AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT-FUNDED ECO-EFFICIENCY PROGRAM
June 2006
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This project extends some earlier desktop work undertaken in 2004 by the Association in partnership with the National Aquaculture Council, and funded by the Australian Government's Aquaculture Action Agenda. At that time, six APFA member farms expressed an interest in exploring EMS on their farm: Australian Prawn Farms, Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture, Pacific Reef Fisheries, Seafarm, TPF (Truloff’s) and Wild River Farmed Seafood.
To date, the major outcomes of the APFA-DEH Eco-Efficiency Agreement include:
• Completion of EMS training for five APFA member farms including workshops and site inspections
• Promotion of EMS to industry
• Promotion of the EMS project to the community
• Regular information updates and Case Studies published on this website and in the APFA Bulletin
• EMS Session at the Australian Prawn & Barra Conference and the 2006 APFA General Meeting
• An industry-wide eco-efficiency survey
• A Public Environment Report outlining the industry’s commitment to environmental sustainability and EMS
Association Executive Officer Mr Scott Walter strongly welcomed the funding.
Scott said the Association was looking forward to working with the Department, the participating farms and the contractors.
"This is an excellent initiative which will deliver great benefits to the Australian prawn farming industry" Scott said.
"The Executive is pleased to have developed this agreement in partnership with the Australian Government Department of Environment & Heritage"
"The Agreement will help us to promote the environmental and economic benefits of EMS as well as the credentials of the Australian prawn farming industry to the wider community".
"We will be taking an active role in sharing the information gathered with all APFA members and the aquaculture industry generally".
Scott said the Association intends to seek further funding to involve more farms after the completion of Stage 2.
"At this stage the Executive's strategy includes identifying opportunities to fund a third stage to encourage all members to participate in an industry-wide EMS initiative".
"So, as part of this second stage we will conduct another survey of members to identify which farms would like to participate in a possible third stage EMS project, subject to funding".
"We will also be keeping a keen eye out for further funding opportunities".
This website shall include regular updates on the Eco-Efficiency Agreement.
Enquiries:
Project Manager
Breen Communications
e: martybreen@optusnet.com.au
APFA Executive Officer
Scott Walter
e: info@apfa.com.au
Eco-Efficiency Case Study
Australian Prawn Farms Pty Ltd, Mackay, North Queensland
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Australian Prawn Farms Pty Ltd, based at Ilbilbie near Mackay in north Queensland, has agreed to participate in an eco-efficiency program being funded by the Australian Government Department of Environment & Heritage and coordinated by the Australian Prawn Farmers Association. There are five farms involved in the project. The goal of each farm is to become ISO14001 certified.
APF’s EMS Project Manager, Matt West said the company aims to achieve ISO14001 and become one of the first prawn farms in the world to gain such accreditation.
Matt said “We believe this is an important initiative to help us improve our environmental management practices, reduce operational costs and assist in gaining access to markets in Europe and Japan.”
Australian Prawn Farms Pty Ltd is an aquaculture facility specialising in growing tiger prawns (P. monodon). The farm site consists of a large modern hatchery, a 33 hectare grow out section, and an onsite processing plant.
Part of the grow out facility is a 20 hectare settlement system which aims at reducing suspended solids, total nitrogen, and total phosphorous. It is very well regulated, and fortnightly tests are carried out to ensure its efficiency. The entire site is currently operating under strict government regulations, and has already implemented such standards as HACCP for processing. Australian Prawn Farms has built up a good rapport with the regulatory agencies and prides itself on constantly improving its system to better the environment.
Matt said “Our companies approach to reduce environmental pressures is very proactive, which is why implementing an EMS through ISO 14001 is very important.
“The system is an important tool to ensure efficiency throughout the entire workplace, through identifying certain environmental risks, and having a documented approach to deal with them.”
“Achieving ISO14001 accreditation is a big challenge, requiring a comprehensive review and assessment of our management practices and the environmental risks associated with running our business.”
“During the next 12 months our company will be working with expert advisors to conduct a comprehensive review of our environmental management practices.”
The review will include an assessment of the following practices and procedures:
*Maintenance records (eg vehicles, equipment, bins, down time, accidents, fuel usage and electricity)
*Feed use and feed use monitoring systems
*Water usage and water monitoring
*Communications (eg on the farm and between farms)
*Disease management and monitoring
*Disease response
*Emergency Action and Response Planning
*Daily task lists
*Induction and training verification systems
*Administration efficiencies
*Recycling and re-use
APF has already commenced the eco-efficiency program with our first workshop being held at Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture in September 2005. Two further workshops are planned along with a site visit and pre-audit early in 2006.
