Workers are busy clearing up after water inundated the processing factory as the recent flood has mangled the seafood loading facility on the Burnett River. The worst floods since 1942 have dealt what could be the final blow to many in the Bundaberg seafood industry. Loading and fishing equipment has been washed away, processing facilities have been under water and hundreds of people will be out of work as businesses try to rebuild.
Seth Parker from ASP holdings, a major trawler and processing operator in Bundaberg, said that with no insurance cover for flood, it could cost almost $1 million just to get his business back on track. The devastation was so huge that the seafood industry is almost at the brink of end. Parker informed that water went right through ASP Holdings processing facility, $150,000 worth of stock was ruined and cold rooms have been destroyed.
Sid McKeown, manager of Australian Fisheries at the port, said that the floods are another major setback to the local seafood industry. He informed that a number of processors have been severely hit and you’ve got a fleet now at sea. Meantime, Anne Whalley, President of the Womens Industry Network Seafood Community Bundaberg Branch says the flood has posed major problems for fisherman who trawl for prawns.
