THE Logan River is now closed to the commercial and recreational take of crustaceans as Biosecurity Queensland continues to respond to an outbreak of white spot disease (WSD) in prawns.
Chief Biosecurity Officer Jim Thompson said tests had confirmed the presence of the WSD virus in wild prawns from the river.
“We are moving quickly to reduce the chance of the virus spreading any further through locally-caught wild prawns, crabs or worms,” he said.
“Any movement of green, uncooked crustaceans taken from this area would pose a real risk for moving the virus beyond the Logan River.”
The Logan River is now closed to the take of these species from the Jabiru and Luscombe Weirs in the west to the mouth of the river in the east.
The movement control order restricts any movement of crabs, worms and prawns out of the defined area. Fin fishing and boating is still allowed.
Dr Thompson said he understood that this may impact on the plans of local fishers over the holiday period.
“However in this situation, we are obliged to take all possible steps to reduce the chance of spread,” he said.
“Disinfection and destocking of ponds at aquaculture farms on the Logan River has been ongoing since last week when the outbreak of WSD had first been detected.
“I continue to emphasise that infected prawns do not pose any human health risk, and despite this latest development there will be no impact on the supplies of prawns for the holiday season.”
Aquaculture operators and fishers should report any unusual signs in prawns and other crustaceans to Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23.
For more information about WSD and details of the fishing closure visit www.daf.qld.gov.au.
