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The Australian Government, through AQIS, closely monitor every aspect of the processing and exporting operation of all Tuna Farmers in Port Lincoln. Australia is internationally recognised as having some of the strictest quarantine regulations in the world.
Environmental aspects of fishing:
Each purse seine boat must report, daily, its global position, and must also report, daily, the catch, and / or 'shots' attempted. The boats towing the pontoons must also report their position daily and include details of number and size of any mortalities in the pontoon. AFMA inspectors randomly spend time on any of the purse seine or towing boats at sea to confirm that everything is done in accordance with their strict regulations.
Environmental aspects of farming:
AQIS monitors the receival and utilisation of all bait fish imported from overseas. Each pallet of bait must be able to be accounted for by source, date and import permit number. Once delivered, we must be able to account for each pallet whether it is in our cold storage facility or already fed to the tuna. Under our license that permits us to operate as a Quarantine Approved Premises, we must even record the temperature at which the cool rooms are kept and how we dispose of any rubbish from the cold storage facility.
The State Government authority, Primary Industries SA, monitors the environment in and around our licensed farming sites. Water columns and the sea floor below each pontoon are monitored by PIRSA during and after each season, issuing reports to Government confirming that we meet the strict licensing conditions imposed by our farming license.
Environmental aspects of processing:
AQIS licenses and monitors processing operations on-shore, regularly visiting premises to ensure that the approved HACCAP plans are being adhered to. Product Hygiene is the key testing, Water TTI also holds European Union export certification.
The Freezer boats that come to Port Lincoln are also monitored by AQIS, but do not need to meet the same rigid regulations.
Re-cycling of by-products:
All waste from the harvest is brought ashore and delivered to a re-processor for the manufacture of organic products for horticultural purposes.
All factory waste water is cleaned to EPA standards before entering the waste system. The Federal Government, Department of the Environment and Heritage, ran an extensive case study on the excellent work done to re-cycle water at Tony's Tuna. The Link can be found at: www.deh.gov.au/industry/corporate/eecp/case-studies/tony.html
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