Australian Prawn Farms Pty Ltd will provide regular progress reports to the Australian Prawn Farmers Association and we look forward to reaching our goal of ISO14001 certification by mid-2006.
Enquiries:
Matt West, Australian Prawn Farms Pty Ltd, Ilbilbie, NQ.
ausprawnfarms@hotmail.com
Eco-Efficiency Fact Sheet
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In July 2005, the Association entered into a landmark Eco-Effiency Agreement with the Australian Government Department of Environment & Heritage to conduct a comprehensive environmental project covering all aspects of the industry.
This project extends some earlier desktop work undertaken in 2004 by the Association in partnership with the National Aquaculture Council, and funded by the Australian Government's Aquaculture Action Agenda. At that time, six APFA member farms expressed an interest in exploring EMS on their farm: Australian Prawn Farms, Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture, Pacific Reef Fisheries, Seafarm, TPF (Truloff’s) and Wild River Farmed Seafood. Although only three farms were involved in that initial desktop study, this latest funding allows the Association to engage a consultant to extend the work to include all six farms.
WHAT IS ECO-EFFICIENCY?
*Eco-efficiency is about doing more with less
*It is about using resources (such as energy, water feed and other resources) more efficiently so that there is more production and less waste output
*Eco-efficiency is aimed at linking environmental and financial performance
*Most of you are probably already doing a lot of this – it’s called good management
*We will document it and look for more ways to be efficient and save both resources and money
HOW DOES IT HELP?
*Implementing eco-efficiency allows you to achieve improved environmental outcomes while lowering costs and increasing competitiveness
*Eco-efficiency allows a business to demonstrate its care of the environment while also looking after its important business “bottom line”
ECO-EFFICIENCY IS…
*Not prescriptive
*Not the same on every farm
*About identifying the impacts prawn farming has on the environment
*About identifying a range of ways businesses can save money by also looking after the environment
*The results may not be instant because most of you have already identified ways to save money – that is why it is a three year project
The APFA-DEH Eco-efficiency project begins with two parallel activities
1. Benchmarking surveys of members and reporting
2. Implementing ISO 14001 on 6 prawn farms
1. BENCHMARKING SURVEYS OF MEMBERS & REPORTING
A questionnaire has been prepared and is being sent to all members in early December 2005. Replies come to the consultant’s office where a summary of this information will be compiled. As the project develops, we will use this information together with the outcomes of the first EMS workshop (with the 6 farms) to identify suitable performance indicators.
Where to next?
The year 1 survey will suggest strategies for improving their data collection & monitoring as well as performance against the eco-efficiency indicators. The first survey will also fine tune survey 2. Members will receive case studies and fact sheets about eco-efficiency tools to help you improve their own bottom line.
2. IMPLEMENTING ISO 14001
ISO 14001 is being implemented using a training program. Experience has shown that teaching and mentoring businesses to develop their own systems under our guidance provides more sustainable management systems than the standard consultancy method. This method also has the benefits of being time and cost effective and group work encourages more interaction, idea exchange and a deeper understanding of the issues involved. Each organisation has full control of how they implement their ISO 14001 system to suit their business. Members are given templates and shown how to tailor them to their own needs. This is not a ‘one size fits all’ system.
How Does it Work?
We hold a series of three two-day EMS Implementation Workshops plus a follow up visit to each farm. Part of this process will include explaining eco-efficiency concepts and identifying tools suitable for the prawn farming industry. The farms should be ready for audit in June 2006 and this will be reported in Public Environmental Reporting and at the 2006 APFA Conference.
What ISO 14001?
An Environmental Management System enables a company to identify and manage their environmental impacts and to integrate environmental management into their daily operations, long-term planning and provides greater certainty of organisational/ management commitment. ISO 14001 is the only internationally recognised EMS.
Forget Myths About ISO 14001
ISO systems do not have to be paper heavy. We believe in minimising paper. If you don’t need a form, why have it? You don’t need a huge manual, a smaller one will do. You do have to manage your documents – most businesses have ‘feral forms’, old books of records and ‘useful information’ lurking in hard to find corners. We do address and simplify this. We put a big emphasis on awareness raising and training for all personnel in an organisation. ISO 14001 is a help, not a burden!
