June/July 2005 by Tim Walker

Volume 19 No. 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June/July 2005

Qld farm's jade perch fishout NZ carp used for weed control Diver's mussel venture hopes Tank farm a 24/7 obsession Huon Aquaculture's bigger fish Want an oyster with your chips? Discus breeding in Melbourne Tas grower's abalone journey

JUNE/JULY 2005

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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

FA R M P R O F I L E Jade perch for North Queensland fish-out farm

Biological control and pest management: using exotics to beat exotic pests

Diver stays home to succeed with mussels

Garfield Fish Farm rewards ‘round-the-clock’ obsession

Huon Aquaculture Innovations mean bigger better fish

Want an oyster with your chips?

Tropical Fish Growing in Melbourne

F E AT U R E Advertising Megan Farrer Graphic design Beverly Waldie Printing The Franklin Press 91 Albert Road, Moonah, Tas. 7009 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).

NZ abalone dynamo talks up a future for paua

Abalone grower’s long journey to a golden harvest

NEWS Natfish celebrates 10 years

Nomination for Seafood’s ‘Best of the Best’

Young scientist joins Tas Uni’s academic staff

Tony Rock – obituary

FROM THE NAC 2006 Australasian Aquaculture Conference takes shape

Industry remains firm on labelling standards

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.

Industry's pearls of wisdom to make the world their oyster

Updated guide book to keep industry on the environmental front foot

Cover photo: 'Point of sale' labelling of farmed prawns remains a concern for many Australian farmers who believe the homegrown quality product deserves market recognition. Photo courtesy of the National Aquaculture Council.

TECHNOLOGY 10th Anniversary: Aquatic Diagnostic Services International (ADSI)

Innovative value adding solutions for your product

FISHENEWS

JUNE/JULY 2005

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2005 AAQ (Aqua Assn of QLD) Conference AB & S Solar AGK Technology Ajay Tanks/Duraplas Alltanks Australia Aqua Assist P/L Aqua Supplies WA AquaFauna Biomarine Aquahort Aquamesh Aquasonic Aquaspex Aquatic Diagnostic Services International AQUI-S Australian Monofil Co Cumminscorp Davey Pumps Deakin University Jeyco Mooring & Rigging Mine Mac Australia MOS Plastics Murray Darling Fish NSW TAFE - North Coast Institute NMIT Oblomov Trading Onesteel Marine Mesh Quin Marine Quinntech P/L 2005 Australian Prawn & Barramundi Conference Radford Park Aqua Ridley Aqua-feed School of Aquaculture Reunion Shellfish Equipment Skretting Australia Superior Fibreglass Sydney Fish Market Tapex Technolab Marketing Tooltech Uarah Fish Hatchery VMD (prawn crates) Waterco Wedeco AVP P/L

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FARM PROFILE

Jade perch for North Queensland fish-out farm A north Queensland fish-out and tourism park stocks jade perch as its major target species. However, golden perch and yabbies are also provided. The Tarzali Lakes Fishing Park also harvests in excess of 12 tonnes a year for the local (fresh) and live markets. The picturesque Atherton Tablelands, just over an hour southwest of Cairns, is the home of the Tarzali Lakes Fishing Park. Sprawled over 16.2 hectares the park takes advantage of its location to entice tourists and locals alike to a fun and educational day out. Promotion brochures for the park state that it prides itself on being ‘one of the most aesthetically appealing and commercially viable naturalist park and aquaculture farms in North Queensland’. Not only does it offer a unique fishing

experience but also the opportunity to observe native wildlife including tree kangaroos, birds and platypus. While Peter and Kate Whiddett have owned the property for over five years, it has only been operating as the Tarzali Lakes Fishing Park for about three and a half years. Peter has had extensive aquaculture experience with prawn and pearl farming in Thailand. “This is quite a bit different to what I’m doing now,” he admits, “But there are some similarities. Some aspects of

aquaculture are transferable from species to species.” The farm’s main aquaculture species are the jade perch (Scortum barcoo), the golden perch (Macquaria ambigua) and native redclaw (Cherax quadricarinatus) “We did start with the golden perch but we found that they were a bit finicky so we changed to the jade perch for the fish out facility,” says Peter. “We still have some of the golden perch left in some of the ponds from before. We haven't worried about taking them out Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 3

