The importation of green prawns into Australia has been suspended as an "insurance" against the possibility of a viral prawn disease spreading to our waterways.
Federal Agricultural Minister Barnaby Joyce announced the suspension on Friday after the discovery of the highly contagious white spot disease in imported green prawns sold for human consumption.
"Once I heard yesterday morning that ... they detected white spot in green prawns in retail outlets, then that was, as far as I was concerned, the trigger for us to take more substantial action," he said outside Parliament House.
"We are going back to those importers who brought the green prawns in and going through them with a fine-tooth comb in regards to their protocols and what they were doing."
While there was no health risk for people who consumed the infected prawns, Mr Joyce said he held concerns that infected green prawns bought from retail outlets could be used as bait, which could infect waterways.
"We are not saying that the white spot came from imported green prawns but there is a possibility that it could have.
"We have to make sure that that possibility is removed, that is why we are suspending the importation of green prawns."
A halt on the $358 million-a-year prawn industry was likely to incur a shortage of prawns, Mr Joyce said.
Mr Joyce said the move could lead to substantial increase in prawn prices for consumers.
"Unfortunately, we haven't suspended the laws of supply and demand ... what happens in the market happens in the market," he said.
Five prawn farms near the Logan River are in lockdown after Biosecurity Queensland first detected the disease in December.
All farms were working with Biosecurity Queensland to destock and chlorinate their ponds to eliminate the disease.
A ban was also placed on any prawn, crab or worm catches in the Logan and Albert rivers after the disease was detected in the waterways.
Earlier in the week, Biosecurity Queensland was notified of the possible presence of the white spot disease in a single crab sampled from a drainage channel near one of the five infected prawn farms.
A statement from Biosecurity Queensland outlined there were no clinical signs that the crab was infected and a retest would be done to confirm the preliminary result.
Acting Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington called for the federal government to start a comprehensive and independent review into Biosecurity Queensland's handling of the white spot outbreak.
Ms Frecklington also called for the Queensland government to provide an industry assistance package to affected farmers and affected people in the aquaculture industry.
"The aquaculture industry for Queensland is vitally important, it's a regionally significant industry, particularly for areas around the Gold Coast and the Logan River, where we've seen this white spot outbreak," she said.
But Ms Frecklington did not have a cost for the compensation package.
"That's a question that the industry would need to talk directly with the government about," she said.
Ms Frecklington said the disease was not fatal to humans, but could be fatal to the industry if not dealt with properly.
A spokesman for the Queensland Agriculture Minister's office said the federal government was part of the response from day one.
"Biosecurity Queensland's response has been dictated by the AquaVet Plan which sets out agreed destruction, disposal and decontamination activities," he said.
"The response has been endorsed by every stage by a national committee of experts, including the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer, representatives of the federal Department of Agriculture and Water Resources and the CSIRO Animal Health Laboratory."
The spokesman said more than 100 staff had worked with industry and affected farmers over the past month.
"Ms Frecklington is asking Barnaby Joyce to second-guess the three expert federal government bodies," he said.
"Clearly she hasn't spoken to Mr Joyce or she would have known he has today praised the biosecurity response.
"The response strategy has been reviewed by the national committee at regular intervals."
The spokesman said border protection and quarantine were federal responsibilities.
"[White spot] must have come through Australia's border control and Minister Joyce's actions today seem to confirm that," he said.
The spokesman said there were ongoing conversations with the federal government over assistance to the industry.
- with Felicity Caldwell