The Training Plan
The training programme is based around three modules or workshops. Each workshop takes two days and involves desktop based learning with PowerPoint presentations including photos and cartoons of the good the bad and the ugly. Members then check their own worksite and operations and add any extras they find. This is accompanied by mentoring by email, phone or fax to help with any questions.
*Module 1- Initial Review and Analysis of Impacts – Managing Your Risks!
*Module 2 - Implementing The System. This is about making the plan work and go on working.
*Module 3 - Module 3 adds the extras needed for ISO14001 certification
*The Onsite Visit. One consultant day is spent onsite with each of the 6 businesses. This is timed to be at the end to help with their internal audit and check on their audit readiness.
A Certified ISO 14001 EMS builds public confidence and counters some of the negative publicity.
Stay tuned to this website for regular project updates.
WORLD LEADERS IN SUSTAINABLE PRAWN FARMING
Regulators compliment Australian farmers
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“Aquaculture farms are improving over time. The results show excellent performance of the farms and proactive planning for improvements” (Source: “Report on estimates of total nitrogen loads released to the lower Albert-Logan River estuary and Southern Moreton Bay” Queensland Environment Protection Agency, June 2002).
"The aquaculture industry has played a leading role in encouraging the uptake of effluent mitigation technology resulting in improved environmental performance" (Source: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, AQUAFest Australia 2002 Conference Handbook).
“Major improvements have been made in recent years in reducing nitrogen loadings from prawn farms. The sector has responded to public and regulatory pressure with substantial investment in new methods for nutrient reduction” (Source: “Nitrogen inputs into Moreton Bay from the Albert-Logan system” Dr Chris Jackson, CSIRO July 2002).
AUSTRALIAN PRAWN FARMS - HIGHEST ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS IN THE WORLD
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The Australian prawn farming sector is widely recognised as a world leader in environmental management. Through the Australian Prawn Farmers Association, member of the industry work cooperatively with government agencies and community groups to promote sustainable practices in Australian prawn farms. Information in this website explains exactly what standards are required in prawn farming states of Australia, and also includes a copy of the Environmental Code of Practice for Australian prawn farmers.Australian industry is utilising state of the art technologies which enable environmental impacts to be significantly reduced if not eliminated.
Prawns need clean water and are highly sensitive to changes in water quality. Managing pond ecology is the most critical aspect of farming prawns and requires considerable expertise. To be successful, a prawn farmer requires an understanding of pond ecology, biology and water quality dynamics.
The standards that have been imposed on prawn farms in Australia have been developed by regulators in close consultation with scientists from the CSIRO and Australian Institute of Marine Science. A recent review of environmental licenses by the Queensland Environment Protection Agency has achieved standards second to none in the world.
Unlike many prawn farming countries, Australian industry is required to meet high standards for assessment and management of prawn farm facilities. Consequently, Australia has one of the cleanest prawn farming industries in the world and sets the benchmark for environmental management of any prawn farming nation. This is a record which Australian industry is proud of.
ENVIRONMENTAL CODE OF PRACTICE FOR AUSTRALIAN PRAWN FARMERS
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The Australian prawn farming industry was the first prawn farming sector in the world to develop an Environmental Code of Practice. The Environmental Code of Practice for Australian Prawn Farmers sets out requirements and standards which must be met by members of the Australian Prawn Farmers Association.The Code was developed with support of the Queensland Environment Protection Agency and was released for public comment and review in May 2000.
After incorporating recommendations from public consultation the Code was approved by the Queensland Minister for Environment in September 2001.
The Environmental Code of Practice is a responsible, sensible and practical response to community concerns. It has lead to improvements not only in the industry's environmental performance, but also its public image.
The Code is a straight-forward document with a practical, on-farm focus. It informs farmers what practices are acceptable and how to implement those practices to minimise environmental impacts. The Code applies to all existing farms and to new farms.
For example, in relation to water quality, the Code requires existing farms to:
*Adjust feed management strategies to minimise nutrient loading
*Manage stocking densities minimise wastes
*Manage water exchange rates to ensure high water quality
*Utilise a harvesting method which minimises solid and nutrient loading of discharge waters
*Implement erosion control measures to minimise solid loading in discharge waters
*Implement pond management procedures which minimise solid and nutrient loads of discharge waters
*Re-use of pond sediment as a top soil in crop or pasture areas
New farms are required to allow for vegetated buffer zones, habitat corridors, protection of mangrove communities, saltpans and other intertidal communities, prevention of erosion, acid sulphate soils management, and comprehensive water treatment including at least settlement pond of appropriate size.
