staff from the Western Australian Departments of Fisheries and Agriculture as well as industry representatives.   During the two day exercise the participants worked through emergency scenarios as well as having to respond to unexpected obstacles proposed by the exercise coordinators.

The outcome of the exercise was the education of the participants in the operational procedures involved in a disease emergency response at the State level, an evaluation of the response with suggestions for improvements in emergency management planning, the documentation of an emergency management plan and input into the new Environmental Code of Practice for the industry.