 |
Ref:386/02 |
|
|
 |
Australia
- August 20, 2002 |
|
|
|
Aquaculture Audit gets tick of approval |
|
Western
Australia - Aquaculture ventures in Shark Bay and Exmouth
Gulf have been given the stamp of approval in the State’s first
full regional audit of marine based aquaculture compliance.
The compliance audit was carried out by Department of Fisheries’
Gascoyne officers in accordance with the Aquaculture Compliance
Plan developed in 1999.
Department of Fisheries Senior Aquaculture Program Officer Tina
Thorne said all aquaculture farms in the region were found to be
complying with their licence conditions.
“It is important from the community point of view that
aquaculture is seen to be adhering to licence conditions and
regulations, and that the water allocated is being used
effectively in the manner intended,” she said.
General checks carried out under the audit included:
· the licensees are operating within the boundaries of their
designated locations (checked using GPS coordinates);
· the correct species are being grown; and
· determining how much stock is being carried on farms.
Further operation-specific checks are carried out on both land
and sea based operations. ie at-sea operations are checked to
ensure they are correctly marked and lit for navigation
purposes.
In the case of an at-sea operation growing mussels or oysters,
the audit checks that quality assurance procedures under the WA
Shellfish QA Program are correctly carried out, especially in
regard to sampling. Where an aquaculture site had been closed to
harvesting, checks are also carried out to ensure that no
illegal harvesting had taken place.
Land-based abalone enterprises are checked to ensure that
records are being kept of numbers of broodstock mortalities and
whether the species of abalone specified in the report is the
one being grown.
Ms Thorne said the Aquaculture Compliance Plan was currently
undergoing a risk assessment and upgrade. Manuals on carrying
out an aquaculture compliance audit, with the updated compliance
plan and checklists, will be placed in all regional offices to
assist in carrying out future audits.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Department of Fisheries - Western
Australia
Tina Thorne
Senior Aquaculture Program Officer
Ph: 9482 7361
Jenny Hodder
Senior Public Relations Coordinator
Ph: 9482 7235 (Mob): 0418 901 767 |
|
|