The Association is working with the states and the Australian Government to encourage uptake of the Code at the national level.
The Code can be downloaded from this site, free of charge.
WHAT ARE AUSTRALIA’S ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT STANDARDS?
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Under the Australian Constitution, states have jurisdiction for management of agriculture including prawn farming. Australian states require prawn farms to treat water. Discharge quality and quantity is regularly monitored.Public consultation is required before approval is given to establish a farm. The Australian Prawn Farmer's Association welcomes public consultation as an important mechanism to ensure transparency in decision-making.
The Association encourages community groups to become well informed about developments in their neighbourhood in order to have their reasonable concerns addressed.
Governments set strict licence conditions on approvals to ensure that farms are meeting the requirements of environmental laws both during construction and operation. Each state has similar, but not identical requirements for approval and management of prawn farm facilities. The Association has compiled the attached matrix of state and federal standards for environmental management of prawn farming.
The Association supports the need for a national approach to environmental management of prawn farming.
The highest environmental standards in Australia are in Queensland, as outlined recently in the Queensland Environment Protection Agency Marine Prawn Licensing Discussion Paper (this paper is available below).
WATER QUALITY IN AUSTRALIA
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80% of current Australian farmed prawn production occurs adjacent to the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The prawn farming industry in the Great Barrier Reef Region is a highly profitable, but small agriculture sector, which has potential to expand considerably without impacting on water quality.As the Great Barrier Reef is an international icon, and is reported to be under threat from overfishing and climate change, it is important that land-based industries invest in technology and farm practices to minimise potential impact on reef water quality. A recent study by the Australian Productivity Commission highlighted the environmental leadership of the Australian prawn farming sector.
The largest anthropogenic source of Nitrogen to Queensland east coast rivers is that associated with sediment loss from grazing which is estimated at 18,018 tonnes per year (55.78% of the total anthropogenic input). Other sources are 8,800 tonnes per year (27.24%) from canelands, 3,502 tonnes per year (10.84%) from fertiliser applied to agricultural land other canelands, and 1,928 tonnes per year (5.97%) from sewage. Inputs of Nitrogen to the Queensland east coast from prawn farming are estimated at 52.6 tonnes per year which is 0.1% of the annual anthropogenic Nitrogen input to Queensland east coast rivers.
The largest anthropogenic source of Phosphorous to Queensland east coast rivers is that associated with sediment loss from grazing which is estimated at 5,544 tonnes per year (65.02% of the total anthropogenic input). Other sources are 1,300 tonnes per year (15.25%) from canelands, 878.1 tonnes per year (10.30%) from fertiliser applied to agricultural land other canelands, and 1,928 tonnes per year (9.36%) from sewage. Inputs of Phosphorous to the marine system from prawn farming are estimated at 6.6 tonnes per year which is 0.00006% of the anthropogenic P inputs to Queensland east coast rivers.
Since European settlement, sediment input to Great Barrier Reef catchments has increased 3.8 times to 28 Megatonnes per year. Sediment input from prawn farming contributes 1,314 tonnes per year or approximately 0.0004% of the annual anthropogenic sediment input to Great Barrier Reef catchments.
Owing to the spatial scale of farming, the regulatory environment and high standard of farming practices, negative impacts (e.g. large scale mangrove destruction) are not necessarily occurring in Australia.
WATER TREATMENT
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Waters released from a prawn pond may contain nutrients, algae and clay particles which occur naturally in ocean waters.Recent changes to Australian policy requires water to be cycled through a settlement pond, where most of the clay particles settle out. In this picture you can see four large settlement ponds on the right of screen through which all used water circulates and settles. Nitrogen and phosphorous attach to the soil particles, and thus settlement can lead to significant reduction in solid and dissolved loads. Any algae which may be in the pond water, occurs naturally in the area, and is introduced into the farm in intake water. Some algae species are encouraged to grow in prawn ponds as they are a natural, high energy and nutritious feed for the prawns.
Many Australian farms recirculate water as routine practice. Partial recirculation helps minimise fluctuations in water quality (salinity, turbidity, nutrient load) and reduces the risk of introducing pathogens from the wild. However partial recirculation is not suited to all farms. Farms have variable requirements depending on a range of factors including quality of intake water, location in the catchment, availability of land, rainfall and access to tidal waters.
