Recent projects on rocklobster and abalone have generated useful information that is now incorporated into their management programs. Australia is now better positioned to control risk in this area; however biotoxins still present an ongoing issue across a broad range of seafood types presenting both public health and market access risks. There are critical knowledge gaps in understanding uptake pathways for the toxins, the use of rapid test kits, the effects of processing and access to contaminated materials.
The following research questions have been identified by industry that could be supported through this facility :
Are the long-term closures currently implemented for abalone during A. tamarense blooms are necessary?
What level of reduction in PST occurs during canning? DAWR has indicated it could allow harvest for product destined for canning during bloom periods if this level were known.
Can the cost effective Neogen rapid test kit for PST be adapted for lobster hepatopancreas, significantly reducing monitoring costs?
Are PST levels in lobster haemolymph indicative of levels in the hepatopancreas, and there usable for non-destructive sampling?
Can we develop a model describing depuration time of PST in oysters in relation to temperature, salinity, flow rate and stocking densities to allow contaminated product to be depurated artifically prior to POMS season?
In addition, no information is currently available on the physiological impact of blooms on lobster and abalone, and may be able to be collected during the experiments.
There is also an on-going need for contaminated materials to support future research and quality assurance/quality control activities in this field. This will be particularly important for any industry run programs, as proposed with the rapid test kits.