Shellfish disease spreads off Vic coast
Monday, 31/07/2006
Abalone divers and fisheries officers have been unable to stop the spread of a herpes-like disease, which is killing shellfish off the coast of south-west Victoria.
A 10 kilometre no diving and fishing zone was implemented off Port Fairy last month, but ganglioneuritis is now killing abalone a kilometre outside the boundary.
Mark Gervis, from South Ocean Mariculture, says as well as affecting wild stocks, the disease has hit on-shore abalone fish farms hard.
"We would estimate that we've lost the potential for approximately $8 million or $9 million dollars in earnings over the next three years per farm and its extremely unfortunate that we have had to lay off the majority of the staff on the farms," he said.