K E Y P E R F O R M A N C E I N D I C AT O R S ( K P I s )

FARM PROFILE

To allow inter-farm comparisons, each AAM farm profile details a number of key performance indicators for different aquaculture systems. Except for the comments under ‘Key Management Decisions’ which are prepared by Dos, the information has been supplied by the farmer: Key Management Decisions include: – Establishment of a fishout facility in an area of the tourism region. – Use of pumps at night time and gravity flow during the day time to assist maintain an ambiance around the fish out and tourism facilities – Purging the jade perch for 3 weeks to reduce body fat (often a cause of ‘bad taste’ in freshwater fish) – Development of home-made feeds and strategy to feed the ponds daily. • Culture System utilised: earthen ponds, fish out and growout (production). • Growth rate (from stocking to fish out): 12 months (10g to 650g) • Survival rate: 70% from first stocking to fish out size • Av. stocking density: 1.4kg/m3 or per culture unit • Annual harvest: 12 tonnes • Production rate: 2500 kg per 1,000m3 (growout system volume) per year • Water use: 130 L per kg produced per year • Power use: 1.6 kW per kg produced per year • FCR: 2.5 to 1 (number of kg of food to produce 1kg stock) • Time spent : 2 x work units per week, total 104 work weeks per year • Production cost: approx. $2.50/kg • Sale price: $8/kg if caught, $10/kg gate sale

since they have been good for the anglers, especially for the fly fishing.” Water quality The farm is ideally located with access to a constant supply of clear mountain spring water all year round from the Lorenze Creek which runs alongside the Park. “The water originates at the Milla Milla Falls which is also a popular tourist destination. We have over 1.6 km of creek from which 4 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

we can draw some of the best quality water.” The creek itself is crystal clear negating the requirement for intake screens. “The only screen we use is some bird wire on the foot valve of the pump. This stops most debris from getting stuck in the impellor and reducing pump efficiency. Every three to four months I check the wire and make sure it's fine and to give it a quick clean off.” The aquaculture activities of the park uses only 0.2 mega litres a week (mostly make up for evaporation) which has very little impact on the creek itself even during the dryer times “During part of the drought there were some water restrictions imposed,” says Peter “ but, since we draw out such a limited quantity, we weren't affected. The creek itself runs down off the Milla Milla Falls so it never runs low.” The Whiddetts also don’t discharge water back into the creek in order to minimise negative impacts. Any water that would usually be discharged is used as irrigation on the property’s macadamia plantation. Ponds The park has eight ponds covering a total area of over three and a half hectares. Future plans include expanding the pond number to eleven with two others installed in February 2005. All are earthen-based; this has enabled the park to have a very natural surroundings and impacts less on the environment than other pond types. Also, the use of earthen ponds helps reduce the requirement of pond cleaning. “We don't have set times when we need to clean the ponds,” Peter explains. “We generally do it when we feel the pond is starting to get shallow. It wouldn't be any more frequently than every eighteen months. When it's time to clean the pond we empty it and use a bobcat to remove the waste at the bottom. We often end up taking out about 30m3 of waste each time,” said Peter. The ponds use a recirculating system to maintain the water flow. The water is pumped in from the creek and fed directly into the warming pond. This

