Prawn farmers fired up over white spot disease after biosecurity review fails to deliver raw prawn import bans

The federal government is under fire, accused of failing Australian prawn farmers who warn it is a matter of "not if but when" more devastating crustacean diseases enter the country, potentially spreading to lobsters. Key points: The prawn import biosecurity review was initiated seven years ago White spot disease devastated farms after entering the country in imported prawns Prawn farmers claim the review does not protect against new exotic diseases Seven years after it was initiated, the federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry released the long-awaited final report to review the biosecurity risks of imported prawns and prawn products. Photo shows Prawn with white spot disease White spot disease in prawns is highly contagious, lethal to crustaceans and has reduced prawn farm productivity by up to 40 per cent overseas. Double standards While raw prawns will still be allowed to be imported, state government movement restrictions prevent prawn farmers and wild-caught fishers from transporting uncooked prawns, yabbies and marine worms outside white spot control zones where white spot disease continues to spread. Therefore, we would expect Div 1 could be able to enter Australia in the same way we think white spot was brought into Australia, which is recreational fishermen using supermarket prawns for bait."