On the night of Monday, April 10, 22,000 litres of firefighting foam containing potentially harmful chemicals was released from a Brisbane Airport Qantas hangar, with some likely making it into the water in the lower reaches of the Brisbane River and killing about 20 fish.

Queensland Environment Minister Steven Miles admitted his department knew of the spill by the following day but did not alert the public until Good Friday, when many people were disengaged with the news.

He warned against eating seafood caught in the affected zone - from Bulimba Creek to Fisherman Island and north to Shorncliffe - but said this was outside commercial fishing areas.

But commercial fishers have rubbished this claim, saying hundreds of kilograms of prawns were caught in the area after the spill and the peak body was not warned to stop selling the product until Easter Saturday.

Trawler Michael Wilkinson said the T5 trawl fishing zone he and more than 30 others were licensed to fish entirely overlapped the affected area.

The 37-year-old said Fisheries Queensland was helpful after he eventually made contact on Monday, organising a new zone to fish in, but he only found out about the warning through social media.

"The Queensland government's response is a f---ing joke," he said, saying fishers should have been warned out of the area as soon as the spill occurred.

"Anything that normally happens in our industry, we're notified on the spot."

He had already caught and sold about 135 kilograms of prawns to wholesalers between Monday night and Thursday night but did not know whether they had been sold on to the public or stored.

A blame game has erupted in the wake of the spill, which contained the perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) linked to groundwater contamination around the army air base at Oakey.

The LNP opposition slammed Mr Miles for not acting sooner but he shifted the blame to the federal government, which regulates the Brisbane Airport, and highlighted several Qantas failures.

The Queensland Seafood Industry Association has joined the wave of criticism, with CEO Eric Perez saying the group wasn't officially notified until Easter Saturday, a day after the late public warning.

He said he also had concerns over just how much of the chemical, banned in Queensland but legal on the federally regulated airport, and called on all levels of government to take responsibility.

But he moved to quash fears prawns bought over the Easter long weekend were "most likely" contaminated, saying the area's output was "not massive".

"From that little area that's trawled, would it be a massive contribution to the prawns sold? No," he said.

"I can definitively say no because the prawns that are sold around Easter come from the whole state and the retail stores would have been geared up with those prawns months ago.

"Any reporting to the contrary is just beating up."

Moreton Bay Seafood Association vice president Michael Wood said the embattled industry had been dealt another blow.

"We want to talk to (Qantas chief executive) Alan Joyce for starters to see what they're going to do for us and how they're going to repair the damage to the general public," he said on Thursday.

In a statement issued Thursday, Queensland Health executive director health protection branch Sophie Dwyer said reducing exposure was "prudent" because of the risk of accumulation in the body over long periods.

"But consumption of small amounts as part of a broad diet is of negligible risk," she said.

"Before results of EHP testing is known and without knowing where specific seafood was caught, it is not possible to make fully detailed conclusions regarding risk associated in prawns.

"But we do know that this food, particularly when it is in the food supply, only forms a small part of any individuals daily consumption of food."

A spokesman for Agriculture Minister Bill Byrne said the Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol engaged with 354 recreational and commercial fishers over the Easter weekend, starting Good Friday morning.

"Flyers were also left on cars at boat ramps. Information was posted on our Fisheries Queensland Facebook page," he said.

"Peak industry bodies such as the Queensland Seafood Industry Association and Moreton Bay Seafood Industry Association were also provided with advice from EHP and Queensland Health."

- with AAP