Biosecurity teams have overseen the culling and disposal of prawns at a NSW north coast farm after a highly contagious virus with the potential to severely damage the crustacean industry was detected.
White spot is a viral infection that affects crustaceans including prawns, yabbies and crabs, causing the rapid death of up to 80 per cent of prawns in a farm.
An outbreak in 2016 forced the closure of four prawn farms in southeast Queensland, costing farmers and associated industries almost $400 million.
The disease was confirmed at a closed off hatchery, by the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness earlier this week.
Since the Queensland outbreak in 2016, movement restrictions were introduced to limit outbreaks of the virus, NSW Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders said.
Mr Saunders said the detection was made during routine testing and the infected prawns were in an enclosed facility.
The prawns have since been destroyed and disposed of, in an operation overseen by DPI officers.
The facility is undergoing decontamination to prevent further spread of white spot.
"As the detection is within an enclosed facility, not outside in free water, we have confidence that the protocols in place have contained this detection and we don't believe it will spread further," Mr Saunders said.
"DPI is undertaking tracing and surveillance activities to try and identify the source of the white spot and how it got into NSW.
"We have also notified other prawn farms in the area and have reminded them to be diligent with their biosecurity protocols."
Mr Saunders stressed white spot does not affect humans and consumers do not need to worry about a risk to their health by eating prawns.
Australian Prawn Farmers Association executive officer Kim Hooper said prawn farmers were devastated white spot had been detected.
"This family run farm has strong on-farm biosecurity measures in place, including testing, which has resulted in the very early detection and subsequent quick action to contain any threat," Ms Hooper said.
"This same family and their farm were devastated by the recent floods and after dusting themselves off and rebuilding the farm, this has now happened."
Ms Hooper said the federal government's announcement last Friday it would reduce the number of inspections for breaded, battered, or crumbed prawns coming from overseas was inconceivable.
"It would seem rather than boosting biosecurity, much-needed resources are just being diverted elsewhere."
In 2020, Biosecurity Queensland officials detected white spot at two prawn farms on the Logan River, in the state's southeast.
Routine testing also found the disease in wild prawns at Moreton Bay.
Queensland's Chief Biosecurity Officer Malcolm Letts said at the time it was hard to discern if the disease had re-emerged from the wild or within farms.
