Winter 2009 by Tim Walker

Volume 23 No 2 – Winter 2009

Boonjie Redclaw’s profit focus WA’s warmwater trout success ‘Carbon-positive’ Qld barra Clyde River oysters’ culture choices Kimberley Prawns hit hurdle Black Saturday’s trout legacy Pesticides hurting Sunland’s fry Lessons from Canada

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Contents Editor-in-chief Dr Tim Walker Regular contributors David O'Sullivan John Mosig Dave Field

Subscription/editorial Austasia Aquaculture PO Box 658, Rosny, Tas. 7018 Ph: 03 6245 0064 Fax: 03 6245 0068 Email: AustasiaAquaculture@netspace.net.au Advertising Megan Farrer Design/typesetting Coalface Production Pty Ltd Prepress & Printing Geon Group Copyright © by Austasia Aquaculture. Contents cannot be reproduced without permission. Statements made or opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Turtle Press Pty Ltd (ABN 98 506 165 857). Austasia Aquaculture magazine (ISSN: 0818 552) is published by Turtle Press Pty Ltd (ABN 98 506 165 857) for the promotion of aquaculture in the Australasian and Asian regions – inclusive of farming in marine, freshwater, brackish and hypersaline waters. Reader's contributions are encouraged on the clear understanding they will be subject to editorial control and, if accepted, will appear in both printed and online versions.

FA R M P R O F I L E S

Boonjie Redclaw’s focus maximising profit not production

Who says you can’t grow trout in W.A.’s south?

Carbon-positive farm’s ‘green’ barra harvest

Clyde River oyster farmers

Pesticides hatching a disaster for Sunland ‘s fry

W.A. prawn aquaculture stymied

F E AT U R E

Victoria’s trout industry confronts Cover photo A montage of photos taken from stories contained in this issue. Captions and photo credits as per the details inside.

Black Saturday’s sad legacy

Asian Pacific Aquaculture 2009

RESEARCH

Aquaculture in Canada lessons for Australia

Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009 1

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Insurance ... and exploding toilets!

Rachel Mutters’ recent (March ‘09 ) article in Fish Farm International, ‘Lesser of Two Evils’ highlighted the alarming choice fish farmers the world over make to not insure their stock. An example close to home is this year’s loss of uninsured trout farms during the Victorian bushfires. Whilst nothing compares to the tragic loss of life and property, the impact on trout farmers and employees affected is nonetheless extremely distressing. If insurance had been in place to rebuild and restock, the outcome would have been so much better.

ustralia is fraught with such examples – generally less

The business could quite happily have survived an exploding toilet

dramatic and unseen by the general public but often

but, as it turned out, did not survive a catastrophic stock loss.

involving greater value. Victoria’s abalone farms are a case

in point. When a previously unknown disease (Ganglioneuritis)

nearly wiped out the industry in 2006-07, only two of the five affected farms were insured. $3m was paid out to the two insured companies but uninsured losses to the wider industry were considerably greater. The Western Australian pearl farming sector experienced a similar setback in 2006-07, with just one of three affected companies insured. At best , a small uninsured loss will have minimal affect on the end

By the close of 2008, the UN reported that aquaculture contributes over 50% of the world’s seafood. And there’s more growth to come. Although, in Rachel Mutter’s words, fish farmers are not ‘persons of a very cautious nature’, the days of taking unprotected risks are over. In future, bankers and investors will require more diligent risk management. Livestock insurance will become compulsory for farm owners seeking a mortgage, just as it is now for homeowners. In fact the whole process of insurance should be welcomed, not avoided. Assessment of risk, both internally by owners and managers as well as by independent consultants, can reveal a vast plethora of

of year profit. A large (catastrophic), loss of stock however, will not

situations that might give rise to loss. Management systems and

only wipe out the years profit but can have far more serious

mitigation strategies designed to avoid or reduce loss will help

consequences.

attain positive balance sheets and promote investor confidence.

For example, in July 2008 a new finfish seafarm was launched in WA. By year’s end the company had lost much of their stock to

These immediate benefits prove as valuable as the Insurance Policy ... which, one hopes, is never needed!

disease and administrators had been brought in. Disease losses are

Chris Kennedy

insurable and, whilst other factors no doubt impacted the company

Aquaculture Manager (Australia)

finances too, comprehensive livestock cover would have greatly

Sunderland marine Mutual Insurance Ltd

improved the situation. A sustainable farm is the philosophy of fish farmers worldwide but only attainable if the operation has a comprehensive risk management strategy that includes livestock insurance. Alarmingly it really does appear to be a genuinely accepted industry practice in Australia not to insure the stock. In fact, we estimate that 60% of Australian aquaculturists are uninsured. As one of our SA insurance brokers bluntly observed to an abalone farming client: “You’ll insure your outside loo, but you don’t insure your fish…!” 2 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009

Catastrophic fish kill from Green Tide (Mexico)

FA R M P R O F I L E

Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009 3

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Boonjie Redclaw’s focus

maximising profit not production

A combination of good water and good management has served Klaus Cazzonelli well over the years. A pioneer and industry stalwart, he has followed a policy of keeping everything as natural as possible. A keen observer of nature, his redclaw farm at Topaz on Far North Queensland’s Atherton Tablelands has constantly produced some of the best freshwater crayfish from the region.

oonjie Redclaw is set in undulating country along the ridges. Klaus has used the shape of the country to minimize the use of pumps. The water is taken from the local creek and held in the header dam from where it can be gravitated to all the ponds. Drainage water finishes up in the settlement pond from where it can be pumped up to the header dam and recycled.

A 200g redclaw ready for market or the breeding team

The 35 bottom draining ponds vary in size from 0.1ha to 0.5ha depending on the shape of the land and are interconnected to provide Klaus with a range of management options. Feed Klaus uses Ridleys crayfish food. He likes lupins. “They hold together and float to the top if they’re not eaten”, he says. “That way I can determine if I’m overfeeding. But the price of lupins has gone through the roof. I can get pellets for $698/t. Lupins have hit $600/t delivered. I can get local maize for $220/t. It puts lupins out of the picture.” He feeds 5kg/every second day per 1,000m2 in the summer and every third day in the winter. Production cycle The main growing period is from September to May when temperatures exceed 20°C. The thermal range is from 16°C in the depth of winter to 30°C at the height of summer. Breeders are selected each season – from those displaying fast growing and favourable conformation traits – and are mated in hatchery tanks at the ambient temperatures of late winter and early spring. Once the females have berried up they are transferred to the nursery ponds. Exceptional females recovered

from the nursery ponds are used for a second season. This explains the size of the larger breeders. Nursery ponds are stocked with 100 to 150 berried females per 1,000m2 during November. Females range from 120g to 300g with each carrying between 500 and 1,000 fertilized eggs under her tail The ponds are drained and harvested between August and October the following year by which time some of the females can be bigger than 300g. These better growers are retained for breeding; the others are sold. Klaus throws a few males into each nursery pond so there is a certain amount of recruitment. This means the size of the redclaw in the nursery ponds at harvest can vary considerably. Any of the juvenile crayfish that have reached 50g are sold. Crayfish <50g are sexed and re-stocked at 4/m2. Klaus says it only takes two to three months

From top: Klaus liberating another batch of juveniles from the QCFA project. Tyres and heavy growth at the ponds’ edge provide shelter for the redclaw and make it difficult for herons and egrets to work the edges.

Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009 5

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random. They were selected for appearance and size, but their age was not determinable. He received 8,000 juveniles from the crossing with males from another farm. The selected maidens from that cohort didn’t berry up evenly at the hatchery and to date the stocking of 6,000 juveniles has been in four tranches spread over four weeks. He says it’s early days and is unsure at this stage whether nutrition or climate, or a bit of both, caused the spread the breeding cycle.

A view of the farm and the fences that control stock movement and keep out predators such as eels and water rats.

for these to reach 150g to 200g once pond temperatures have reached their optimum. Most however, are between 70g and 100g. These are graded and sold. He doesn’t feed the juveniles when they first hatch. “For the first few weeks it’s a waste of time. I’ve found that by hanging old prawn nets in the ponds and encouraging plankton growth they do much better. They love a green pond with plenty of zooplankton and climb up the netting into the water column itself. They also find feed in the sediment, including blood worms and other aquatic insect larvae,” he says.

Top two pictures: A pond in the final stages of harvest. Klaus demonstrates the easy with which redclaw can be moved once in the purging/holding system.

Klaus is a member of the North Queensland Branch of the Queensland Crayfish Farmer’s Association (QCFA) and an active participant in their redclaw hatchery project (AA 22-4) at Ross and Wendy Martin’s Tolga farm. Broodstock selected for their growth and conformation are selected to increase productivity from the ponds and increased meat yields. He is confident that at last they will be getting seedstock into the industry that follow a selection program based on family lines tested under commercial conditions. The stage 3 juveniles (S3J) from the breeding program are stocked at 8/m2. Klaus reckons it’s a bit early to tell any trends just yet. The first year the breeding females were selected from his ponds at

6 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009

Harvesting Harvesting is mixture of opera house and flow trapping. Opera house traps are used to selectively harvest during the season and to monitor growth and numbers. This allows markets to be serviced continuously without disturbing the biorhythm of the ponds. Once the opera house traps cease to be economically workable, the ponds are cleaned up using a submerged flow trap. Klaus emphasises the fact that they are submerged. “The early flow traps sat out in the ponds and the redclaw had to walk up a ramp to get into the holding cage. If you didn’t have total exclusion netting it was too easy for the herons to help themselves,” he says. He also believes the submersible system traps more efficiently and the crayfish are less stressed. Klaus lowers the level of the pond by 150mm and sets the trap going in the evening. He harvests what is in the trap in the morning and lowers the level another 150mm in the evening and repeats the process. This way he is able to selectively harvest the pond. Should the wholesale market fall, or local orders dry up, he is able to pull the traps out, top up the pond and wait out the flat period. The freshet of water lifts productivity and the reduction in the biomass helps as well, so Klaus sees a double benefit from this. Product is removed from the market and pond production is increased, just by gravitating some fresh water into the pond. Harvesting can be on going through the

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growing season, but the main harvest and pond draining starts in April and May. Although growth has slowed by this time, the redclaw are still moulting. Klaus says this is unavoidable. “We eat a few and we re-stock a few if they’re not knocked around too much.”

Klaus with the feed blower he cobbled together from disused equipment.

Yields range from 2.5t/ha to 3t/ha providing the farm with a healthy cash flow. Coupled with the low operational cost it makes the Boonjie Redclaw viable. Predators Being in a rainforest area, cormorants are scarce. The main predators are water rats, eels and nankeen night herons, which the forest is full of. Klaus keeps the water level up so it laps into the heavy cover at the ponds’ edge. He says this tends to discourage them. For the water rats he uses a corrugated iron fence which coincidentally also helps him isolate ponds that are carrying males from those carrying females.

starts up the scare guns. As they’re not used constantly it has the desired impact. Some of the neighbours have complained. Interestingly, it’s those furthest from the farm that do the complaining. This possibly reflects the transitional nature of the region from farming to tropical lifestyle occupation.

The danger period is when he’s lowering the ponds to harvest. It exposes the beaches, which gives the night herons access to the ponds. At this time he

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Pond maintenance Ponds are drained each year and regularly limed. Klaus estimates he uses 10 tonne of lime a season over the four hectares. The water from the creek is practically rainwater along the ridges. In the early days the crayfish were growing alright but their shells were soft and

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The pump at the settlement pond that moves the water back up to the header dam. Note the natural bio-system that helps clean the water.

One of Klaus’ farm built flow traps in operation.

Flow trapping eliminates the laborious task of setting and emptying opera house traps and the purging system incorporates an electrically driven endless chain lifting winch to lift the cages from the tanks. Marketing Most of the redclaw are sold locally. The tourist season is in the cooler months, which suits the harvesting regime on the farm. Any crays of less than 70g are sent to the Sydney Fish Market. The larger crays – from 70g to 90g - are sold to the local market. The extra large – 100g and more – not reserved for the breeding program are also sold locally.

Old prawn nets are hung in the ponds to provide a resting placed for the newly hatched juveniles.

The prices in Sydney are good he says. “We get $22/kg to $25/kg, which is better than we get locally. But when we sell locally we don’t get any deductions for losses or have to pay packaging, freight and commission. Even at $18/kg we’re actually better off selling locally.

they wouldn’t handle or travel very well. In an industry that sells most of its product live, this wasn’t what was desired. However when Klaus was collecting broodstock from the wild, he noticed that the best places to trap were around the rocky areas of the billabongs, areas often associated with ancient limestone deposits. He decided to introduce limestone to the ponds. Once coarse limestone and rock lime was introduced the redclaws’ shells became thicker and firmer and the handling problem was solved. Now he distributes the coarse limestone on a regular basis with the feed. It also helps buffer pH swings. The rock lime 8 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009

is introduced once a year, usually during the pond maintenance period after draining. Klaus has noticed the crayfish actually gnawing away at the rock lime. Once it is depleted he replaces it. Labour saving Klaus’ farm is a one man show. He operates his own earth moving equipment and labour saving devices have been employed where ever possible. Many of them designed and manufactured in the farm’s workshop. For instance, and limestone and feed are mixed together distributed with a farm built spreader.

