If you see any unusual symptoms in farmed or wild aquatic animals, including unusual fish deaths, report it to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888.
‘Surveillance’ is a systematic series of investigations of a given population of aquatic animals to detect the occurrence of disease for control purposes, which may involve testing samples of a population (as defined in the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Aquatic Animal Health Code).
Surveillance for aquatic animal diseases is important for:
- early detection of disease
- demonstration of Australia’s disease status
- market access.
It also supports many aquatic animal health management decisions on issues such as regional biosecurity, translocation, and assessing on-farm disease risks.
Australia’s national aquatic animal disease surveillance strategy
The national aquatic animal disease surveillance strategy is an industry-government strategy that addresses Australia’s surveillance system for infectious diseases of national significance within populations of wild and farmed aquatic animals in Australia.
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National aquatic animal disease surveillance strategy (PDF 679 KB)
National aquatic animal disease surveillance strategy (DOCX 1.2 MB)
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Australia’s national list of reportable diseases of aquatic animals
Australia’s national list of reportable diseases of aquatic animals provides a nationally agreed list of significant aquatic animal diseases that are reported on by state and territory governments to the Australian Government. The information is used to meet Australia’s international reporting requirements (e.g., to the WOAH) and to provide evidence of our disease-free status for many WOAH-listed diseases and other significant diseases.
For further information on Australia’s international reporting requirements and activities, see the International activities webpage.
Active and passive surveillance programs
The department coordinates programs to enhance Australia’s aquatic animal health surveillance systems. It does this in collaboration with industry and state and territory governments.
Status: Complete
Abalone viral ganglioneuritis (AVG) caused by Haliotid herpesvirus-1 (HaHV-1) was first detected and reported in Australia on land-based abalone farms in Victoria in 2005 and later in live abalone in processing facilities in Tasmania in 2008.
To promote safe translocation of abalone between jurisdictions, the abalone health accreditation program (AHAP) was established in 2014 to enable the abalone aquaculture industry to demonstrate compartment freedom from infection with HaHV-1. The AHAP ensures that surveillance, biosecurity, auditing, and accreditation requirements are nationally consistent and transparent. The AHAP is also consistent with the compartmentalisation standards for infection with HaHV-1 described in the World Organisation for Animal Health Aquatic Animal Health Code.
A summary of the nationally agreed program can be found below.
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Abalone Health Accreditation Program (PDF 410KB)
Abalone Health Accreditation Program (DOCX 109KB)
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Status: Complete
Similar to the surveillance program for the abalone sectors, a structured surveillance program for Australian barramundi hatcheries was agreed by the barramundi aquaculture industry. The surveillance plan included two exotic disease agents (infectious spleen and kidney necrosis virus group of megalocytiviruses and scale drop disease virus) and an endemic disease of trade significance (nervous necrosis virus). The inter-laboratory comparison program has also been successfully completed.
A summary of the surveillance program results 2019-2021 can be found below.
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Active surveillance program for barramundi hatcheries - summary of results (PDF 224KB)
Active surveillance program for barramundi hatcheries - summary of results (DOCX 31KB)
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Status: Complete
This project aimed to improve Australia’s active surveillance capability for exotic and endemic diseases of market access importance. Australia’s wild and farmed abalone sectors agreed to participate in this nationally coordinated active surveillance project.
Haliotid herpesvirus-1 (HaHV-1; present in Australia) and Perkinsus species (some species are present in Australia but P. marinus is exotic to Australia) were tested for in abalone from participating farms and wild abalone fisheries, and Xenohaliotis californiensis (exotic to Australia) was tested for in abalone from participating farms. HaHV-1 and X. californiensis were not detected in any farmed and wild samples. P. marinus was not detected, however some endemic species of Perkinsus were detected in animals from known infected areas.
The project has significantly improved national surveillance and diagnostic capabilities through designing nationally consistent sampling strategies and implementing inter-laboratory comparison programs among participating national and state government laboratories for 2 pathogens that are present in some areas of Australia.
A summary of the surveillance program results can be found below.
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Active surveillance project for wild and farmed abalone – summary of results (PDF 224KB)
Active surveillance project for wild and farmed abalone – summary of results (DOCX 109KB)
If you have difficulty accessing these files, visit web accessibility for assistance.
Status: Complete
The structured surveillance program for the Australian tropical freshwater ornamental fish production sector tested a group of exotic disease agents, megalocytiviruses, in the susceptible species (cichlids, gourami and poecillid fish) that were produced at licensed facilities in Australia. It was concluded that domestic farmed fish populations of either cichlid, gourami and poecillid fish families from four Australian jurisdictions (n=546) were free from megalocytiviruses.
A summary of the surveillance program results is available in Animal Health Surveillance Quarterly, volume 26 (2021), issue 4 (Dec), pages 7-10.
Status: Complete
White spot disease was first detected in Australia in farmed prawns on the Logan River, Southeast Queensland in 2016. It was later detected in wild populations of crustaceans, such as prawns and crabs, in the northern part of Moreton Bay in 2017. In response to the outbreak, a nationally coordinated surveillance program for white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) was commenced in November 2017. The objective of the national surveillance program was to demonstrate national freedom, or alternatively, zone freedom from WSSV based on the criteria set by the international standards. This surveillance demonstrated WSSV freedom for all areas of Australia, apart from a small zone in southeast Queensland.
For further information on the white spot disease outbreak visit the Disease incidents webpage and outbreak.gov.au.
A summary of the surveillance program results 2017–2020 can be found below.
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National Surveillance Program for WSSV 2017-2020 – summary of results (PDF 163KB)
National Surveillance Program for WSSV 2017-2020 – summary of results (DOCX 109KB)
If you have difficulty accessing these files, visit web accessibility for assistance.
Status: On-going
Identified as a national priority by industry and governments through AQUAPLAN 2022-2027 activity 3.3 Sensitivity of the passive surveillance system. For the latest updates refer to the AQUAPLAN webpage.
For further information contact the Aquatic Pest and Health Policy section.