1.5m deep pond is approximately 550m2 and is essential as the water in the creek can often be five or six degrees lower than the water in the ponds. The water is gravity fed to the other ponds which include a 500m2 nursery pond, three 1,000m2 grow out ponds, a one-hectare beginner’s fishing pond and a sports fishing lake that is over two hectares. There’s also a pond specifically for the platypus that have been thriving in the park. A settlement pond allows any of the debris, waste or uneaten feed to settle out before the water is pumped back up to the first pond to continue to flow through the system. “We use gravity and a monk system to transfer the water between the ponds,” Peter says. “This reduces the amount of pumps we need on site. We only have a little 5.5kW pump which we use for pumping the fresh water in. It pumps about six litres a second and lifts the water about thirty metres so it is all we really need.” Any water that is required to be pumped in is routinely done using a timer at night allowing visitors to enjoy the tranquility without noise. In some seasons, pumping is minimal. “When it's raining we don't have any need to pump in extra water since we get the runoff from all around the ponds. But we do have to watch the ponds a little more carefully as extra nutrients in that runoff can cause a pond to crash if you aren't careful. “But we're lucky because we own all the land for a good distance around the ponds and so know that it won’t contain any chemicals from spraying or fertilizers.” The park prides itself on being totally organic. “We don't use any chemicals at all. We don't even use lime on the ponds,” Peter says. Operations Peter has a very ‘hands on’ approach to the day-to-day running of the aquaculture side of the park. Through his aquaculture experiences in Thailand, he has developed a different approach to many of the operations with the ponds.

FARM PROFILE

“Tarzali lakes have endeavoured to embrace a non-conformist attitude to aquaculture production,” he says. “We have managed to promote a symbiotic relationship within our pond situation. Firstly, by promoting and accepting various birds of prey from sea eagles to goshawks we have achieved a barrier surrounding our farm that is relatively free from prolific fish eaters such as the cormorant and the pelican and even the white tail rat. “Basically the sea eagles rule the sky with the aid of the various hawks. These birds also keep the area free of any dead or dying fish and are a good indicator to any fish related problems that may arise.” Peter says that they’ve also seen a prolific increase in the redclaw populations. “The redclaw have done two things to the property. They have increased our platypus numbers to such an extent we can guarantee sightings. And they act as janitors, keeping the pond bottom free of fish waste and other debris; in turn becoming food for the fish themselves.” With a high level of water quality coming in and by manipulation of stocking densities Peter has found that he is able to determine the general water quality visually. Paddlewheel aerators are available to boost dissolved oxygen content of the ponds. Timers run the aerators for between four and five hours a day, usually between 1am and 2am and 11am and 2:30pm. All of the ponds are carefully stocked to allow the water quality to remain at a very high level. The stocking densities are determined by sight and activity. But, as a rough guide, the ponds can hold up to 30,000 fish to around 150gms in a 0.1 hectare area. Peter has found that the best way to control pond stocking densities is by placing the fry in the ponds and, as they grow, splitting the populations. “We don't do any routine grading of the fish. We've found it to be a tiresome, slow and unreliable exercise,” he says. “When the ponds start to look busy (i.e. high stocking densities) I divide it by dragging a speciallydesigned net through it and the fish are

held in cages while the hand grading is done.” A similar method is used when it comes to the harvesting of fish from the ponds. The fish remain unfed in these cages for three weeks to purge them before they leave the park. “We've found that rather than lose weight the fish just convert their body fat to muscle. We get a lean, mean fish, which is very good,value for money. We have less than twenty percent loss of weight with gilling and gutting,” he says. Feeding Some ‘home-made feeds’ have been developed using research and trial and error. “One feed we tried made the fish blow up and float to the surface. We lost most of them due to sunburn,” Peter recalls. “Now we have a diet made from eleven different herbs and spice (i.e. it’s a secret) that has turned out to be excellent for fish growth and advantageous financially as the prices of feed and freight have been increasing.” Each pond is fed a standard weight of feed a day regardless of the population or the season. “We are feeding the pond not the fish. By feeding about 100kg of

feed per day over the whole farm, we maintain the water culture and prevent cannibalism. All feeding is done by hand since it is the pond which are being fed and not the fish themselves; this requires no observation of feeding activity by the fish. This level of feeding helps to maintain the water quality without impacting detrimentally on the fish growth.” Temporary hatchery The breeding of jade perch is generally only done when needed and enough fish are produced to last at least a couple of seasons. The broodstock is taken from the farm population with the older stock the better producers. “We prefer to use fish that are over four years old as they have been giving better results,” Peter notes. “Last year we used some younger males and the results weren't as good as we had in previous times. Next time we will be trialling two males to each female to see if that will improve our results.” To produce enough fish for a couple of seasons only takes around two weeks, so a permanent hatchery is not required on site. The Whiddetts use a