“We haven’t sent any of the larger redclaw down to Sydney as we can sell all we can produce in the district,” Klaus says. “We’ve been dealing with our local customers for years and never get any comebacks”. Recently he has been developing a market in Melbourne for his XL range of redclaw. With the retail price of southern rock lobster peaking at $95/kg over Christmas and prices remaining firm since, $28/kg at the farm gate for a 300g plus redclaw seems a bargain, even if the farm is in Far North Queensland. As redclaw are usually sold live, packaging is important. Klaus uses polystyrene boxes. A foam pad is placed on top an ice pack and the redclaw, which have

been cooled down on the purging tanks, are packed on top of the foam pad. More foam is placed over them and the box sealed. In the warmer months, when they are still in the moulting phase, they can only spend 24 hours in the box. In winter conditions, when they are in a dormancy phase, Klaus says they survive quite happily for up to a week. The philosophy Klaus has his own philosophy that has worked well for him. “The way I farm is different from other people. I try to have a lot of low input, low cost extensive type of farming and then sell for the best price,” he says. “The Department has always measured a farm’s production by yields per hectare. I’m not interested in getting the maximum tonnage per hectare to make maximum profit. I look at reducing inputs to make a profit. I’m here on my own so I have to look at yields per labour input. To spend extra money to get the yields per hectare up doesn’t mean you make more profit.” Initially he had aeration, but as the aerators broke down he didn’t replace them. He relies on the experience of 22 years of crayfish farming, his own instincts and a keen eye. He can tell when they’re hungry by how long it takes them to come to the bait in the opera house traps he sets to monitor health and growth. When they’re working hard on the bottom and moving about the ponds he takes it as another sign that they are looking for food. The farm works by cycles he pointed out. For instance, the flow traps don’t work efficiently until the wet season starts. There’s a rhythm to the place that Klaus follows to great success. His low intensity stress free operation produces some of the best freshwater crayfish going around in a lifestyle operation that has a lot to recommend it. By John Mosig Klaus can be contacted by email on cazzonelli@aussiebriadband.com.au, or by phone on (07) 4096 8186.

The machinery shed showing the range of equipment that keeps the farm operational.

Clockwise from above: Coarse lime is mixed with the feed to maintain a stable pond environment and provide calcium and trace elements for the crayfish. All the ponds are bottom drained and interconnected. A couple of 150g redclaw from the purging system

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Wendy Gee selling Smoked Trout and pickled Marron at Mount Claremont Farmer’s Market, Perth. Cryovac packs are weighed and sold at $35.00/kilo (range is from $8.50 to about $14.00 a pack). Photo by Brian Gee.

Who says you can’t grow trout in W.A.’s south? An innovative Rainbow Trout farm is operating in the south of W.A. producing high quality platesize fish (400g). With saline water and summer water temperatures over 24°C you’d expect there would be all sorts of problems growing the Trout. However, this farmer likes to prove that the people who say ‘you can’t do it’ are wrong.

ony Smith is a member of the Saltwater Trout Alliance, a group of five farmers that have been farming Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in saltwater in the south west of W.A. for almost 10 years. Whilst they use different techniques of farming to suit the conditions at each property, Tony says that the Alliance members all have a firm belief in the future for inland saline aquaculture. “We believe that in 20 years time more than 90% of the fish eaten in the world will be farmed. We would like to see that most of that fish was farmed onland, not in sensitive estuarine or inshore systems.

“We have so much salt water in W.A. and plenty of land so we want to develop and prove the culture systems.” 10 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009

Tony and wife Alison are retired farmers and wine producers. Their 80 ha farm is located at Denbarker some four hours south of Perth. Brian Gee has been their aquaculture manager for eight years and the relationship has produced some impressive results. “I had been interested in the trout for a long time,” Tony explains. “My cousin was associated with the biggest trout farm in the world at Wiltshire in the U.K. Looking towards retirement I always says that I would get into trout farming, so in 2000 we started at Bouverie (named after Tony’s mother’s maiden name).” The farm was part of a much larger holding that included three other prop-

erties owned by Tony’s cousins in an area established in 1950s as a War Veteran’s settlement. The farms were growing sheep, cattle, cropping and vineyards. “The cousins sold off their land in the early 1980s and I subdivided my property and sold all bar 80ha. In 2000 when I sold my share of Plantagenet Wines and retired from managing the winery, I set up the farm for marron and rainbow trout.” Saline (600-1,300 milliseimens, 1/3 as salty as the sea) gully and hill springs that run all year round provide the water for their rainbow trout production. “The latter comes out quite high on the hills; we are yet to find the source of the water, it could be more than 40-50 km away.”

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Seven linked pontoons on a 30,000m3 salt water (1/3 as salty as seawater) spring fed dam with aerators to provide extra oxygen. Each pontoon carries up to 500 trout whilst they grow from 50gms through to 400gms. Photo by Brian Gee.

Tony’s culture systems have gradually evolved over the past few years. “Initially with the hill spring water we had two series of eight earthen ponds, each 30m long by 15m wide and 1.5-2m deep with sloping sides to assist in drainage; the outlet water flows down into the gulley. After a few years one series became affected by iron sulphate which caused problems with clogging the gills of the Trout.” Over time Tony says the hill ponds have proven difficult to harvest. To begin with a drag net was used to crowd the fish into a corner before hoisting out the 350-400g trout for transfer to the fish shed for purging or a little more ongrowing. “This way of harvesting proved difficult and the quality of the fish suffered. “We have now introduced Marron (Cherax tenuimanus) which doesn’t seem to mind the salt or the iron. We have had them in the ponds for more than two years now and they are breeding

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pontoons in this dam.”

Management Metrics Key Management Decisions for Bouverie Trout and Marron include: • Focus on small volumes but well handled fat fish. • Sales through farmer’s markets build a direct relationship with customers and allow immediate feedback. • Diversification into Marron allows the use of previously unusable dams. • Finishing tanks means that quality control can be maintained easier than in the dams. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) include: • Culture System utilised: ponds, pontoons and fibreglass tanks • Growth rate (from stocking to market): <8 months (40g to 400g) • Av. stocking density: 1kg/m3 (range is 0.5kg to 1.5kg/m3) • Annual harvest: 2 tonnes.

Tony buys fingerlings (40g) from Pemberton King Trout in April which are ready for harvesting (>300g) 5-8 months later (September to December). “During these winter months the fish more than quadruple their weight. Last year (October) we tried buying smaller fry, around 2-3cm (1-2g). The trial was not successful as the hot weather killed many of them. Next year we will try the fry again and stock them in a small pond and see how they go there. King Trout sell us 40 gm fry but we would prefer them to be 80g so that we have a 3-4 month grow out period.” The trout are grown in pontoons sourced from Steve Newbold at Manjimup. Each is 8m in diameter and 3m deep (a volume of about 150m3) with mesh netting over the top to keep out birds. The nets are 10mm (across the diamond) for the fish larger than 100g; a series of smaller mesh nets are used for the small fry.

Bouverie Cryovac packaged Saltwater Rainbow Trout. The package can weigh from 250g up to 400g have a shelf life of at least 3 months when kept refrigerated. Photo by Wendy Gee.

there so it looks like they’re fine with the water quality of the hill ponds. This is possibly a first in WA.” The hill ponds are surrounded in fine mesh bird netting held in place by a series of wires and posts. More than a tonne of marron is harvested for sale each year from these ponds and 14 other freshwater ponds. Gulley dams and pontoons Another gulley contains two spring-fed dams, one 20,000m3, the other 15,000m3. Floating cages (pontoons) were tried but, again, there were problems with clogging gills from iron and manganese precipitates. “After a major rain event (eg. >20mm in 24 hours),” explains Tony, “the salt water moving 12 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009

through the soil picks up and holds the iron and manganese ions. Also in spring time there can be huge Daphnia blooms which are great for use in feeding fry in the hatcheries, but having too many in the dams can cause problems with a loss of dissolved oxygen. “We are looking at pumping water out of these dams through a filtration or treatment system – to remove the manganese and iron – and then using the water in other dams and ponds.” A third, larger (30,000m3) dam was built at another hill spring which wasn’t suffering from iron or manganese precipitation. “This is very good water which we are also using for supplying our fish shed. We run a set of seven

Two groups of seven pontoons have been installed, each holding up to 500 fish for a total of 3,500 fish per set. Water close to the pontoons is aerated with paddlewheels and agitators to push water over to the other pontoons. A small outboard dingy is used to take feed to the pontoons. Skretting’s General Trout Diet is used. “We have pellets from 2mm up to 7mm and we think they are a good product,” Tony says. “They have changed their formulation with more lupin meals and less fish meal; we like that. We hand feed the small fish twice a day, and the larger ones just in the morning.” At harvest, the pontoon is brought close to shore and a rope crowds the fish into a small pocket so that hand nets can be used to transfer the fish. Generally just 20 minutes is required to catch the required 200-250 fish which are moved in a transport tank by tractor and trailer to the shed. Purging & growout tanks The 1,200m2 aquaculture shed has six 7,000L fibreglass tanks (4m diameter and 1.5m deep) to purge the trout,

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although sometimes the fish are ongrown for another 3-4 months. “The fibreglass tanks also have smoother floors than plastic tanks which makes getting rid of the uneaten food and fish faeces easier.” In each tank there is a 100mm screened outlet pipe in the middle with an external stand pipe to control the depth of the water. The effluent flows into a settling tank before recirculation via two biofilters. Three times a week the tanks are partially drained to flush any solids. The flush leaves the shed to settling ponds and on – via 300 metres of macrophytes beds in a gully – into a creek and then into the Hay River which flows out to the sea. “In the tanks we have aeration tubing around the bottom so with a 1/4HP air pump we are able to get a fine bubble in the water. However, we need to pull out and wash or shake the tubing every year or so to reduce clogging.”

“We have the ability to chill the tank water in summer (down to 16°C) should that be necessary. Over the years we discovered that there is a direct relationship between stocking rate, oxygen level and water temperature. In general we find that trout feed slowly once water temperatures reach 21ºC, and start dying over 24ºC if we don’t cool the water. “As we have only single phase power there is a lot of power load with the paddlewheels, chiller, icemaker and pumps. We have as a back up a 20KVW generator but over the next few years we would like to augment power supply system with wind and solar generated power up to 75% of our total

power requirements.” Tony says that the farm is now looking at changing the shed to increase the numbers of fish that can be held. “We want to increase production by 50%. In the tanks we might have 500 trout (each up to 400g) so we need to change the filtration system. Currently we have two plastic pellet biofilters and would try a bio-drum filter but they are a bit expensive. We will need it if we are to recycle more water and increase stocking densities. “We may be a bit overcapitalised but we have been proving what can be done and we are having a lot of fun doing it. I have been told a few times that ‘You can’t do that!’ I believe there is so such word as can’t and I push hard to get things working that others didn’t think could.” Final harvest Once the fish reach 400g, feeding is stopped for 1.5-2 days. Fish are captured in a hand net then spiked in the head to kill them. Two people can

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Weekly water quality monitoring is undertaken for salinity, dissolved oxygen and nitrite/nitrate. High water tem-

peratures (24-26°C) occur over two months during summer; in winter the water can be down as low as 7-8°C. Tony says that with a long period of acclimation (they were introduced to WA in the early 1900s), the ‘local’ rainbow trout have been able to survive at much higher temperatures than their eastern state and Tasmanian cousins.

Aquaculture/Tourism Operation

The Seahorse Sanctuary, in Kalbarri Western Australia, has been supplying captive-bred seahorses and other marine ornamentals to the pet industry for 10 years, and has a well-established and ever increasing customer base within Australia and overseas.

Cutting edge copepod culture technology is used to produce species that have never been cultured previously and provides considerable potential to bring new species into commercial production. The facility is a popular tourist attraction that offers self-guided tours, gift shop and interpretative information displays. The sale includes: • All aquaculture equipment • All livestock and gift shop stock • Copepod production technology • Export permits • Interpretative information including DVD and website • Hand-over training.

Considerable potential exists to grow the business in several areas. Species currently farmed can be viewed at www.seahorsesanctuary.com.au. Enquiries Dr Mic Payne on (08) 9937 1124 or email: kalseahorse@westnet.com.au

Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009 13

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spike 200 fish in 30 minutes and the fish are then put into an ice slurry before transfer into the processing room for gilling and gutting. Two people gillgut 200 fish in less than 2hr and then put them into clean ice for overnight storage. The fish are moved to Mt Barker (20km away) for hot smoking with jarrah and other local hardwoods. “We have a special recipe marinade in which we soak the fish overnight which gives the smoked fish a lovely colour, flavour, and it keeps them moist. “After cryo-packing the fish, the shelf life is fine for at least three months. We get the product tested every 12 months to keep an eye on quality.”

