Lindsay Tuffin
1. What baseline monitoring and specific testing of the Tasmanian wild abalone fishery for Abalone Ganglioneuritis Virus has taken place since the Tasmanian Government became aware of the risk AGV posed to the Tasmanian Abalone fishery (i.e. its discovery in Victoria in December 2005)?
2. Given the publicity (The Mercury 11 Sept Abalone wipeout fear ) that a Victorian abalone licensed holder entered Tasmanian waters with his boat & with diving gear (known sources of potential AGV contamination) without any quarantine check, what investigation was done at the time to assess this high risk incident (and any others) and whether this was a breach of the state’s AGV biosecurity precaution to protect the wild abalone fishery?
3. Given that the first incidence of AGV infection has been detected in a facility holding live abalone sourced from wild stock, what investigations are being undertaken to assess the capability of Victorian abalone licensed boats with on-board holding tanks for live abalone from harbouring either virus contaminated gear or inadvertently harbouring AGV-infected abalone from Victoria waters?
