Brett commenced work with Biosecurity Australia in January 2007 after 15 years at Walkamin researching aquaculture techniques for native freshwater fish and crustaceans.

Brett has experience with a wide variety of aquatic animal diseases and conditions. He has investigated fish kills and disease outbreaks.  Brett studied fish health management in Malaysia and applied it in fish farms there, and applied this knowledge in jobs surveying fish and aquatic habitats in north Queensland and developing techniques for aquaculture of native fish species.  More recently he developed projects in Papua New Guinea aimed at improving the nutrition of villagers by assisting development of techniques to grow native fish species in the PNG context (subsistence, low input, self sufficiency), and running parallel projects to enhance sustainable production of fish in Australia using less water, generating less pollution and reducing handling and management costs.

First presentation

Import and Export of Live Fish

Biosecurity Australia undertakes science based quarantine assessments and provides policy advice to protect Australia's favourable pest and disease status and enhance Australia's access to international animal and plant related markets.

Biosecurity Australia advises the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service on the quarantine measures needed to minimise the risk of entry and establishment or spread of disease in Australia.

The level of risk that Australia is prepared to accept when determining risk management measures is based on our appropriate level of protection (ALOP), which is set by the Australian Government and reflects community expectations. Our ALOP is conservative and is determined to be very low; however it is not based on ‘zero risk’.

Biosecurity Australia assesses the quarantine risk and recommends risk management measures to mitigate risks, consistent with the ALOP. AQIS implements the risk management measures.  The focus is on managing risks based on science.  It is not about unduly restricting trade, it is about managing risks presented by diseases that our trading partners may have, which Australia does not have.

As new information comes to light, existing policies and quarantine practices may need to be reviewed. For example a review of iridoviruses in relation to the importation of some ornamental fish is underway. This review will determine if current risk management measures are sufficient or if they need to be changed.Importing ornamental fish is governed by two issues, environmental concerns, including potential to become a pest, and biosecurity concerns.

AQIS manages exports of live ornamental fish based on information provided by the states and territories. Depending on the importing country’s requirements, animal health certification may be required and this is provided by AQIS. In addition to aquatic animal health issues, the export of live aquatic animals may be governed by international conventions such as CITES. AQIS will only provide animal health certification if they meet the requirements of the importing country.

Second presentation

Developing Aquaculture In PNG (joint presentation with Evizel Seymour)

Aquaculture in Papua New Guinea has a short history, with the first efforts started back in the 60’s. Carp were the preferred species then. Various projects to improve fisheries since then focused on exotic species. A hatchery established in the highlands near Goroka in the 60’s and was completely revamped and expanded with Japanese assistance and expertise in the 90’s. One role of this hatchery is to provide fingerlings to subsistence farmers to grow fish. There is a chronic protein shortage in the highlands where most of the population live, and any supplementation of diet will improve their situation nutritionally.  

Establishing a fish farm in the PNG context is inexpensive (requiring labour to dig the ponds, a shovel and a mattock). People feed the fish on whatever they have, often old bread or rice. Some fertilise the pond with animal manure as well. People do not have cash but they have plenty of energy and enthusiasm. 

A series of introductions of exotic fish were made in the 80’s and 90’s, some of which have not been popular. Some of these fish have taken over streams completely. There was never an attempt to investigate the potential of local fish in aquaculture until recently. 

A project with Ok Tedi Mining Limited, the National Fisheries Authority, ACIAR and DPI&F aims at developing aquaculture in PNG and sustainable aquaculture in Qld. Aquaculture development in PNG focuses on using native species. 

The PNG context is that ponds are hand-dug so are small, people have no money so cannot buy fish food, transport is difficult, and people are hungry for protein.  So when considering species to farm all these factors have to be considered. Also, after issues with some of the exotic species, we asked the people what they liked to eat  An animal that is low in the food chain, is tough, breeds readily in a small pond, is adaptable to a wide range of conditions and is edible fits the bill. These include redclaw, bony bream, and eeltailed catfish. The people love eating all these. 

Additionally, developing capacity and confidence of people to breed local species, means that species that do not fit this bill but teach them how to breed these animals in a hatchery situation. Sooty grunter (with neutrally buoyant eggs), sleepy cod (with attached eggs) and eeltailed catfish (large, sinking eggs) require different techniques for breeding and rearing fingerlings. Also, teaching them how to improve production of redclaw juveniles and enhancing natural pond breeding (eg bony bream) is an important element of this. 

A network of model farmers is critical to the success of this as in PNG people learn from the spoken word and seeing how things are done. Due to the context, it has to be done with locally available, ‘free’ inputs. Using palm leaves for shelter, grass or sweet potato for food, manure to fertilise, rice bran for feed if available are all options. As much of this production is to be done using improving natural productivity of ponds, using shelter to enhance survival, and effective management of stock. 

Two hatcheries are being built in Western Province which will produce native fish species for stocking, and provide training and support for farmers. These focus on the KISS principle. Very simple, basic equipment can be very effective at producing large numbers of fish or crayfish. 

Other species may also be investigated. Observations in Australia indicate that Papuan sprat and giant glassfish may breed freely in ponds. As many of the species in Northern Australia are shared with PNG, there is potential to investigate species shared by both countries to develop techniques for their production in PNG, and adapt it to our situation here.