August 6, 2007

Australian worries over reduced domestic fishing
 

As Australia's government continues to reduce the size of the domestic fishing fleet, consumers have become increasingly dependent on imported seafood, heightening concerns over illegal levels of antibiotics and other residues in the products.

According to Federal Fisheries Minister Peter McGauran, one third of samples of prawns, fish, crabs and eels from China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand were found tainted with traces of illegal antibiotics, following tests by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service. Vietnam and China currently account for more than one-quarter of Australia's total seafood imports.

In response, the government has agreed to add more antibiotics to the list of substances that are tested. However, there have been no plans to step up actual testing for illegal residues in imported seafood, of which only 5 percent is being inspected for such contaminants.

Some marine experts have also raised concerns that while the Australian government is justified in protecting some endangered species from overfishing, the current scale of regulating the domestic fishing fleet is not in line with sustainable management of fish stocks.

The issue of increasing bacterial resistance to antibiotics has heightened concerns over the use of such drugs in recent years. However, McGauran said the level of residues detected did not pose a threat to food safety, and that additional testing would be conducted to improve consumer confidence in imported seafood.

The tests by Australia's quarantine watchdog revealed trace amounts of 14 antimicrobial chemicals, namely sulphonamides, tetracyclines, malachite green, penicillin, quinolones, fluoroquinolones and phenicols.

Meanwhile, the National Health and Medical Research Council is investigating the issue of bacterial resistance to antibiotics.