AN interim federal government report has found that biosecurity staff and other officials were slow to react to allegations that white spot disease was being found in imported prawns.
An outbreak of the disease in Logan River prawn farms last last year saw all seven operations closed down and localised prawning and crabbing temporarily banned.
By February the disease was found in wild prawns and has since spread across Moreton Bay, with Queensland’s Chief Biosecurity officer Jim Thompson saying the spread from Logan placed the state’s $120 million aquaculture industry at threat.
A scathing interim report by the Senate Standing Committees on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport said there was a lack of transparency and a failure of federal and state agencies to liaise effectively and agree on how to slow the spread of the virus.
The committee led by Senator Glenn Sterle said it was concerned by evidence that infected raw prawns were for sale and that this product could be used as bait.