Some of the six finishing and purging tanks at Bouverie’s Fish Shed. Salt water from a spring is used and recirculated through biofilters and a settling tank. Photo by Brian Gee. Bouverie’s chilled delivery van which is used to deliver locally and, most importantly, for taking product to Farmers’ Markets in Perth 400kms away. Photo by Wendy Gee.

Tony says that 90% of sales are to local restaurants, supermarkets (IGA) and small stores in the Albany, Mt Barker and Demark areas. “We also sell at the farmer’s markets in Perth and Fremantle. Price is less of an issue at these markets as people are looking for a quality product and they know it is produced by the person selling it; this means we build up important relationships.” The fish are sold as Bouverie Saltwater Smoked Trout - the wholesale price for the smoked fish is $29/kg, $35/kg for retail. A cryo-packed whole fish (non smoked) product is also offered. In 2008/09, more than 1.5 tonnes of smoked fish and around 0.5 tonnes of whole fish were sold.

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The marron provides an additional income, plus Tony has established a highly diversified farm that includes a number of different product lines. “We also have 8ha of grapevines (some 40 years old); 1ha of olives, 80 avocado trees, 20 Tahitian limes, 30 oranges and lemons, 20ha of high value timber lots and 20 pecans to go in this year. This will give us a great variety of produce to sell at the farmer’s markets over the next few years.” By Dos O’Sullivan. For more information contact Tony and Allison Smith, Bouverie Trout and Marron, 518 Harvey Road, Denbarker WA 6324. Tel: 08 9857-6021 H, email: bouvrie@agn.net.au

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Carbon-positive farm’s ‘green’ barra harvest W

ith seemingly endless floods in Queensland and ‘end of the world’ firestorms in Victoria destroying homes and jobs, climate change has taken on a startling new meaning. It must be becoming frighteningly obvious to even the least environmentally aware in the community that we are going to have to change the way we go about our daily lives and producing our food.

Two people who have been mindful of this have put their money where their mouths are. At Daintree River Barramundi (DRB), Jane King and Mike Berwick have established a carbon positive farm producing timber, fruit and fish amongst one of the most beautiful stretches of tropical rainforest in Australia. Jane took up her 64ha farm in 1994. In her words: “It was mostly blady grass (Imperata cylindrica). The heat just bounced off it and the soil was very poor.” Cleaning it up took a lot of hard work but they slashed, ploughed and planted ... 14,000 trees in all (over 60 different species) with plantings for both timber production and biodiversity. Pioneer trees such as quandong (Aleaocarpis grandis) and local wattles were planted to fix nitrogen in the soil, to give the ground some structure and to shade it. Timber trees such as red cedar (Toona australis), silky oak (Cardwellia sublimis), Queensland maple (Flindersia brayleyana) and rose maple (Cryptocarya erythroxylon) were planted amongst them. From the first plantings in 1996 Mike is already harvesting timber for farm use. In addition, 500 mangosteens (Garcinia mangostana) were established in 1996 for their high value fruit. Mangosteens Mangosteens grow only in the very wet lowland tropics and take 12 years minimum to flower with productivity increasing until they reach full commer-

cial maturity after 20 years. The trees, under irrigation conditions, can flower twice a year. The winter flowering, spread over 30 days in June/July, produces a minor crop in November. The main flowering in November produces a crop in March. They need at least six weeks of dry to induce flowering and in some very wet years will miss a crop entirely or only one branch will fruit. The planting of the second 500 trees, to bring the orchard up to ‘stand alone’ economic viability, is underway. Expectations are for average 30kg per tree over 12 months from a planting of 200 trees per hectare. With current prices of up to $22/kg for prime fruit and $8/kg for seconds, the orchard is starting to pay its way. Last year was the farm’s first commercial crop. Picking in March and again in November, the trees yielded 2 tonne with the fruit averaging $12/kg. Just seven trees fully flowered for a picking in 2009, making this year a fizzer. Apart from the long wait until productive, the main fruiting in March means picking is usually carried out in torrential rain. Aquaculture The original property had a 1ha lake from which the trees were irrigated during dry spells. Mike came across a departmental report from WA on fish waste and worked out that a farm producing 10 tonne of fish annually could support 500 mangosteen trees from the nutrients in the waste water, the weed from the bio-remedial pond and from the sediment ‘harvested’ during pond maintenance. By those calculations, by feeding the fish they could feed the trees for nothing more than the labour and cost of pumping. This matched the farm’s founding philosophy; any carbon production from the activity would be more than counter balanced by the timber production and nutrient re-cycling. The farm would continue to be an expanding carbon bank.

Jane enjoys the fruits of the mature mangosteen orchard at DRB.

Hydrilla and Nitella harvested from the bio-remedial ponds adds nutrient and organic matter to the soil. Here it is being used to build up the taro ground.

So, in 1999, the pair went into barramundi. After using the lake to teach themselves how to keep the fish alive and get them to grow, they built two fish ponds (0.2ha & 0.3ha) and three bio-remedial ponds of 0.2ha and one of 0.1ha. Waste water is pumped from the bottom of the 1ha fish lake at night using the cheaper power rate and from there gravity fed down through alternating remedial and productivity ponds until it returns to the bottom lake. Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009 15

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Production cycle Production is straight forward. The 100mm fingerlings are purchased from Barramundi Gardens (AA 23-1) in September and are already on a 4mm pellet. They are grown out over the wet season in floating cages. The first phase of the growout is in 2m x 2m x 2m x 12mm mesh cages until they are ready for the larger 6m x 3m x 2m x 16mm mesh cages (stocked at 1,000/cage). Once the fish have reached 500g they are liberated in the ponds. A view of the blady grass covered property when Jane and Mike took it up in 1994.

Jane says an advantage of taking the advanced fingerlings after overwintering at Barramundi Gardens is that they know the fish are free of parasites. However, coming from what is in effect a sterile environment, the incoming fingerlings need to be closely monitored in the open environment of DRB. They are transported down in a salt bath, given a salt bath at day 3 and another at day 7. If they are still showing signs of stress they are given a further bath on day 14. Air stones help turn the water over in the cages as well as maintaining oxygen levels.

One of the 0.1ha channelled lotus ponds in full bloom.

Fouling is a problem. Sometimes the nets have to be cleaned once a fortnight; at other times once every couple of months. The benefits of the genetic selection coming through from the hatchery at Cardwell are noticeable. Fingerlings purchased last September already averaging 500gms at four months with shooters up to 1kg.

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Around 8,000 fry a year are purchased and while this may not seem like many, the farm turns off 10 tonne of barramundi annually. Jane is gradually lifting the intake as management prowess improves, believing that 15 tonne – 300kg/week - is a realistic target. “We run a mixed family farm and it is important to keep things to a manageable size. Until Mike or our son Joseph is home more the farm really cannot expand further,” she says. Production is maximised by targeting the larger size fish favoured by the market for filleting. While Austasia Aquaculture was visiting a pond was harvested of fish averaging 4kg with some weighing in at 5kg. These fish came onto the farm as

FA R M P R O F I L E

A proud producer – Jane with a box of mangosteens ready for market.

100mm fingerlings 22 months previously. Such outstanding results are achieved by a combination of water quality management, light stocking and introducing quality, advanced fingerlings. There are 7,500 fish growing out in the lake, which has its own natural bioremedial system. The fish are fed in floating cages that are actually disguised fish traps. When harvest time arrives, the cages are closed off whilst the the fish are happily feeding. When the fish become difficult to trap, the water is lowered and the remainder are netted. Feeding Ridleys floating barramundi grower pellets are the feed of choice. Due to the extensive nature of the operation, feed conversion efficiency is difficult to monitor. Judging by the volume of feed used, the quality of the water and the amount of fish harvested, Jane has no doubt that it is around industry best practice. “The natural environment sees a lot of wild tucker in the ponds from bony bream to rainbow fish. You can always hear a barra chomping and I’ve even seen a large barra take an insect eating bat!” she says.

Michael at the saw bench. Tropical timber will make a major contribution to the productivity on the farm.

up on Monday but also by eating extra on Friday! We also have to work at least three feeding station/traps because if the same trap is set off weekly no fish will go in after just two trappings and it takes a month for them to forget!” Bio-remediation The cornerstone of water quality management has been bio-remediation (AA 22-4). Jane says that they have been able to lift the feed input from two bags a day to four while at the same time lifting the quality of the pond water, representing a doubling of production for no effort or expenditure other than the

construction of bio-remediation ponds. These are channelled using weedmat curtains suspended from wire 150mm above the water surface and anchored to the bottom by a full length of chain. This ensures wastewater stays in the remediation pond long enough to be stripped of nutrients. The ponds themselves are self-sufficient. Each fish pond has its own dedicated remedial pond planted with native lotus and water weeds including Hydrilla – an aquatic plant - and Nitella – a filamentous algae. Unlike other lilies, lotus leaves grow

She reckons the fish also have an instinctive intelligence. “We don’t feed on the weekend. Our data shows they compensate for this, not just by catching Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009 17

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above the surface allowing oxygen exchange at the surface as well as shading the ponds and preventing excessive phytoplankton blooms. The many barbs on their stems catch the sediment suspended in the water column. They utilize the nutrients from the sediment and the plant’s stolons [runners] actually oxygenate the substrate. Because bluegreen algae can fix its own nitrogen, it tends to thrive in a phosphorous rich, nitrogen poor environment. By fixing oxygenating the substrate, lotuses help hold phosphorous in the sediment and greatly reduce the likelihood of a blue green algae bloom. Also, any dieback that does occur is broken down in an aerobic environment. With 0.3 hectare of lotus well established it is now viable to look for a market for the flowers and pods. “Every part of the lotus is usable; we just have to gain the knowledge as to how best to put it on the market”, she says. The aquatic plants are the second line of bio-remediation, stripping the nutrients in solution. Once the biomass has built up, the plants, with their stored load of nutrients are harvested and used to build up the organic content and nutrient value of the agricultural ground on the farm. This completes the nutrient cycle. Water quality is enhanced, productivity increased, soil structure and carbon storage improved and the only thing to leave the farm is the production from the fish ponds and agriculture.

From the top: Like any good aquaculture operation, DRB is a belts and braces operation. Shown here, with its engineer, is the 22kw back up generator. Note the battery charger ensuring there is no problem with the start up should the power go down. One of the 0.2ha production ponds that are part of the bio-remedial system which has enabled the farm to double production. Note the fingerling cages and the larger cages for the juvenile fish. You have to spend carbon to make carbon. Jane checks the electrical control panel that ensures the farm runs smoothly and safely.

In addition, the lotus and holdfasts of the aquatic plants plus the weedmat curtains – that slow and direct the flow of water – become encrusted with freshwater sponges, also very efficient filter feeders. The aquatic plants require careful monitoring – especially the Nitella. It is such a vigorous grower that it can collapse, just like a phytoplankton bloom. It has to be harvested before it dies and sinks to the bottom of the pond. The upside is that after the pond is harvested the macroalgae quickly regenerates. Only one pond is harvested at a time to ensure bio-remediation doesn’t falter. The lotuses are perennial; however,

18 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009

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when they are semi dormant in the winter, the sludge is removed from the pond bottom in readiness for the next season’s production. Feeding rates are reduced in the winter so the bio-remediation system remains in harmony with the production system. Direct carbon outputs from pumping the water up to the header dam and running the blower are more than taken up by the > 10 ha of timber grown on the farm based on a carbon up-take-rate of 3m3/ha/year of carbon. Moving the water also helps oxygenate the whole system with water tumbling from pond to pond over rocky raceways: truly a carbon positive situation.

Stocking is light by modern standards. Presently there are 14 tonnes of 2kg fish in the 1ha dam and one tonne in two of the 0.2 ha ponds with 0.7ha of ponds as bio-remediation. Harvesting of the 2kg+ fish has started at the rate of 300kg per week and will continue for the next year by which time harvesting will start in the 0.2ha ponds. Fish are harvested to maintain the biomass levels in harmony with the bio-remediation capacity of the system. Low stress levels reduce the pressure on the fish and the management. This is reflected in the overall health of the fish and the growth rates they consistently achieve at DRB. The other advantage of light stocking is the leeway it provides. Jane says if prices are down you can let the fish grow bigger until the market picks up.

The main dam at the bottom of the reticulated system showing some of the feeding/trapping pens for the barramundi.

