Lead the biosecurity response to a suspected disease in cage 12

You are the Leading Hand responsible for the cage 12 biosecurity response.

Simulated workplaceAdvanced missionCAQA Coastline Seafood

What is going on

Cage 12 mortalities have risen from six a day to over twenty in three days, with fish flashing and showing pale gills. The Sea Farm Manager has isolated the cage under the Biosecurity and Stock Health Policy and the veterinarian has sampled ten fish, with laboratory results due on Saturday. Movements between cages have been stopped, but crews are busy with feeding, net cleaning and a harvest planned for cage 5, and the manager is not confident every boat is following the disinfection rule. If the disease is notifiable, the regulator must be told and movement controls will widen. No treatment can be given without veterinary direction and the Chemicals and Treatments Register must be checked. You have been asked to run the response and brief the crews.

Hamish Ferguson, Sea Farm Manager
Subject: Cage 12: I want you to run the biosecurity response

Cage 12 mortalities have gone from six a day to over twenty with flashing and pale gills. The vet has sampled and results are due Saturday. I have isolated the cage. I want you to take over the biosecurity response as leading hand: confirm the movement controls are being followed on every boat, review the log entries and the mortality trend, make sure nothing is treated without vet direction and that the Chemicals and Treatments Register is checked, prepare what we need if the disease turns out to be notifiable, and brief the crews. Use the Biosecurity and Stock Health Policy and the emergency plan.

Your brief

Take charge of the biosecurity response: verify movement and disinfection controls on every boat, review the log and mortality trend, confirm no unauthorised treatment, prepare the notification and communication steps if the disease is notifiable, protect the cage 5 harvest from cross contamination, and brief the crews with a toolbox talk.

Work through it

You do not need to do it all. Doing a few of these will show you what the work is like. Your ticks and notes stay on this device.

Read the Biosecurity and Stock Health Policy, the disease section of the Aquaculture Emergency Procedures Plan and the stock treatment section of the Chemicals and Treatments Register, and list the controls that apply now.
Review the Farm Stock and Water Quality Log entries for cage 12 over the past ten days, chart the mortality trend and note water quality readings that might contribute.
Audit the movement and disinfection entries for every farm boat since the isolation started, identify any gap, and record any breach as a hazard in the WHS Incident and Hazard Register.
Confirm from the Chemicals and Treatments Register that no treatment has been applied to cage 12 and prepare the record template that will be used if the veterinarian directs a treatment, including the withholding period.
Prepare the notification pack for a notifiable disease: what must be reported, to whom, within what time, and what movement controls widen, ready for the Sea Farm Manager and General Manager.
Review the cage 5 Harvest Plan Template with the Quality and Food Safety Coordinator and add controls that prevent cross contamination from cage 12 during harvest.
Run a toolbox talk for the farm crews using the Toolbox Talk and Pre-shift Briefing Template covering the isolation, disinfection, feeding order, mortality removal and reporting rules, and record attendance.
Update the cage 12 emergency log entry in the Farm Stock and Water Quality Log with the actions taken and the decision points for Saturday.

My notes: what did I enjoy, and what surprised me?

What someone in this role would produce

A mortality trend chart and log review summary
A movement and disinfection audit with any breaches recorded
A notifiable disease notification pack
A completed Toolbox Talk record
The updated cage 12 emergency log entry

Printing this is a record of what you explored. It is not a certificate or a qualification.