Assessment of the risks associated with the release of abalone sourced from Abalone Hatcheries for enhancement or marine grow-out in the open ocean areas of WA
The virus that causes Abalone Viral Ganglioneuritis (AVG) is considered to be exotic to Western Australia (WA). The known distribution includes Victoria, Tasmania and Taiwan. There are a number of known strains of the virus; Tasmanian strains do not (to date) cause mortalities in wild abalone (but do so in farms and processing facilities). Victorian and Taiwanese strains cause high mortalities in wild abalone. Despite active surveillance, the virus has not been found in NSW, South Australia or Western Australia but there is a low likelihood that WA specific strains may exist undetected