Aeration Aeration in the lake is by three 1hp paddlewheels. A centrally-placed roots type PDA blower delivers vertical water movement as well as oxygenation to all the ponds. The roots blower is a highly efficient and relatively inexpensive system delivering 100m3/hr of air to a depth of 2m through a series of 20cm diameter air stones that.

volume variable pressure machine. It doesn’t compress internally. With each revolution of the impellors four pulses of a measured quantity of gas are delivered around the internal periphery of the blower case to the discharging opening. The pressure against which the blower will discharge is dependent entirely upon the restriction it meets in the system and will vary as the restriction varies.”

Brushing up from the manual, Jane reads that roots type blowers are rotary positive displacement air boosters which, unlike a side blower, are capable of delivering air to considerable depths. “It is a constant

These systems are employed in sewerage treatment plants and Jane has found they can drive water down to greater depths more efficiently than conventional blowers.

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At any time water can be removed from the bottom of the fish pond to irrigate the fruit trees or the taro (a tropical tuber that loves water). “Since moving to a fully closed recycling system, water is rarely pumped from the creek,” Jane continues. “For seven to nine months of the year it falls from the sky and during the dry we let the big dam - which is 4m deep - drop so that it catches the summer storms. We only discharge in the real wet and usually for only a few weeks of the year during flood events when the bottom dam overflows. To meet our EPA requirements the overflow is tested independently at background , discharge and impacted sites 500m downstream.”

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Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009 19

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Since installing the central blower they have had no problems with oxygen levels. The air is delivered to each pond through 100mm buried polypipe and reticulated around individual dams via a 50mm main line with 12mm branch lines delivering air to discs suspended 1.5m below the 50mm floating delivery line.

With an annual rainfall of 3m, an all terrain vehicle is essential.

Mike has recently experimented with directional air lifts using aquablades (also used in sewage plants) which seem to work as well as paddlewheels for horizontal water movement. The big advantage over paddle wheels is that it is maintenance free and it removes the

problem of electric power leads in water. Mike was electrocuted a few years ago working on the farm and revived by Jane. They have all the electrics now centrally placed beside the blower and the backup generator with cut off switches to everything.

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Marketing Marketing at Daintree Barramundi is in keeping with the practical and cost effective character of the whole operation. They sell locally into Cairns through one agent, who recognizes the quality of the 3kg to 5kg fish Jane and Mike turn off. “Up North the restaurants want fat fillets. You go down South and you get skinny fillets. You can only get fat fillets from big fish. I take the fish into Cairns in an ice slurry. Our agent weighs out the fish while I’m there and everyone knows where they stand. We get $10/kg for our big fish. It works well,” she says. “We’re always asked about value adding. How many hours are there in a day? Apart from that, are you getting paid for value adding or are you getting paid to grow fish? All farmers ask for is a fair price for their fish. “At present I only have 2kg fish to sell and with the tourism downturn I’m again using Sydney Fish Market. If you are consistent with supply and send a good product then I’ve always found Sydney good. It has its ups and downs but it averages out OK.” At Daintree River Barramundi, Jane and Mike have established a farm that demonstrates food can be produced recycling nutrients and minimizing direct carbon output in such a way to make a given area a carbon storage while at the same time producing nutritious food. If we’re going to survive climate change this farm provides a model for the future. By John Mosig Jane & Mike can be contacted by phone on (07) 4098 6148, or by email on daintreebarra@ledanet.com.au

20 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009

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Clyde River oyster farmers use variety of culture types

A new intertidal rack made from PPV plastic coated posts and rails. Photo by Ralston Bros Oysters.

More than ever before oyster farmers have a large choice in the types of culture units they utilise. Clyde River oyster farmers Ben and John Ralston are moving away from stick culture and using different sorts of plastic baskets and trays for their Sydney Rock Oysters. They also have collecting, subtidal and intertidal leases spread along the river to take advantage of the different localised water conditions.

en and John Ralston are proud of their oyster farming heritage. “We are 5th generation oystermen,” says Ben. “Our family started farming rocks (Sydney Rock Oysters, Saccostrea commercialis) almost 100 years ago at Port Stephens. Our great grand father moved to the Clyde River so we have been here for four generations. The Clyde River has the cleanest water quality of any of the eastern rivers (of NSW) so that gives us a great marketing tool.” The two brothers took over their father’s business in 2000 and have been working hard to lift production. Of their 9ha of leases on the Clyde River, most are intertidal although there’s also 2ha of subtidal lease in deep water. The leases are up to 30 minutes travelling time

from their depot on Budd Island. The largest of their three work boats is a 40’ wooden barge which has a 40HP Yamaha engine; the other two are two aluminium boats – the larger one is 20’ long and is driven by a 60HP 4-stroke engines, whilst the smaller one has a normal 30HP Yamaha. Ben says they catch all their our own oysters. “We have a new 1ha catching lease at Port Macquarie on which we use bundles of plastic slats (usually 2m long and 5-6cm wide). We put these out in late February to get the end of the spatfall which finishes in March. By July or August they have reached finger nail size and we can transfer them to the Clyde River.” In a similar way to their forebears, the

Ralstons also use sticks to catch spat in the Clyde. “We have frames each with 10-12 sticks in bundles of four which are placed on the collecting racks in the first week of February. Usually they are ready to move out in October. First we put them in bundles of two, then the following winter we nail them out as single frames.” Ben says that these stick oysters stay on the leases for about 2.5-3 years before being harvested. The oysters are knocked off the sticks, and then culled – this is where the joined oysters are split apart and graded into different sizes before being returned on trays for growout to market size. Depending on the grade this could take a few months of ‘finishing’ or up to one year for the smaller oysters. Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009 21

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Ben (left) and John Ralston with a lovely crop of 3-year old rocks on a frame of sticks. Photo by Ralston Bros Oysters.

they can keep feeding. “During the 2-3 months the oysters get circular shape as they grow,” Ben continues. “We then put the oysters into 8mm Tooltech Aquatrays. It is important to ensure you don’t put too many into the 1m by 1m trays as you won’t get good growth or shape with overstocking. We have a single layer with the oysters almost touching each other. You can’t have them too congested.”

John (left) and Ben Ralston in front of their double barrel oyster grade which can quickly sort oysters into one of 5 grades. Note the other set of barrels for larger oysters. Photo by Ralston Bros Oysters.

Single seed on rafts “The main thing we are doing differently is with single seed. At present around 60% of our oysters are this type; the rest are on sticks. The seed seem to grow faster than the stick oysters and the product is a better shape at the end of the culture period. We have increased our production and we will be doing more and more single seed oysters from now on.” 22 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009

The single seed are produced by flexing the vinyl slats from Port Macquarie. The small oysters fall off and are collected in bins as individuals before being graded in double barrelled rolling graders. Around 2L of this seed is transferred into Stanway cylinders or tumblers. These are held between racks on a stick and move up and down with the water movement which slowly shapes the oysters, keeping all of them in the water so

The trays are held on one of four floating rafts for 2-3 months of subtidal culture. The rafts are 2.5m wide and 10m long and have 24 x 200L blue plastic barrels as floats. A hardwood frame is made with galvanised bolts to hold the floats; cross bars are used to hook on stacks of eight trays. Up to 12 stacks can be held, giving a total capacity of 96 trays. The rafts are moored at each end via 25mm thick ropes shackled to 2m lengths of thick galvanised chain. These in turn are attached to 1 tonne concrete weights. The rafts are aligned along the main water current direction. The AquaTrays are designed so that

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ropes can be inserted in each of the corners of the trays, with small lengths of pipe to hold the trays apart for water flow. The ropes are collected together by a galvanised steel hook for suspension beneath the raft.

A beautiful day on the Clyde River return sticks from upriver to the shed. Photo by Ralston Bros Oysters.

Every four weeks the trays are pulled up and kept out of the water for five days to harden the oysters and burn off any fouling on oysters or trays. After two months they are run through the grader before being restocked in clean trays. Following the AquaTray cycle the young oysters are transferred into 2m by 1m timber framed trays for the nursery stage of the production cycle. “We call these ‘trig trays’ and they have 18 sections in each to separate the oysters so they can grow well. The mesh bottom is 8mm and another mesh lid is stapled on top to prevent predation by fish. After around three months, the trays are taken ashore and the oysters graded before being restocked into clean trays. “We hold them in the up-river leases (lower salinity) over winter to get the best growth and survival.” By spring the oysters have reached an average size of 20mm and are ready for transfer to the (higher salinity) intertidal ongrowing leases closer to the river mouth. Plastic coated wood “In the past we have used turpentine wood for the posts and rails on these racks,” Ben says. “But, given the prevalance of boring worms (Teredos), the wood has to be replaced in about 5-10 years. Then we heard about this new product PPV (Plastic Pole Vault) which has plastic coated wooden posts and rails. Our racks are about 1.2m apart and the posts along them are also 1.2m apart. We don’t have the high boat wash that is experienced in other rivers, so we don’t need to have cross slats between the rails.” According to Ben the PPV product is very easy to use. “You can saw them and there are end caps which can be nailed over the new exposed wood to protect against borers. They are easy to nail together; we use 65mm long stainless nails which can be hammered in directly without any pre-drilling. They are sturdy enough to

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FA R M P R O F I L E

Ben Ralston picking up a SEPA basket on one of their adjustable height BST lines. Photo by Ralston Bros Oysters.

PPV Plastic Coated Timber Products The Plastic Pole Vault (PPV) post, originally designed for vineyards as a chemical-free alternative to creosote or other types of chemically treated posts, is relatively new to aquaculture. Oyster farmers have found that the posts and other PPV products are well suited to oyster lease structures, particularly where marine borers are prevalent. The products have the properties of timber (i.e. strong and rigid, easy to knock into the ground, can be nailed, bolted or stapled) combined with the protection of polyethylene (plastic). According to David Macdonald, Manager of PPV, the products have a life expectancy longer than the traditional structures used. “To date we have installed product at about 20 locations particularly on the Clyde River, Wallis Lake, Cowell and Coffin Bay.”

easily be driven into the mud and they don’t rot. Whilst they are too new to be proven, we estimate we will get 25 years use out of them, so the extra cost is compensated by longer life, lower maintenance and repairs.” John Ralston with a tray of oysters ready for grading and bagging for market. Photo by Ralston Bros Oysters.

The Ralston brothers use 2m by 1m wooden trays on these intertidal racks. “We are replacing them with plastic trays and also have recently purchased 1,000 SEAPA baskets which we have put on BST longlines. We are using these baskets for our juvenile oysters (less than 1 year old) instead of the tumblers. They are easier to use and give the oysters a better shape, which in turn means better prices as presentation is everything!” Ben says they’ve had few problems with theft, although predation by stingrays was problem. “We need to lay a 2.5cm square thick mesh over the trays to protect them. “We don’t have any losses from QX, although there can be some winter mortality, especially in a dry season. We

24 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009

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can lose mainly larger individuals; downstream near the river mouth can be the worst for these losses.” Direct harvest As the Clyde River has very good water quality, Ben says it has been many months since the river was closed to harvesting oysters for human consumption. “We can usually direct harvest out oysters which are closest to the oceanic waters. “We sell in green plastic bags of around 100 dozen in the three main categories Bottlers (<32g), Bistro (40-45g) and Plate size (>50g). The larger oysters can take longer than 3.5 years; however, with the single seed we are finding that the oysters are growing faster to saleable size.”

Management metrics Key Management Decisions for Ralston Bros Oysters include: • Move to plastic trays, baskets and other culture units, also plastic coated posts and rails will last longer than turpentine wood. • Focus on supplying only two customers – give them exactly what they want! • Clean up of rocks and other culture debris to provide cleaner water under the racks. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) include: • Culture System utilised: sticks, SEPA baskets on BST longlines, wooden & plastic trays, intertidal and subtidal culture. • Growth rate (from stocking to market): <36 months. • Survival rate: 80-90% from first stocking to sale size.

Ben (front) and John Ralston using metal hooks to pick up a tray of oysters. Photo by Ralston Bros Oysters.