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FARM PROFILE

temporary hatchery, which they dismantle after the breeding is done. Once the eggs hatch they are transferred almost immediately to a pond. The pond is usually prepared by being dried out and refilled using water that has run through a 400-micron filter to remove insects and large plankton. Once the fry are added so too is a very fine feed, close to a dust in particle size. “We get at least a seventy percent survival rate which we are happy with,” Peter reckons. As an alternative to breeding the fish onsite, the Whiddetts can also purchase fry from Bruce Samble of Aussie Fish. “We only purchase fry when we need stock quickly since we have found we get a better growth rate from our own fish than we do with fingerlings.” Markets and future developments The park supplies fish for local restaurants and wholesalers. Sending fish to the Sydney fish market was considered at one stage but the costs involved in transport and handling were considerable. “We would be pay-

ing over $2.20 per kilo for the transport and then we have the boxes to buy also. Even if we got good prices at the markets we wouldn't get as good a return,” Peter cautions. Plans are underway for on-site processing and value adding so the Whiddetts can reach a larger consumer group. Plans include facilities to smoke, pickle and dry the fish. However, the main income source for Tarzali Lakes Fishing Park is the tourism market. The fish-out facility is very popular with tourists and locals. Local fishing competitions are also held on site. The farm is committed to promoting education about ecologically sustainable aquaculture and other areas of wildlife. School groups are encouraged with facilities that cater for groups of up to twenty-five people at a time. Trips to the park include fish feeding, tours of the fish farm, recreational fishing, platypus viewing, free use of barbecue facilities and the chance to catch a yabbie. With such a diverse range of activities in one site it is little surprise that the park is very popular, especially

during school holidays. The Whiddetts have recently gained approval to put in a kiosk as well as a camping grounds provisioned with its own 3ha fishing lake stocked with redclaw, jade perch and barramundi. As the park is located on the main arterial road into the Atherton Tablelands from the south, installation of a large fish icon will be commenced shortly. Peter says this will be the first big icon in the Eacham Shire. “Our plans also include the trial of barramundi. While Queensland is well known for its barramundi there is no barramundi farming around this end of the tablelands as water temperatures can drop at times below the ideal. But with careful planning we believe that we should be able to have a go at it.”

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FARM PROFILE

New Zealand Waterways Restoration Ltd located at Warkworth on the East Coast of the North Island, 40km north of Auckland.

Biological control and pest management: using exotics to beat exotic pests After 16 years as an oyster fisherman, Gray Jamieson decided to further his aquaculture experience by farming marron in New Zealand during the 1980s. Now he has embarked on a new project using Grass and Silver carp as biological controllers and is developing a patented pest management system which he hopes will take off in Australia. When we think of the word ‘carp’ what words spring to mind? Perhaps ‘feral’ or ‘evasive’ are some of words that can be utilised in polite company. But what if I told you that there was a farmer in New Zealand who is not only farming these fish but that local councils and other government departments are hiring the fish off him and releasing them into lakes and drains throughout New Zealand!

