The Seafood CRC has provided a number of exciting opportunities for our research provider participants. The research travel grants awarded since 2007 are:

2008/730 - Codex Alimentarius Working Group
2008/782 - Molluscan Shellfish Safety to Europe
2009/719 – Amoebic Gill Disease Collaborative Research in the UK
2009/720 - Finfish Hatchery Research in Greece and Belgium
2009/734 – Export Study Tour to China
2009/750 - Flow of Cytometry Methods Course and Workshop
2009/752 - Short Term Laboratory Placement in Aberdeen, UK
2009/753 – Zooplankton Research Tour and Fish Hatchery/Farm Visits in Taiwan
2009/754 – NIRS 2009 Workshop
2009/755 – Workshop on Physical and Biochemical Methods for Analysis of Fish as Food
2009/768 – Micromon Recombinant DNA Techniques Course
2010/713 – Market Intelligence Study Tour, Shanghai, China
2010/719 – Training in Endocrine Diagnostic Techniques and Hormone Analysis of Thermally Challenged Female Atlantic Salmon Broodstock, Northwest Fisheries Scientist Centre, Seattle
2010/735 – Workshop on Pelagics with Emphasis on Early Developmental stages of Yellowfin Tuna, Achotines Laboratory, Panama
2010/742 – Young Scientists in Aquaculture – Australasia Aquaculture 2010
2010/760 – Market Intelligence Study Tour, Beijing, China
2010/761 – Training in Vibrio Methods and Risk Management, USA
2010/762 – Study Tour of Norwegian Salmonid Selective Breeding Establishments and Research Institutes
2010/763 – Research Training at the Aquatic Animal Health Laboratories
2011/705 – Fish Immunology Workshop, Wageningen University
2011/707 - Workshop on Pelagics with Emphasis on Early Developmental stages of Yellowfin Tuna, Achotines Laboratory, Panama
2011/708 – Research Training, National Institute of Health Sciences, Japan
2011/713 – Shrimp Pathology Course: Disease Diagnosis and Control, University of Arizona, USA
2011/752 – Collaboration with the University of Maryland for Vibrio Models for Australian Oysters
2011/753 – Implementation of PhD Research to Industry Partner Simplot Australia

• Project Number – 2011/753
• Start Date – 1st October 2011
• End Date – 1st November 2011
• Principal Investigator – Mr Sam He
• Research Provider – Flinders University
• CRC Participant End User – Simplot Australia Pty Ltd

About the Project

This grant is for CRC PhD student Shan He to visit his industry partner—Simplot Australia for one month. During this month, Sam will work with food scientists of Simplot Australia to apply laboratory outcomes to industrial food formulation.
Sam will benefit from this study tour by learning about commercial product development processes and to evaluate his laboratory outcomes to-date, in complex food systems, as well as industrial food safety issues. As part of his PhD, he will also evaluate at Simplot fish protein hydrolysates and whether phosphate traditionally used to assist binding in frozen fish can be replaced. This will include developing an experimental design matrix, for evaluation of frozen product, and also the performance of the cooked product (texture, binding etc). He will also analyse fish protein hydrolysates mixed with raw fish meat, or fish meat mince, with the aim of increasing the water binding capacity. A 'Fish ball' will be used as a model product for demonstration. Lastly, Sam's initial PhD research suggests fish protein hydrolysates can reduce oil binding, so he will evaluate whether this might have an application in lowering fat content in fat fried fish products but with the benefit of producing a crispy batter.

• Project Number – 2011/752
• Start Date – 1st October 2011
• End Date – 8th October 2011
• Principal Investigator – Professor Mark Tamplin
• Research Provider – University of Tasmania
• CRC Participant End User – Oyster Consortium

About the Project

The primary goal of this grant is to influence the utilisation and legacy of the CRC Oyster Refrigeration Index model, and therefore underpin Australian oyster company competitiveness in international, as well as domestic, markets. Professor Tamplin will meet with international seafood safety policy-makers and those influencing policy (i.e. researchers) who will be attending the World Seafood Congress in Washington DC.
Professor Tamplin will also work with Dr Salina Parveen, who is the key USA researcher developing models for Vibrio in American oysters. Her models are used by the USFDA in risk management policy group. The primary purpose of the meeting will be to compare the performance of our respective models and discuss a joint publication that will emphasise the need for separate models for Australian and American oysters. This will ultimately help influence USFDA approaches to risk management.

Completed Project

• Project Number – 2011/708
• Start Date – 1st October 2011
• End Date – 30th October 2011
• Principal Investigator – Mr Damian May
• Research Provider – SA R&D Institute
• CRC Participant End User – Oyster Consortium

About the Project

International limits for vibrios in seafood are increasingly being mandated. This means that Australian seafood will be subjected to increased testing regimes to meet market access requirements. Furthermore, the FAO/WHO are currently in the process of deciding on what methods are suitable for this purpose. Professor Mitsuaki Nishibuchi in Japan is an integral part of this process within Codex.
The objective of this travel by Damian was to visit and learn from Professor Mitsuaki Nishibuchi at Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan. The information gathered will be useful across a range of projects funded by the Australian Seafood CRC. In particular, the use of immuno-magnetic separation (IMS) and Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) for the sensitive detection of pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus in seafood products was demonstrated and practised. Professor Nishibuchi has also kindly offered to provide various V. parahaemolyticus isolates and a novel natural food sanitiser for use in CRC projects. A number of potential issues were identified and discussed to develop an on-going long term collaborative link with Prof. Nishibuchi's laboratory. This is strategically important for Australia due to the large volume of seafood Japan imports annually (world's second largest importer of seafood).
A copy of this research travel grant report is available from the Seafood CRC bookshop