Oysters are all shipped to Sydney all year round to a customer at the Sydney Fish Market; the remainder go to another retailer in Roseland. We ship on Wednesdays and Sunday evenings and the oysters reach their destination on the best day. “At the moment the oysters are sold with others as ‘Clyde River Oysters’ which does pretty good. We are looking at having our own brand and label.” He says that a further expansion is on the cards and a third brother, Willie, might start soon. “We are also examining the potential for export of oysters. They have a unique taste and by experimenting with the finishing process – such as use of the baskets to determine shape and cupping of the oysters – we might also be able to find the best taste.” By Dos O’Sullivan. For more information contact Ben Ralston, Ralston Bros Oysters, PO Box 591, Batemans Bay NSW 2536. Mob: 0412 286-654, email: ben.ralston@bigpond.com For more info on PPV Plastic Coated Timber Products contact David on 0418 322953 or www.plasticpolevault.com.au

Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009 25

FA R M P R O F I L E

Aquaculture Driving Growth at

SYDNEY FISH MARKET

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food producing industry in

In the past twelve months, SFM have diversified its offering

the world. At Sydney Fish Market (SFM), aquaculture products

to consumers, with aquaculture playing a key role in this

account for over 15% of total product traded annually in terms

expansion. Following more than two years of research and

of value. This figure has risen sharply in a relatively short amount

product development, SFM launched its Market Pride® range

of time, with SFM’s aquaculture sales representing a mere 2%

of premium value-added seafood products in August 2008.

of gross value only 7 years ago. Species such as Barramundi, Black Tiger Prawn, Blue Mussel

Featuring 100% Australian seafood, Market Pride® has been developed to make cooking and enjoying quality local seafood

and Silver Perch are all regularly sold via SFM’s famous ‘Dutch

easier for consumers. The range currently utilises farmed

Auction’. Another potential vehicle for driving sales of aquaculture

species, including Banana Prawn, Blue Mussel and Atlantic

product is through SFMlive, the Company’s internet trading

Salmon in several of its products. Consistency in quality,

system for seafood. SFMlive provides the flexibility for registered

supply, quantity and price that producers of these species can

users to trade outside of the auction system, with SFM acting

offer was of key importance when ingredients for the Market

as a broker and facilitating logistics and payment. Yellowtail

Pride range were selected.

Kingfish, Mulloway, Black Tiger Prawn and Blue Mussel are commonly sold through SFMlive.

SFM offers the potential for increased sales of aquaculture products, with its daily wholesale auction recently undergoing

According to SFM’s Supply Manager, Gus Dannoun aquaculture

changes to allow fixed price sales of frozen, processed or value-

is a key factor in SFM’s ability to provide Sydney’s finest seafood

added aquaculture product.

retail outlets, distributors and restaurants with Australia’s freshest seafood in the required quantities.

Usually an auction process where price is market driven, the wholesale price of these products can now be fixed allowing

“Aquaculture provides us with consistency in supply, quantity and price across an increasing number of species” said Gus.

suppliers to obtain a set price for their offerings. This is a new initiative by SFM and will offer potential aquaculture suppliers

“With growing pressure on wild stock limiting the availability of

even greater flexibility in selling frozen, processed or value-

wild-caught seafood product, SFM is relying on farmed

added product through an auction system already considered

seafood to supply its Buyers more now than ever before.”

one of the world’s most innovative.

For further information, contact Gus Dannoun, Supply Manager on 02 9004 1104 or email gusd@sydneyfishmarket.com.au

26 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009

FA R M P R O F I L E

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Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009 27

FA R M P R O F I L E

Pesticides hatching

a disaster for Sunland ‘s fry

wen Gilson is a pioneer of Australian aquaculture. Fired up by the success of the release of 50 x 35mm silver perch fry in the water supply reservoir for her gladioli farm in 1978, she and husband John decided to try their hand at fish farming. Situated in the Noosa River catchment, it was an ideal place to produce Australian warmwater native species. When they sought a supply of fingerlings to grow out to table fish they discovered that there wasn’t regular source for seedstock so they decided to fill that market niche, establishing Sunland Fish Hatchery in 1981. In 1984 they bought a second site only 15km from the Gilson Round property. Silver and perch (Bidyanus bidyanus & Macquaria ambigua) and Mary River cod (Maccullochella peelii mariensis) were being produced on a regular basis. However, they felt the farm’s resources weren’t being fully utilised. The perch are spring and early summer breeders so they turned to a winter breeder: Australian bass (Macquaria novemaculeata). Gwen’s natural husbandry talent was established when, in 1986, Sunland became the first hatchery in Australia to breed bass. 28 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009

Broodstock were selected from the Noosa River lakes’ system with the help of the local professional fishing community. Gwen is very appreciative of the help given her by Steve Battaglene, who was stationed down at the NSW DPI Brackish Water Research Station at Port Stephens at the time. “Steve asked about controlling humidity in the hatchery. I said: ‘This is Queensland. My hatchery is just an open shed’. He replied that he was working in a million dollar hatchery set up with trained scientists and they couldn’t breed Australian bass. ‘Maybe they are not Australian bass?’” So, at Steve’s suggestion, Gwen contacted John Bourke who was at Queensland’s Southern Fisheries Research Centre at Deception Bay. He was on the doorstep the next morning to check out the broodstock and fry. There was no argument. They were Australian bass alright. Bass are a prized sport and eating fish and coupled with the Queensland government’s water impoundment stocking program, Gwen’s early work has gone on to help support a million dollar sports angling niche.

Sea mullet The pioneering work continued and in 2004 she was the first private hatchery in Australia to spawn sea mullet (Mugil cephalus). Gwen pays tribute to the local commercial fishing community who allowed her to pick and chose the broodstock – both bass and mullet - she wanted to take back to the hatchery. Gwen feels that without the numbers of fish to work with she wouldn’t have had the success she did. Originally they were successful with three out of ten females. After fine tuning her protocols she lifted the success rate to 70%. They were also producing Mary River cod (MRC) at Sunland until the species was declared endangered and MRC were removed from her license. It has now been reinstated and she is allowed to breed for the aquarium trade and for food fish. She tried an experiment. She had loaned three broodstock to the community hatchery on Lake McDonald and borrowed back a male. She successfully conditioned and spawned a pair indoors. It took just five days! She is making sure she reproduces the method reliably

FA R M P R O F I L E

before she makes the information available to the Queensland Fisheries Research Centre at Bribie Island.

Part of the on-going research at Sunland: a mangrove jack broodstock.

The farm consists of nine ponds ranging from 0.25ha to 0.5ha bottom draining ponds, each connected to the main water delivery line by a 210mm branch line. Incoming water is screened down to 500µm and the outlets are also screened. There are four 5,000L and five 1,000L tanks in the hatchery and four x 1,000L concrete biological filtering tanks. The bass spawning and feeding in the 5,000L growout tanks have a 600L biofilter to remove ammonia. Water is re-cycled through the reservoir where bio-remediation takes place. This, along with the open airy nature of the hillside slope that picks up the ocean breezes from the South Pacific, provides sufficient aeration for the plankton and lightly stocked brood ponds. The filtering tanks hold redclaw crayfish and mullet, both detritus feeders. Once any impurities have been removed, the water is filtered to 500µm and re-cycled through the hatchery. The average rainfall in the region is 2.25m and, with a 3.3ha (50ML) reservoir – fed by 600ha of mostly forested catchment – Gwen says: “Once the ground is wet it only takes 2” (50mm) to fill the dam from empty to full overnight”. Until recently, water has never been a problem at the Gilsons Road property. Rising deformities Gwen runs the farm without chemicals and is very conscious of their possible impact on the environment. Over the last four years she has been deeply concerned by the quality of the embryos and larvae she is spawning in her hatchery. Deformities, convulsions and two headed embryos became a common occurrence. So have fish kills in her broodstock ponds. It wasn’t confined just to her fish. Terrestrial animals were also sickening and dieing. And not just on her place. Her neighbours were suffering similar events. One neighbour gave up keeping poultry because of the deformities in hatched chickens, deaths of goldfish and spontaneous abortion

Air blowers on the bench at Sunland waiting for their annual overhaul.

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was observed in livestock. These events were associated with spraying on the macadamia farm. The Sunland Gilsons Road property is surrounded on three sides by macadamia orchards. About four years ago the nut farmer bought a new spraying rig. He proudly boasted that the new rig gave them a 95% coverage. Gwen noticed that the spray plume was much larger and higher than the trees. It was around this time she encountered the problems in the hatchery and the sickening of her animals. The macadamia farmer was equally concerned and made several attempts to work in with Gwen’s breeding timetable, including covering her ponds with tarpaulins, but unfortunately to no avail. The problem persisted. He has since leased the farm to someone else and despite running smudge fires to determine wind drift on spraying days, the fluky winds still saw spray drift coming across Sunland. It got to the point where relations between the nut farmer and the fish farmer, both pursuing their livelihoods, became strained. In some instances the fish and animals reacted favorably to doses of Atropine administered by the local vet – Atropine is an antidote for organophosphate poisoning.

From the top: In memory of four victims of the events suspected of being associated with agricultural chemical spray drift at Sunland. Gwen feeding some bass fingerlings spawned by using broodstock from another catchment other than the Noosa Lakes system. Shooting down the single eye piece of this microscope, Gwen has compiled a mountain of photographic evidence.

Macadamia pesticides Macadamia orchardists in the region are faced with two major pests: the Macadamia flower caterpillar (Homoeosoma vagella ) and the fruit-spotting bug (Amblypelta nitida, A. lutescens). The flower caterpillar bug lays its eggs in the flower. The caterpillars feed on the florets for about three weeks before pupating. This stage lasts 10 days before the cycle recommences. The fruit-spotting bug feeds by puncturing the young nuts and sucking nutrient from the kernel; damage that is not detected until the nuts are processed. A few insects can cause considerable damage and there is only a biological control available (trigramma wasp) for the nut borer, nothing for the fruit spotting bug. To counter the pests the macadamia industry relies on the widely used endosulphan – an organochlorine insecticide

30 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009

– and the organophosphate Supracide EC 400, Bulldock, a synthetic pyrethoid and carbendazim, which is technically a fungicide but is used to suppress earth worms (lumbricide) by green keepers on golf courses. More than 50 countries have banned endosulfan including New Zealand and carbendazim is on the European Commission list of priority chemicals suspected of hormone activity. Benomyl, the parent compound to carbendazim, was removed from registration in the USA in 2001 due to concerns over reproductive effects in humans. Both chemicals are widely used in Australia. Despite Gwen’s best efforts to highlight the problem, the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DPIF) and Queensland Health took more than two years to collect any samples. And when they did, no traces of the pesticides used were found in samples taken from water tanks, dams and the Noosa Lakes system. So further investigation was not considered necessary. Gwen was devastated, reckoning that waiting up to 14 months to measure chemicals that breakdown within days of spraying, wasn’t very helpful. So she enlisted the services of Dr. Matt Landos, formerly NSW DPI’s Veterinary Officer in Aquatic Animal Health (20002005) at the Regional Veterinary Laboratory, Wollongbar. Matt felt that, in light of the compelling evidence of impacts on fish larvae, the Australian Pesticide & Veterinary Medicine Authority (APVMA) should urgently review the safety of these chemicals for use. He notified them, the EPA and DPI&F and set about combining Gwen’s thorough recording and his veterinary knowledge to form a case that couldn’t be ignored. After cross examining the accumulated evidence with the results from tests performed on fish samples, a press statement was issued. The response was instantaneous. Television crews and print media reporters have taken up the Sunland story and exposure has been national. At one time Gwen says, they were queued up at the gate waiting patiently their turn to do

FA R M P R O F I L E

an interview. In fact the story has gone beyond the Fatal Shore. The picture of Twin E, the two headed embryo, has been flashed around the globe with accompanying text. Government re-action The reaction from George Street was swift. On the 12th of January 2009 Fisheries Minister, Tim Mulherin declared: ‘The Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI&F) is conducting an ongoing investigation into reports of fish deaths at a Sunshine Coast hatchery, which adjoins a macadamia farm. ‘The initial investigation, which began a couple of years ago, was discontinued because no breaches of chemical use could be identified, and there was a lack of evidence to support further actions.

Dr. Jim Thompson ® and Dr. Ron Glanville inspect some of the photographic evidence Gwen has accumulated while Gwen’s colleague Bernie Gevers looks on.

‘Testing has involved samples taken from water, fish, fish eggs, chickens and horses. ‘To date, investigations have found no evidence that chemicals used on the adjoining macadamia property have been used contrary to the label instructions, and they have also excluded the presence of infectious diseases.”

Dr. Ron Glanville (L) and Dr. Jim Thompson inspecting the layout at Sunland with Gwen.

“There is no risk of any contaminated fish entering the food chain as this hatchery only supplies fingerlings, which are grown out elsewhere.” The Minister’s assurance didn’t convince Southeast Queensland Water (SQW). “Re-stocking groups have cancelled orders for Australian bass fingerlings from Sunland, stating their inability to get a stocking permits from the controlling Board, as the reason,” Gwen says. “This is despite the fact that I’ve has sourced broodstock and operated the hatchery with water hauled from outside the Noosa River catchment”. There also appears to be a certain amount of bureaucratic confusion between agencies on the seriousness of the matter. In a January 28th article in the Sydney Morning Herald, the Minister is quoted as saying: ‘Deaths, deformities and abnormalities in fish have been discovered at the Noosa River Sunland Freshwater Fish Hatchery, causing fears that whatever was causing the fish

To keep her hatchery going, Gwen has had to import water for her hatchery using this 1,650L transporter tank.

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problems could be behind five recent human cancer cases in the area.” However, in the same article, a Queensland Health spokeswoman was quoted as saying, “claims of a cancer cluster were not yet being investigated as no information had been provided to authorities”.