PROTECTING MARINE PLANTS
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Under state laws, marine plants are totally protected. This includes all species of mangrove, seagrass and seaweed. If any plants are approved to be removed, they can only be removed after investigation by authorities who generally only allow removal conditional on appropriate mitigation. In the process of making that decision, authorities are required by law to consult with all interested members of the community - this includes conservation groups, scientists, recreational and commercial fishing interests.HEALTH MANAGEMENT
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Australian prawn farmers produce native species. Exotic pests are the most critical disease threat to Australia’s prawn producers. The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) enforce regulations that prevent the importation of live prawns and certain kinds of prawn products. These regulations are designed to prevent the introduction of exotic diseases which could effect wild and aquaculture prawn populations. Australia’s prawn farming industry does not support the importation of uncooked prawn from countries which cannot demonstrate freedom from OIE-listed diseases.To date, diseases found in Australian aquaculture prawns, including viruses (Owens, 1997), are already present in local wild populations. While not harmful to humans such diseases can effect prawns when they are in a weakened or stressed state. Under conditions of poor water quality (eg low temperatures or salinity) prawns may develop symptoms and suffer mortalities.
Disease management in Australia is therefore based on preventing exotic diseases from entering the country and, at the farm level, providing the prawns with a low stress healthy environment.
On farm disease preventative measures include the dry out of ponds after harvest. This helps break down organic materials to reduce bacterial and viral numbers in the pond substrate. Many farmers carry out health checks on postlarvae before stocking ponds. This is to ensure no new diseases are being introduced to the farm and also enhances survival. Such checks involve diagnostic services provided free of charge by government, although private laboratories also undertake such work.
State laws require all disease outbreaks be reported to the authorities. If a serious exotic disease outbreak was to occur, state and federal agencies can enforce measures to control and prevent the spread of the disease. Measures include stock destruction and pond and water sterilisation.
In partnership with the Fisehries Research & Development Corporation, Australian industry has invested $5 million in a major research project to close the lifecycle of the Black Tiger prawn. Pond-reared animals help to minimise the risk of introducing pathogens from wild stocks. Future research will examine options for a breeding program.
ANTIBIOTIC, CHEMICAL & HORMONE FREE ENVIRONMENT
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Antibiotics are not used in Australian prawn farms. Why not? First, treatments become excessively diluted in a pond situation rendering antibiotics and chemicals ineffective. Second, because consumers are concerned about the use of chemicals and antibiotics in food production. To ensure consumer-confidence, residue testing is done on an ongoing basis for both domestic and export markets.Occasionally they may be used in an enclosed situation such as a tank in a hatchery. However in these cases, their use is limited and strictly controlled. Permission must be sought from a qualified veterinarian and access to antibiotics is only granted by prescription. Use of antibiotics in Australia is then only allowed under quarantine conditions and only where it can be shown to be within acceptable standards for human health.
Similarly, very few chemicals are used in prawn farming. Common household garden chemicals like lime and gypsum may be used to condition and sweeten pond soils between crops. When the pond is filled, they break down into harmless chemicals. Chlorine is often used as a cleaning agent in processing plants to meet state food health standards.
There is no use of hormones in prawn ponds in Australia. Only a qualified veterinarian can prescribe access to hormones, and any approval must be recorded on a national register. No hormones are registered for use in prawns destined for food in Australia.
FISHMEAL FACTS
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However, there is concern about the long-term sustainability of fishmeal as a feed resource due to increasing demand and concerns about the sustainability of fish stocks (such as the Peruvian anchovetta).
An alternative view, backed by analysis of fishery and economic data for fishmeal, is that aquaculture has improved the sustainable use of fish stocks relied on for fishmeal. This argument is further examined by the Global Aquaculture Alliance in the attached download "Fishmeal Fact Sheet" (see below).
The Australian Prawn Farmers Association Research & Development Committee considers low-protein feeds and nutrition research as an important priority for further research.
Downloads
| A Review of Marine Prawn Licenses in Queensland - Queensland Environment Protection Agency, May 2000 | |
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| Australian Prawn Farmer’s Association submission to QEPA | |
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| Fish Meal Fact Sheet | |
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| Mangroves Fact Sheet - Mangroves in Australia | |
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| McPhee Report - A Comparison of Anthropogenic Discharge Quality and Quantity into Queensland East Coast Catchments | |
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| Regulation of Prawn Farming in Australia - A Summary of State and Commonwealth Legislation | |
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| The Environmental Management of Shrimp Farming in Australia | |
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