Fed: Abalone exports without documents may be banned

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Fed: Abalone exports without documents may be banned

MELBOURNE, Aug 14 AAP - Abalone exporters without catch certification may be bannedunder a bid to stamp out illegal trade.

Fisheries Minister Ian Macdonald today said an improved catch document scheme couldbe introduced within the next five years to protect the $243 million a year export industry.

Labelling would be increased enabling authorities to track the product's origin fromdive boat to exporter and bans imposed on any product without documentation.

"It will have very big impact," Senator MacDonald said.

"If you've got to clearly identify where each abalone fish comes from, it's going tobe a bit hard to say `well I just happened to be walking along the beach and kicked mytoe on it'."

With abalone fishing subject to strict quotas and licences worth up to $2 million,poaching is a lucrative business extending from licensed divers engaging in quota fraudto organised gangs with boats and sophisticated surveillance.

Senator Macdonald said there was also growing evidence illegally caught abalone werebeing traded for illicit drugs rather than cash.

He said states were doing a great amount to crack down on the illegal abalone trade,but more needed to be done.

"It is so important we topple this problem because the illegal take of abalone directlyundermines existing management arrangements, and undercuts economic returns to legitimateoperators," Senator MacDonald told today's National Abalone Convention in Melbourne.

Illegal trade also threatened wild abalone stocks - with Australia having one of thelast remaining sustainable wild abalone industries.

Abalone aquaculture currently provides just 10 per cent of the export market but theconvention is expected to discuss moves to promote land-based farming.

Asia is the biggest market for the prized shellfish, but the recent SARS outbreak highlightedthe fragile nature of international trade and a need to explore other markets, SenatorMacDonald said.

He said the federal government was working with the industry to develop footholds inthe US, European and Middle East markets.

AAP svm/gfr/sco/de

KEYWORD: ABALONE LEAD