One of the ponds at Sunland. Note the single line of tallowwoods that is the only ‘buffer’ between the two properties.

The wind sock on the boundary between the nut farm and the fish farm.

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32 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009

The taskforce A taskforce has been convened including DPIF experts from the fields of biosecurity and fisheries, the EPA, Queensland Health, Sunshine Coast Regional Council, Australian Macadamia Association, Aquaculture Association of Queensland and private veterinary representatives (including Matt Landos) and an independent leading ecotoxicologist, Associate Professor Heather Chapman from Griffith University. Professor Chapman’s research expertise includes eco-toxicology and a range of water quality management credentials. She is currently Associate Professor and Program Leader for Health and Environment, Smart Water Research Facility, Griffith University. The final report could take up to 12 months to complete. Bio Security Queensland’s Ron Glanville, a member of the taskforce, points out that these are not easy issues to investigate. “I’m certainly comfortable that some very unusual event has happened here. What has happened in the past has happened in the past. The clear message is that we now have the taskforce (in place) and have a comprehensive investigation program underway,” he says. “We are now in a position to have people on the spot the next time anything happens. The most difficult thing in cases like this is to get a cause and effect.” Three separate syndromes are under investigation: embryonic mutations (two-headed bass); atropine responsive neurological convulsions (suggestive of organophosphate toxicosis); and acute mass mortality in the ponds. Matt considers chemicals to be the most likely of all possible causes responsible for all three syndromes, based on the evidence available. He is pleased to see that the DPIF will finally be applying some resources to fully investigate this problem and reach a definitive diagnosis.

FA R M P R O F I L E

Frustration However Gwen remains concerned about the apparent effort to reassure all that everything is normal and tests are being carried out ‘just in case’. Gwen is not the only one with reservations. Matt Landos, who sits on the taskforce, is frustrated by inactivity by some of the agencies involved. “Whilst the efforts of the veterinary investigation team have made sterling progress, the same cannot be said of the DPIF chemical use division. “Queensland’s Minister for Agriculture Tim Mulherin rightly called for an ‘open and transparent’ taskforce but this is yet to translate into a single document from the chemical regulatory division being tabled. The failure to table the spray log records from the macadamia farm is particularly frustrating the scientific assessment of which chemicals may be to blame for the mutations, neurological convulsions and mass mortalities.”

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Matt’s concerns for local residents and the wider environment has forged new international alliances. He will be speaking at a forthcoming conference at Royal Hobart Hospital with the University of California’s Professor Tyrone Hayes on what these toxic impacts on animals may mean for human health and reproduction.

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He says: “The dismissive attitude of the regulators to the potent evidence linking pesticide use to the mutation and death of fish belies the importance of these findings to public and environmental health. It is high time a precautionary approach was adopted by Government to risk assessment of these chemicals, integrating what we have learned from field veterinary and biological observations.” In a television interview with Queensland’s Channel Seven, Dr Ben Diggles of Digsfish Pathology Services expressed concern that this may be just the tip of the iceberg. “We don’t know how big the problem is. A lot of these pesticides cause problems below the limits of detection in the lab.” In fact, overseas researchers are using the sensitivity of day old fish embryos to detect the pres-

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Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009 33

FA R M P R O F I L E

ing to APVMA, currently scientific evidence suggests that endosulfan registrations remain appropriate given the controls that are in place. However, they will consider any outcome of the investigations underway.

Above: The recycling tanks used to clean up the water before it is returned to the hatchery.

Left: Some of the 1,500L spawning tanks at the Gilsons Road Hatchery.

ence of a range of harmful chemicals below the monitoring capacity of testing apparatus. APVMA concerns On the 13th January, the APVMA’s Manager of Public Affairs Dr Simon Cubit noted it had become an issue of concern to the Authority. “In addition to investigations being conducted by Queensland state authorities and the local council, the APVMA has asked the Commonwealth Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts to provide advice. These investigations will be crucial in understanding what

happened (at Sunland Fish Hatchery). “Evidence that chemicals used according to label instructions led to adverse environmental impacts would give cause for the APVMA to reconsider appropriate regulatory measures. Chemicals used contrary to label instructions, on the other hand, would be an issue for state authorities,” he said. The registration status of carbendazim is already currently under review by the APVMA because of concerns it could cause reproductive and developmental abnormalities in humans and experimental animals and the Authority has recently reviewed Endosulfan. Accord-

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Alternate farming methods Matt has suggested the macadamia industry follow the lead of a prominent Northern NSW nut grower, Rex Harris in reducing reliance on sprays, and controlling run-off of water and soil. Only through industry-wide shifts will the subtle toxic impacts, which are likely occurring in public waterways, be addressed. Community and Government support is needed to assist farmers in this adjustment to plant buffer strips and remodel their land to control run-off. One thing has been clearly established – Sunland’s experiences are real and very disturbing. However, as frustrating and economically harmful as it is for those directly impacted by the uncertainty of the situation, everything hinges on the actions of the taskforce. The rigour of the scientific analysis together with further investigations the taskforce should initiate when the bass breeding season recommences in July/August will shape the outcome. By John Mosig *a video of the Sunland situation can be found on http://au.youtube.com/ watch?v=UXAb0nzKDeI Gwen Gilson can be reached by phone on (07) 5485 3144, or by email at: sunland1@westnet.com.au. Dr Matt Landos can be contacted by phone on (0437) 492 863, or by email at matty.landos@gmail.com

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W.A. prawn aquaculture stymied Despite claims of great potential, there is no commercial prawn farming currently underway in W.A. One operation in Derby has produced a couple of crops with encouraging results. However a multitude of problems have meant the operation has been mothballed.

ccording to Derby-based prawn farmer Ian Crimp, government statistics show that over 80% all aquaculture leases in WA are in the quaintlynamed “care and maintenance” category. His is one.

Yet it started out so promisingly when, after years of applications and lobbying, he was awarded a prawn farming licence for a 2,000ha property bordering on the King Sound in 2002. Initially Kimberley Prawn Company’s (KPC) licence was to farm Black Tiger (Penaeus monodon) prawns, Brine Shrimp (Artemia spp, Parartemia spp), Edible Oysters (Saccostrea spp) and Saucer Scallop (Amusium balloti) although Brown Tigers (Penaeus esculentus) and Banana prawns (Fenneropenaeus merguiensis) were later added to increase culture species options. KPC’s prospects were strengthened with the establishment of a joint venture in 2003 formed with the Kimberley Aquaculture Aboriginal Corporation, the WA Department of Fisheries, Tiger International (then part of Marine Produce Australia), Southern Cross Ltd (Wyndham prawn farm proposal) and Simpson Seafoods (fishing company). Southern Cross pulled out early and Simpson Seafoods pulled out half way through the joint venture. The Department of Transport & Regional Services through the Kimberley Sustainable Regions Program, also contributed close to $900,000 in grant funding Early successes were reported in a 2005 AAM article including a five tonne harvest from two of Ian’s 1 hectare (100m x 100m) earthen ponds. Based on these results, KPC planned to be operating 26 x 1 hectare ponds and producing 250

tonnes per annum by 2007. Unfortunately according to Ian little else was achieved due to a variety of reasons (technical, cultural and political). Easy Pond Construction Having a background in earthmoving, it has been easy for Ian to build his ponds using a scraper, dozer and backhoe. “The mudflats are hypersaline clay so this can be compacted down with the dozer to hold the water. I now have three ponds and a fourth in construction (total area of almost 4.5ha at this time), the first two were square, and the second two were round. The ponds have an average water depth of 1.5 metres. “We have on site saline and freshwater bores with PVC water supply pipes; we also collect estuarine water from the tidal flats around the ponds. The ponds and estuarine flats get more than 600mm of rainfall per year which we can harvest so the pond salinities can be maintained at the most appropriate level for the prawns.”

From the top: Aerial view of the Kimberley Prawn Company’s 4 ponds, the square ones are 1ha each, the round ones 150m in diameter. Photo by Richard MacFarlane. Ian’s first innovation for reducing feeding time used a lawn hand fertiliser spreader, cordless drill, batteries to drive the drill and electric outboard, and buckets of food. The wake of the propeller spread the food quite well. Photo by Ian Crimp. Putting the romance into aquaculture, or peace at last for the prawns have been fed. Photo by Ian Crimp.

Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009 37

FA R M P R O F I L E

“We add about one bag of Dynamic Lifter (mostly chook manure) and a mixture of PNK (Phosphorus Nitrate and Potassium) to encourage the plankton blooms. The waters on the mudflats of the King Sound are already very high in nutrients (thought to be from constant outflow of the Fitzroy River) so we don’t need to add much fertiliser.” During the two culture cycles Ian completed no water exchange was used; water was supplied only to top up losses from evaporation which can be 300cm p.a. Pond salinities ranged from 16 to 24 ppt. “We have our main rain (40 days on average) from mid December until the end of February so we like to stock by October/November and have a crop by Easter (five months growout). If we can stock in August we can also get a crop through in four months for Christmas. During June and July it is usually just too cold (below 26°C) for the prawns to grow. The rest of the time we have great prawn growing temperatures of 28-32°C.”

From the top: Birds eye view of monk and mesh frame to stop prawns running away from home! The water can be seen welling up from below the first wooden wall and flowing over the double wood with clay between. Trailer and tank used to transport PLs to Derby from Broome hatchery 220km away. Feeding the prawns from the boat. Only four paddlewheels were required for most of the production cycle due to the low stocking densities. The monk frame was used to construct the outside harvest sump. The, concrete steps and slots for screens and mesh to stop prawns escaping are yet to be added.

38 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009

Ian starts the stocked ponds with four of the 4-wheel paddlewheel aerators per hectare pond and adds another two before harvest. Both pH and DO are all closely monitored and throw nets are used to regularly evaluate the growth and health of the prawns; to date Ian has experienced no problems from predators. “We can get over 20 species of wading birds around the ponds; observations verify that they are eating the small plankton and water beetles in the ponds. Some species were encouraged to nest on the pond banks by building hides for them to be protected from the sun and the predator raptors in the area.” At first the feeding was undertaken 3-4 times daily both by hand and using an aluminium 4m punt with an electric outboard. Ian adapted a hand operated fertiliser spreader with a 12V cordless drill hooked up to a 12V car battery. “The system only cost $300 total, and the feed was spread around 3-4 metres

from the punt, so it did an OK job.” This method of feeding proved to be too time consuming with the last trial involving three ponds and subsequently a 4-wheel motor bike and trailer was purchased and Ian manufactured a blower system to feed the prawns. “With only me doing all the work on the farm, time management was critical.” Ian says there’s a 1m wide monk outlet in each pond which drains through a 60cm diameter drain pipe. “We use the green (recycled plastic) pipes for that. The monks have four slots for screens and boards; the screens are made from 75% shade cloth or pine sleepers with tongue and groove. The shade cloth screen keeps the prawns in the ponds whilst water drains under a set of sleepers and out over the top of a double set of sleepers with some 10cm of mud packed between them.” In the first trial in 2004, the prawns (PL16) were stocked at 18/m2 and 9/m2. “We ran the pond at lower stocking densities as the KSRP project thought that community based (indigenous) projects were more likely to run at lower densities than commercial operations (25/m2),” Ian added. “After 130 days of growing, prawns averaged 38.5 grams irrespective of stocking density. “We produced five tonnes from 2ha of ponds. These prawns were all from 38 to 40g in weight; they were beautiful and didn’t need any grading. We found that they had grown faster than the schedules provided by our feed supplier Proaqua.” Another trial in mid 2006 was affected by cold water temperatures. The prawns didn’t grow much for two months, and took much longer to grow to full size but still had an excellent taste. “We had filled one pond with tidal flat water and amazingly (because the water had to travel 4km over the mudflats) we found we had small numbers both Barramundi (Lates calcarifer) and Cherabin (Freshwater Prawn – Macrobrachium rosenbergii) fry come in with this water.

