The Tasmanian Shellfish Grower Handbook is a comprehensive guide for growers covering a host of ShellMAP topics, including sampling, harvest closures, re-opening following closures, post-harvest controls, compliance, resources, research, development and extension, and the ShellMAP Regulatory Framework.
The document has been prepared in partnership with ShellMAP and the University of Tasmania Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS).
ShellPOINT is a valuable information source for grower operations. Each of the sensor monitoring sites has a ShellPOINT dashboard, containing:
- live salinity, temperature, and tide data
- ShellMAP classification status and harvest closure triggers
- local rainfall data
- river flow data
- biotoxin testing
- phytoplankton testing.
Sample submission forms
Growers are required to submit shellfish meat and/or water samples periodically to ShellMAP. Samples are also required to reopen a harvest area after a period of closure.
ShellMAP issues an annual sampling schedule in January each year, which set out the dates growers must submit samples to Analytical Services Tasmania Laboratories.
In instances of post-closure sampling, the frequency, number and type of samples depend on the reason for closure. Further details can be found in the Tasmanian Shellfish Grower Handbook.
Submission forms for sampling include:
Shellfish Meat - Microbiological Test - Public Health Laboratory Submission Form (DOCX 65Kb)
POMS movement permits
Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome (POMS) is a significant biosecurity threat for Australian oysters. The spread of POMS is prevented and controlled by movement permits determining how and where oysters can be transported between farms in Tasmania.
Biosecurity Tasmania has issued a single Group Permit to the Tasmanian oyster industry which provides specific conditions for the movement of oysters and oyster farming equipment between growing areas based on disease risk and in accordance with the current oyster growing Area Classifications.
Relaying and/or Receiving Shellfish Application Form
A relay authorisation allows operators to move shellfish from a closed, restricted to unclassified growing area to another marine farm for the purposes of purging. To apply for authorisation, operators must have a marine farm or wild harvesting licence.
Relayed shellfish must be left in a receiving area for an allocated period before they are harvested.
Australian Shellfish Quality Assurance Program Manual
The Australian Shellfish Quality Assurance Program (ASQAP) is a cooperative food safety program adopted by each shellfish-producing state and territory of Australia. It is based on the premise that harvesting should occur from growing areas shown to be free from harmful contaminants and pathogenic micro-organisms.
The ASQAP Manual of Operations is noted in the Food Standards Code as the ‘National guideline for managing risks in the harvesting, relaying, depuration and wet storage of shellfish’.
Seafood businesses must comply with the Food Standards Code as it relates to bivalve molluscs, including the requirements listed in the schedule to Standard 4.2.1 of the Food Standards Code for domestic sales and the Export Standards 2004 for export. Requirements for completing and maintaining sanitary surveys and the ongoing management of growing areas are laid out in the (ASQAP) Manual of Operations. Growing Area Management Plans and the Biotoxin Management Plan are requirements of the ASQAP Manual of Operations.
LISTmap
The Land Information System Tasmania (LISTmap) is provided by the Tasmanian Government as a publicly available resource.
It contains spatial data and links to regulatory documentation for a range of industries, including aquaculture, and allows users to create personalised maps of Tasmania using authoritative information.
More information
Some useful resources for Tasmanian growers include: