George Shirley <
gmsh...@suddenlink.net> wrote in
news:4f59079e$0$21508$
8826...@blocknews.net:
A lot of the prawns here in Oz are the 'vannamei' variety from Vietnam.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/21/1085120120337.html
In the article there is good reason to stay away from Chinese and Indian
prawns.
*****************************
An exotic import and talk of antibiotics is unsettling the local
industry, Andrew Stevenson writes.
It should be hard to hate a prawn, but mention vannamei and those
farming and catching crustaceans in Australia can barely contain their
contempt.
The cockroach of the sea, says one, while the CSIRO's leading
aquaculture research scientist, Nigel Preston, calls the vannamei the
"chicken of prawn farming".
While Steven Everson, a third-generation prawn fisherman on the Clarence
River at Maclean, can't recommend it for quality, his greatest concern
is economic: "The imported stuff that's coming in is just way too cheap
for us to compete with and the vannamei prawn is the one that hurts us
the most."
But price is not the only concern raised about the vannamei, now
flooding the Australian market. Asian exports to Europe have been
subject to bans in past two years after prohibited antibiotics were
found in the prawns.
Testing for a single class of antibiotics, nitrofurans, began in
December in Australia and seven out of 109 consignments were rejected
because of contamination.
Extraordinarily, so entrenched is antibiotic use in the Asian industry,
the CSIRO has even been asked to help cover up their use.
Advertisement Advertisement
"We've had visits by people from China and India [who run prawn farms]
who ask do you have some science that can help us mask antibiotics," Dr
Preston told the Herald.
"My question is 'what on earth are you using antibiotics for?' It's
extraordinary to find that level of ignorance for an incredibly high
value industry."
Simple water treatment, standard in any Australian hatchery, negates the
need for any antibiotics, Dr Preston said.
Although Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) is emphatic
that the antibiotic poses no risk to human health - nitrofurans are
prescribed for urinary tract infections - the contamination is evidence
of lax production standards in Asia.
Antibiotics are typically used to treat bacterial outbreaks in prawn
ponds or tanks. With prawns packed side-by-side, millions of dollars
worth can die in days. Their use is banned in Australia.
Although Australian testing is limited to nitrofurans, Dr Preston said
there was no reason to suspect it was the only antibiotic used. "You can
quite easily go to a website and find suppliers of antibiotics to the
aquaculture industry. You could have half a dozen types of antibiotics
knowingly being used in those regions.
"I suspect most hatcheries, if they've gone down the antibiotic track,
would have used more than one type because of bacterial resistance."
An FSANZ spokeswoman said that if the industry had evidence of illegal
antibiotic use further testing would be possible.
The vannamei, which has transformed the global industry since being
farmed in Latin America in the 1990s, is flooding into the Australian
market.
Smuggled into Asia - against the wishes of the Thai Government -
production has exploded. What makes the vannamei such a wonder to
produce is that it is largely vegetarian, eats almost anything and grows
faster than any other prawn.
"Back in 2001 there was hardly a vannamei to be seen in Asia," Dr
Preston said. "In 2002 it rose to 27 per cent of production and in 2003
it was 38 per cent of Asian production."
With labour costs low - and the enthusiastic support of governments and
international aid organisations - the vannamei undercuts all other
prawns on the world market.
But after complaints by North American shrimp farmers the US
International Trade Commission has found China, Vietnam, India and
Thailand guilty of dumping the prawn in the US market.
In contrast, the vannamei has been welcomed to Australia. Prawn imports,
the ABS says, have surged by more than 50 per cent so far this financial
year and retail chains have made a killing - taking advantage of lax
labelling controls to sell the vannamei without correctly identifying it
as an imported product. In November and December alone more than 5
million kilograms of prawns were brought in.
As the debate over the vannamei begins, fishermen such as Mr Everson are
hurting. The price for his wild, caught Clarence River school prawns has
slumped by 50 per cent this year.
What makes him fume is the failure of Coles and Woolworths - and
suburban fishmongers - to label as imported, or farmed, the prawns sold
beside his own. But what of the prawns themselves? "I wasn't fussed on
them but I'm probably spoilt," he says.
Yet seafood expert - and prawn biologist - Nick Ruello recommends them.
"We had some for Christmas and it's quite good. I've got no problems
with them. As frozen prawn it's particularly good. They're cheaper than
Australian equivalents so they are very good value."
******************************
--
Peter
Tasmania
Australia