FA R M P R O F I L E

Ironically this was the best producing pond of prawns as well. The Cherabin grew faster than the Tiger Prawns and tasted better at the time of sampling. The two Barramundi netted at harvest tasted as good as any wild caught fish. It is not something that I would recommend doing as the Barramundi are predators but it does prove that tropical fish species can be grown in the ponds. Ian says that whilst things were looking promising with his prawn crops, by July of 2006 the joint venture had stopped and he was left holding a lot of debt. “We couldn’t get any further with the prawns on a large scale, so I have just experimented for the past year or so and now have everything closed down until I can find more investment. “Investors in Australia appear to want to make instant profits in the first year, and then move onto the next opportunity. There are few who understand aquaculture and the need for several years of low or no profits whilst the infrastructure is developed. Despite our good results, there is still a lot to do to improve productivity, we needed to find ways to reduce the production costs at our farm.” Round Ponds for mechanisation Building more ponds to get economies of scale wasn’t an option for Ian due to his cash position. So he had to look at smarter options in order to cut labour costs and has now developed a new approach: round ponds to allow mechanisation of feeding and harvesting. “I have built a 150m diameter pond which covers about 1.7ha. The sides slope into an average depth of 1.5m although the drain is 1.7m deep. It only needs six paddlewheels to keep the water well aerated and moving around.” There are other advantages to this design. “The prevailing winds cause more damage on square ponds than the round pond. Also there are no dead corners in the round pond and the

water subsequently rotates around the pond better. This was the pond stocked in 2006 with the duck weed growth and unfortunately there was no way to remove the weed once the PLs were put into the pond as they tended to hide in the growth.” “To cut labour costs I have developed a concept for a mechanical feeder for the round pond. This method couldn’t be used on the square ponds.” The conservative potential yield of the round pond is around 12 tonnes per annum. “Most farms don’t have the area available to construct round ponds but my mentors Louis Boel and Francoise Falaise of G.C.I. Far East Aquaculture consultancy supervised the construction of a 2,000 tonne per year farm in Saudi Arabia using this method. We put together an investment package offer for a similar farm here but I believe negativity within government departments causes this size of project to be considered too risky. Given the opportunity I would prefer this size of farm over a small farm.” Ian is examining the use of plastic (HDPE)

liners for the control of pond wall erosion and quicker turn around for pond stocking. “This should allow us to have continual crops by ensuring all the wastes are removed from the bottom of the ponds between crops. At present I have to let the ponds dry and then treat the bottom of the ponds between crops.” So far there has been no outflow of water from the ponds other than at harvesting due to the lack of funds to construct the amelioration ponds at the neighbouring Doctors Creek. The pond water has instead been pumped from the outlet channel into holding ponds where it evaporates away. In the future with appropriate investment the water will be run into a settlement pond system before being returned via Doctors Creek to the King Sound. “We can do bioremediation of the outlet water by running it through wetland mangrove lakes. For harvesting Ian has built a 5m2 concrete sump in which a cod end net can be set over the 60cm outlet pipe of the monk. “There are steps for easy access to the net to collect the caught prawns

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Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009 39

FA R M P R O F I L E

in the Sound which is very high in nutrients due to the river outflows during floods. I predict that with government support, including hatchery production, within the next 10 years the King Sound region could be the largest for aquaculture in the state.

FRDC project 2003/417 Treating Prawns in a 4-hexylresorcinol Solution. The new alternative treatment 4-hexylresorcinol (available commercially as Everfresh®) can prevent blackspot for longer without the use of sulphites. The report details several soaking methods that gave better protection than the conventional dip yet satisfied international residue standards and provided savings for processors. Many treatments were as cheap to use as a sodium metabisulphite dip.

(usually at around 250kg at a time) and I use a Hiab crane to transfer them into 700L plastic bins of ice slurry for chilling. By this method I can catch around 95% of the prawns; the remainder can be picked up with hand nets in the pond water.” An improvement being considered involves fish pumps (as used in the American shrimp industry) to allow capturing of all the prawns or partial harvesting of the prawns with no water loss at the time of harvesting. Chilled bins of prawns were quickly transported to a rudimentary processing shed which is under an 80m2 plastic sheet dome, somewhat like a Nissan Hut. The prawns are tipped out of the bins and onto a stainless steel table for washing with chilled freshwater. “We knew prawns were treated with metabisulphite to stop deterioration and spoilage. However, some people claim to be allergic to this product, so I researched for other products and decided to use

Everfresh® . This is a natural plant extract which is used by the butchering trade and is a natural treatment to keep the prawns fresh.” Ian says that the first trial’s grades were U16; the second trial had U20/U16. The prawns were packed in plastic bags in 10kg plain cardboard boxes for freezing. He has a 20 tonne freezer sea-container and was able to rent a fast freeze sea container from a local transport company. “The fresh product I can sell to the locals for around $20/kg, although I have sent shipments by reefer (refrigerated truck) to Perth. The first harvest was frozen and sent to Perth where the prawns were steam cooked and packaged in 10 kg boxes for distribution to local markets or interstate.” Unrealised potential Ian is a great supporter of the potential for aquaculture in the King Sound region. “We have excellent water quality

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40 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009

“It would be great to have an inlet canal to bring water from King Sound to the ponds. This canal will also be used to ‘condition’ intake water; phytoplankton blooms created in the canal means that all ponds receive water with the same bloom.” Unfortunately the farm is still in mothballs whilst Ian works in various businesses in Derby whilst looking for other investors. He is not afraid to tell investors that the lack of a local hatchery is still a major impediment. “Due to biosecurity issues we can’t buy in prawns from NT or QLD and I don’t believe the hatchery in Broome is the ideal location. Thus one of the considerations for an investor will be to build a multi-species hatchery and nursery at the farm to ensure supply of PLs and fish fry as there is need to diversify production.” By Dos O’Sullivan For more information Ian Crimp,

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“We have shown we can grow quality prawns here quickly under difficult conditions with very little infrastructure. They taste great, just ask the locals who keep enquiring when I will be doing another harvest. The tidal flats mean that pond construction costs are low and the power supply to Bungarun is a bonus. There are a number of improvements to be made and these will happen with substantial investment.

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FA R M P R O F I L E

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Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009 41

F E AT U R E

Victoria’s trout industry confronts Black Saturday’s sad legacy The recent horrendous bushfires that burnt out 400,000ha of forest, destroyed over 2,000 homes and took 173 lives, also swept through the heartland of the state’s rainbow trout industry. Four of the sector’s ten commercial farms were affected.

he rainbow trout industry, based on water diversion flow-through raceways, has been the backbone of the Victorian aquaculture industry since it’s establishment in the late 1950’s. It has continuously produced more than half the value of the industry in that state and has stayed abreast of global developments.

The fires came right to the very heart of the operation – the water intake. Here’s Mitch beside the weir that diverts the water from the creek through the raceways and fishout ponds.

Growers employ over 200 people in the Murrindindi Shire. They supply Melbourne and Sydney with fresh rainbow trout at very affordable prices. Production is just under 1,700t/p.a. worth over $12m. It is expected that this figure could be halved until the water supply returns to normal and the farms that lost their fish and buildings can restock and replace lost equipment. Trout fish-out farms have been part of the district’s thriving tourist industry. But in Marysville alone – which was practically wiped off the map in the inferno – three and a half thousand beds were destroyed.

The fires raced through 400,000ha of some of the most beautiful parts of Victoria.

Buxton Trout Farm was one of the farms affected. The farm, the first to be established in Victoria in the 1950s, has historic significance. Industry pioneer Frank Clarke lobbied to have legislation changed so trout could be sold, and consequently produced, commercially. One of the conditions was that the trout had to be processed on the farm to eliminate poaching. In the early days the operation produced 82,00lb (37,000kg) a year and had ambitions to reach 1,000,000lb (454t). The next proprietor was Trevor Baine.

42 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009

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One of the raceways at Buxton, full of market ready fish.

With fish in the ponds and the weather back to normal, Buxton trout farm is open for business again.

Priorities Short term priorities 1. Water quality risk management. The concern here relates to the quality of water that can be expected under different rain events in the immediate post bushfire environment. 2. Access to stock. It is very apparent that the opportunity to source stock from the wider industry is very limited.

The hatchery and nursery were all but destroyed at Buxton.

3. Access to eyed-ova. The next spawning season (June to September 2009) stands out to many as the obvious point for restocking to commence. It is hoped that by this time water quality may have settled allowing eyed-ova and/or 2009 juvenile fish to be reintroduced onto the farms. 4. Capital constraints. Obviously, short term working capital is going to be very constrained for affected businesses. 5. License fee reductions. It was hoped that those farms affected by the bushfires might gain some license fee relief. In considering the longer term priorities for the industry, broader climatic considerations were canvassed and their implication on cost structure.

Longer term priorities included 1. Industry level strategic review. It was suggested that the possibility of a more collaborative approach to trout production at industry wide level be explored. 2. Investigate the possibilities of diversification - especially into tourism and other retailing opportunities. 3. Regional branding. 4. Fish health surveillance. 5. Capital constraints. As well as a short term priority, any change to management (whether diversification or industry segregation) requires capital. Accessing capital to initiate broad industry change will be challenging.

Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009 43

F E AT U R E

Trevor, drawing on his experience at the then named Silver Streams Trout Farm, helped establish many of the farms operating today. The current proprietor is Mitch McRae. Mitch lost all but a handful of his fish in the Black Saturday fire and had the side of his hatchery burnt out. He estimates his uninsured losses at $500,000. “It’s not the loss of equipment in the hatchery so much. In a sense it wasn’t worth that much, but a lot of it has been built over the years and the replacement cost is far higher than the actual material cost”, he says.

Cleaning up the ponds at Yarra Valley Salmon’s Rubicon property.

“Unless I can get some fish growing I’m going backwards. The Noojee trout farm was destocking so I’ve been fortunate enough to get 10t of fish of mixed sizes to get something happening. Fisheries (Victoria) have also been good, lending me their transporter when they weren’t using it. “They also had some scientists at a recent meeting to tell us about studies they had done on toxic sludge over the last few years. It all depends on the intensity of the fires and the amount of rain we get before the ground foliage recovers.” The farm is 15km downstream from Marysville on the Little Steavenson River. Mitch says the country immediately upstream is mainly farmland and although the paddocks were burnt out the river frontage still has a healthy reed cover and he feels safe from that area. Above Marysville, in the heavily forested country, is where the mudslides could occur. However, he feels that most of the heavy stuff will have dropped out by the time the water finds its way down to Buxton. Black water has already had an impact (AA 15-2) with a high organic load stripping oxygen from incoming water so that some of the younger fish Mitch had brought from in Noojee had trouble handling the situation. He has strategically placed oxygen bottles at the intake and monitors the situation so that if it happens again he is able to lift the DO to safe levels.

44 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009

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Mitch says the response has been humbling. “We had 40t of dead fish to dispose of. Four days after the fire started, and while they were still burning uncontrollably, a mate organized an excavator to come up from Phillip Island to dig the trenches and neighbours, many of whom had lost their homes, pitched in and helped bury them. “Andrew Forrest, the CEO and Founder of Fortescue Metals Ltd, has fired everyone up with his presentations at community meetings across regions affected by the bushfires. He called a meeting of the business people in the Marysville region: no pollies, no bureaucrats. He just says straight out – what do you blokes want? From his affiliated organisation’s experiences with Hurricanes Katrina and Ike and the San Diego bushfires, he knew that local communities must speak out strongly to tell the world what they need.

Mitch has bottled oxygen ready to inject into the water should a blackwater event re-occur.

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“In particular, the business community holds the key to long term recovery. There is no point rebuilding houses if there are no businesses to provide jobs. The Australian Children’s Trust has based three full time volunteers at the Marysville Golf Club to facilitate a quicker and stronger recovery for the local community and its businesses. “Future Fish have volunteered a working bee to pour the slab and help rebuild the hatchery. The Australian Fishing Tackle Association - everywhere you look there’s volunteers offering their time. Goulburn Valley Trout have offered the industry replacement broodstock. Fisheries have offered eyed ova. It really motivates you.” In the aftermath of the most costly bushfires fires in Victoria’s history, government and industry met to determine what could be done to get the industry back on its feet. Victorian Trout Association President, Edward Meggitt, says: “I believe there are a number of exciting opportunities for the industry, but some tinkering with the existing business model may be required. The destruction caused by

For information contact p: (03) 9269 1042 www.nmit.vic.edu.au/aquaculture

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Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009 45

F E AT U R E

The heartbreaking job of burying a year’s work at Buxton.

The aerators thrashing away while the bushfire bears down on Yarra Valley Salmon. Only the road and the clear space around the tourist area saved the farm.

the bushfires will give industry members time to stop and think strategically about the future. “We are moving forward with Fisheries through a Bushfire Recovery Working Group made up of government representatives and industry members Mitch McCrae, Paul Cox and myself.” The outcomes from the Bushfire Relief Meeting at which the working group was established have been divided into short term and long term priorities.

Fisheries Victoria Manager of Aquaculture and Inland Fisheries, Anthony Forster has advised AA that: “The Victorian Department of Primary Industries met with the Victorian Trout Association on 10th March to discuss the impacts of the bushfire on salmonid farms. The meeting provided an opportunity to examine short, medium and long-term industry recovery needs and development priorities. In light of the bushfire impacts, environmental conditions and the economic downturn, the industry resolved to work closely with DPI to develop a salmonid industry strategic plan.”

Asian Pacific Aquaculture 2009

While no one wants to experience the horrendous nature of the events of February 2009, they have drawn communities together and brought growers and government to the point where they are undertaking a thorough review of how the trout industry is to operate in the short and long term under what is widely accepted as permanently changed climatic conditions. By John Mosig Mitch McRae can be contacted by phone on (03) 5774 7370, or by email on buxtontrout@bigpond.com. Edward Meggitt can be contacted by phone on (03) 5773 2483, or by email on grtem@virtual.net.au. Anthony Forster can be contacted by phone on (03) 9658 4375, or by email on Anthony.Forster@dpi.vic.gov.au.

Nov 3 – 6, Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia

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46 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009

There is a call for papers to be submitted by 1st July 2009. Save money by registering early, and save time by registering online at: www. was.org

RESEARCH

A sturgeon gets a kiss

Aquaculture in Canada lessons for Australia In late 2008, NMIT (Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE) hosted Professor Don Furnell of Vancouver Island University, for a period of two weeks. During this time, Don carried out teaching duties and was also able to tour a variety of Victorian aquaculture enterprises to get a feel for the local industry.

n excellent seminar towards the end of his visit contained many pertinent messages for the aquaculture industry in Victoria and Australia and was attended by several industry figures.

Vancouver Island University was formerly known as Malaspina University College, and is an institution offering both vocational education and training (such as diplomas) and Bachelor degreelevel courses. This mirrors the situation at NMIT, which (in 2006) became the first TAFE to begin offering degree level

courses in addition to its range of certificate-level courses that have been running since 1997. The courses being offered by VIU have a good reputation, which is just as well because the Canadian aquaculture industry is crying out for appropriately qualified graduates. As a thriving and rapidly growing sector, there are more jobs available than there are people to staff them.

A boat attending to bivalve culture lines.

While the university does have a good relationship with industry, there are cerAustasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009 47

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Professor Don Furnell taking time out in Canada.

tainly no-go areas. The industry sees government-subsidised aquaculture product generated by universities as a direct threat to their bottom-line with farmers quickly becoming agitated if that harvest becoimes significant. While the aquaculture industries in Canada and Australia are of comparable size, Don reckons the industry here will face similar challenges to those confronted by aquaculturists in British Columbia the further we progress. Canadian aquaculture produce Salmonids Like the situation in Australia, Canadians have well and truly recognised the aquaculture potential of Atlantic salmon and, to a lesser extent, Chinook salmon. Part of this appeal stems from the markets they are looking to satisfy: the Japanese market, for example, prefers red48 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009

fleshed, fatty fish with a very high oil content. A good example here is the Yukon River Chinook salmon, which have a whopping 18% lipid content. But it is worth remembering here that Atlantic salmon can be stocked at around three times the density of their Chinook counterparts. Caviar and Sturgeon The popularity of caviar is increasing throughout the world, and Don explained the amazing situation with Fraser River White Sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus. This enormous fish, which can attain an impressive maximum size of over six metres in length and masses over 800kg, was originally discovered in a tailings dam back in the late 1980s and by the mid 1990s the first spawn had been achieved. Females of the species have a huge gonadosomatic index (GSI) of 10% of

the overall body weight, meaning that they are highly fecund and therefore highly lucrative from the point of view of caviar production. The champion of Vancouver Island University was nicknamed ‘Arnold Sturgeonator’, and weighed in at a colossal 100kg! With caviar retailing for as much as $160 per ounce (or roughly $5.64 per gram), there have been instances in which single fish have seedstock on board with a potential value of US$16,000! And this is before we begin considering the value of the flesh which sells for a handsome price too and is well regarded. Canada’s caviar industry is all the more lucrative given the poor state of Russia’s sturgeon stocks due to poaching and Iranian stocks also running low. If it wasn’t for aquaculture, sturgeon roe probably wouldn’t be able to be produced at anywhere near the current quantities.

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expected to grow considerably in coming years is abalone. Four farms are currently producing abalone but, as is the case in Australia, poaching is shaping as a huge issue. Challenges faced by the Canadian aquaculture industry

Lines for culturing Pacific oysters, demonstrating the sheer scale of the aquaculture for this species

The Canadian vista on full display, with sunlight dancing on a sea cage stocked with salmon

Picturesque Canadian scenery; an estuary where a river meets the sea.

deep-living compatriot species, these amazing fish will survive an ascent to the surface since they lack a swim bladder (in species with one it expands as the fish approaches the surface, pushing the internal organs out of the mouth).

A salmon farm, the type of aquaculture establishment that has attracted much controversy over the years

Of course, being aquaculture, things don’t always turn out as planned: Don recounted the soul-destroying instance of several of these magnificent broodfish (which are difficult to come by) being lost because of an error made by a trainee in attempting to replace a standpipe! Sablefish An intriguing variety of fish in Canadian aquaculture is the sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria). These fish are typically inhabitants of the deep sea, found at depths of 2000-3000 metres. Unlike many of their 50 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009

While these fish have a relatively low metabolism, they have a food conversion ratio that is three times better than salmon and there are over several hundred thousand larvae currently being produced by aquaculture programs per year. This finfish could represent the next big thing in Canadian aquaculture. Mollusc culture Introduced species make up a significant portion of the Canadian aquaculture industry. Nowhere is this truer than with Manila clams (Venerupis philippinarum) and the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas), which are very important economically. This industry is made up of over 400 operations, consisting of rafts, racks and line culture systems; many are relatively small-scale and/or experimental in nature. Another molluscan industry in Canada which is

Onshore vs offshore Aside from working at the University, Don has been involved in various consultancy projects. This explains why most of his publications in the scientific literature have been from his earlier days and he hasn’t published a huge amount since; confidentiality clauses and intellectual property rights have have seen to that! One such consultancy was with the now defunct Hagensbourg Marine Farms. One of his first pieces of advice was that the $7.5m spent on the onshore facility would be better employed on seacage aquaculture which could reasonably have been expected to produce five times more stock (approximately 4000 tonnes) per annum than what they were producing. The scale of this onshore facility was impressive. It consisted of eight concrete tanks of 16m diameter, each 16m deep (with a volume therefore of over 3.2million litres). Flow rates were maintained at between 700 to 800 litres per second, and oxygen was supersaturated at 125mg/L with the use of a deep well booster system to keep the fish (which have a relatively high oxygen demand) happy in their highly stocked culture tanks. Even with this point-source oxygen injection occurring, the fish – stocked at 100kg per cubic metre of water – would survive just 15 minutes were there to be a shutdown of the system. To cope with this a 625 kilowatt generator was installed as backup. The system could have as much as 640,000m (or 640 mega litres; roughly a cubed football field!) of water pass through it on a typical day, with the most highly stocked tanks having around 800 litres per second pass through them.

RESEARCH

The real drive behind this project was the desire to sell the technology to grow the fish rather than the fish themselves. Unfortunately, due to high running costs and relatively minimal production, this operation ended up joining the aquaculture enterprise graveyard. The influence of ENGO’s When dining out, Don eats aquaculture produce whenever possible in preference to wild-caught fish. But many restaurants in Canada are reluctant to put farmed fish on the plate, a completely opposite stance to that in the US. The difference is that the environmental lobby wields enormous influence in Canada – Greenpeace was founded in Vancouver and the David Suzuki Foundation is also very prominent. Environmental Non-Government Organisations (ENGOs), while being essentially notfor-profit groups, can have enormous cash flows. Indeed one chief executive officers was found to be making over $250,000 a year (by an individual who successfully infiltrated one such organisation and was able to report the results). Canada’s most prominent newspaper once featured advertisements for several weeks at a time – costing in the order of $75,000-$100,000 – targeted at the practice of sea cage farming. It seems that the environmental lobby has the aquaculture industry firmly in its sights and sees it as a very hot topic. Don did not deny that sea cage farming is an issue that must be examined closely – noting unsustainable salmon farming practices in some parts of the world – but does take offence at the deliberate use of misinformation to sway members of the public. As if killer whales (the “cuddliest animals on Vancouver Island”) and 1500lb (680 kg) bull elephant seals (which occasionally gain access to salmon pens and cause major headaches) aren’t enough to contend with! He cited an article that appeared in the prestigious journal Science, which boldly claimed that a further four generations of farming could result in banishment

of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) from Canada due to sea lice infestations thought to have been assisted by aquaculture practices. The study was based on a computer simulation that utilised some very questionable assumptions ... time will tell on its accuracy. However, around $3 million has been poured over the past 2-3 years into investigating linkages between the spread of sea lice (copepod parasites) between wild and farmed salmon stocks. It be a difficult problem to quantify, since sea lice infestations on large salmon do not appear to cause too many problems, whereas three sea lice on a fingerling can cause death. So far, no smoking gun has been discovered one way or the other but this has not stopped certain groups splashing greatly magnified skin-crawling images of sea lice across the front of newspapers. Whatever the case may be, one thing is certain: diseases such as BKD (Bacterial Kidney Disease), Furunculosis and Vibriosis (for which a vaccine has recently proven to be ineffective), along with IHNV (Infection Haematopoietic Necrosis Virus) are inordinately more dangerous and damaging to both wild caught and aquaculture stocks (as the current outbreak of an abalone virus in south western Victoria is ably demonstrating at the moment).

These diseases are always monitored closely by the industry, with most hatcheries now having to be certified as disease free for a period of at least two years (and many have certification that goes as far back as 15 years). As the industry has developed, so too have the associated costs. Once upon a time a lease to engage in the practice of farming salmon cost somewhere in the vicinity of $100,000, whereas now the typical cost is somewhere between $300,000 and $500,000. Approval for these leases occurs at the rapid pace of two weeks. By Andrew Christie, NMIT Aquaculture Program. Don currently sits as chair of the Pacific Salmon Forum: for more information log onto www.pacificsalmonforum.ca For those wanting further information on Vancouver Island University, log onto the website at www.mala.ca/fisheries. [Double check this website] For NMIT’s website, go to www.nmit.vic.edu.au

FIBREGLASS AQUACULTURE TANKS Fish transporters • Spawning • Brine Shrimp Larval Rearing • Parabolic • Settling and Storage For a brochure or more information contact:

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Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009 51

FA R M P R O F I L E

Tooltech’s versatile Oyster Growout Systems Over the past fifteen years Tooltech have designed, developed and manufactured the world’s most comprehensive and versatile range of environmentally friendly and versatile plastic grow-out baskets and trays – the Aquatray® and Aquapurse® Systems – ideally suited and used in almost all sea-state conditions throughout the world. Included in this product range is the world’s largest moulded single unit grow-out tray – the XL8 Aquatray, which measures 2400mm x 930mm. It has two ‘sister’ units each measuring 1800mm x 930mm. Collectively known as ‘The Big 3’. The systems are in use in many areas throughout the world, including Australia, New Zealand, North America, the United Kingdom and Europe. Whilst primarily used for oyster farming, they are also suitable for some modes of farming scallops, mussels, pearl oysters and abalone. Recently two different farming methods – in colder than normal waters – have been chosen for subtidal use of the Aquatray and the Aquapurse.

ropes and supported by buoys in fifteen meters of waters off the coast of Sweden. They will be used for farming oysters and mussels. The Company’s Marketing and Export Manager, Reg Breakwell, quotes their motto as – “From Concept to Reality”, as they assist a customer who has an idea or concept to model it, then bring it to fruition, by tooling and finally moulding the product – making it a reality. They welcome any inquiries.

Wayne Scott, Tooltech’s M/D and Ron Rae, Product Designer, examining the new AP6 Aquapurse in front of one of Tooltech’s moulding machines.

From Concept...

A large standard Aquatray farm is currently being set up in the Orkney Island group, north east of Scotland for the farming of oysters. Initially, five thousand of the trays are to be used in units, stacked eight high, supported on the seabed and attached to a longline backbone. In another Northern Hemisphere project, several thousand of both the 8mm and 16mm mesh Aquapurse are to be suspended in ten high units, using side clips and attached to longlines with

TOOLTECH PTY LTD: PO Box 209 Carole Park Queensland Australia 4300 Tel: +61 (0)7 3271 1755 • Fax: +61 (0)7 3271 3298 Email: tooltech@tooltechservices.com.au Web: www.tooltechservices.com.au 52 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009

to Reality.

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FOR SALE – Pisces Marine Farms On offer is an integrated package of assets for the development of a large-scale low production cost aquaculture business – including a thirty-hectare intensive Aquaculture sea cage farm, five-hectare oyster lease, and associated equipment. Currently licensed for Kingfish, Snapper, Mulloway and Bream. Also leased land base, hatchery site, fingerling supply, wharf and processing facilities etc. Based at Port Stephens, these assets and the areas seasonal water temperatures provide opportunity for a low cost entry into the established and high growth Kingfish industry and emerging Tuna sector. For more detailed information on this offer contact Dan Hogan (T) 02 9817 5492 (M) 0427 262 105 or (E) danjhogan01@optusnet.com.au

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Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2009 53

For More Information Contact: Conference Manager P.O. Box 2302 • Valley Center, CA 92082 USA Tel: +1.760.751.5005 • Fax: +1.760.751.5003 Email: worldaqua@aol.com • www.was.org