Please dear readers pick your chin up off the floor and read on. Carps (family Cyprinidae) are one of the world’s major fish families, with up to 1,500 species. Several Cyprinids have been introduced into New Zealand and released with five known to survive in New Zealand’s fresh waters as selfsustaining populations – one is the European carp (Cyprinus carpio) which is causing so many problems in inland

Australian waterways. However, the Kiwis have the coloured variety which is commonly known as koi carp. Koi can be legally kept only in New South Wales and Western Australia. In New Zealand, a further two species – the grass carp or white amur (Ctenopharyngodon idella) and the silver amur (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) – are present, although neither species are self-sustaining. Rather Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 7

K E Y P E R F O R M A N C E I N D I C AT O R S ( K P I s )

FARM PROFILE

hatchery-reared fish are released into carefully chosen waters to act as biological controllers of excessive weed growths in lakes and waterways. Grass carp introduction A variety of common names have been used for the grass carp, though white amur is widely promoted to avoid confusion with European (koi) Carp, which have developed a bad reputation for environmental deterioration in streams and ponds. White amur were brought intro New Zealand between 1966 and 1969 to look at their potential values and impacts for biological control of excessive weed growths in nutrient-enriched waters. Small numbers were brought to Auckland University where they were studied briefly before the first substantial introduction – a consignment of 8 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

2,000 fry – obtained from Hong Kong. The introduction of white amur into New Zealand is regarded as one of the most controversial and most carefully evaluated introductions in New Zealand history. However, after 15 years of research by the Fisheries Research Division, a report (McDowall 1990) concluded that: • the fish are environmentally safe, • damage to both native and introduced fish and fisheries is likely to be minimal, • the likelihood of breeding is low, • the harmful effects of weed removal by grass carp are likely to be far less than the effects of their removal by herbicides or mechanical means, and • economically the fish are of value for use in clearing drains. Oysters, marron then fish Gray Jamieson has been in the aquaculture game in New Zealand for the past 22 years and has certainly seen the industry develop and diversify in both species and technology. He started his career as an oyster farmer at Warkworth on the East Coast of the North Island, 40km north of Auckland. “After 16 years of farming Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) I felt that I needed a change in lifestyle. I still wanted to be involved in aquaculture and had always thought that marron (Cherax tenuimanus) farming had a lot of merit in North New Zealand.” In 1984, Koru Aquaculture Ltd was formed and an 8.4ha property purchased close to Warkworth. Source water for the farm is via the Mahurangi River, which borders the property’s boundary and is fed by two freshwater springs. A hydraulic excavator was used to construct 32 unlined ponds. “We didn’t have to line the ponds as the soil up

this part of the island has a lot of clay content which helps prevent any seepage,” states Gray. There are 19 ponds of approximately 1,000 square metres and nine ponds that range between 1,000 and 1,600 square metres. The system relies on a 150mm diesel and a 150mm electric pump to take water to the top ponds; the water is gravity fed through six ponds before being recirculated back to the top ponds again. As the farm’s pond water has never fallen below 85% DO saturation no supplementary aeration is required. Koru Aquaculture’s marron enterprise was expanding when the National Government passed an Act banning marron farming in N.Z. “We basically were not able to farm it anymore,” explains Gray. “We also have a problem that our Fish Farm Licence here is only issued for 14 years and there is no guarantee that it will be renewed again.” With the licence coming up for renewal and the closure of marron farming for Koru Aquaculture, it looked like times were about to get tough. “Luckily we were able to receive compensation from the government and that is when they suggested we look into the white and silver amur that they had been researching for all those years.” So in 1996 New Zealand Waterways Restoration Ltd was formed with Gray as the major shareholder; other shareholders included his brother Paul – who brings expertise in management and marketing – and business consultant Ian Gray. “One thing I have certainly learnt as my time as an aquaculturist is that if you can’t market your product well, there’s no point in producing it,” says Gray. Prior to receiving the fish from Fisheries, the farm had to be dried out to Silver carp Hypopthalmicthys molitriz

FARM PROFILE

ensure no more marron were present and to prevent the transfer of any disease. During this period Gray was able to push hard with marketing iniatives, although he had to farm goldfish (Carassius auratus), Daphnia and native fish to make ends meet. Biology The white amur – brood stock from the Rotorua Hatchery operated by MAF Fisheries Research Division – arrived on the farm in 1993. As their names suggests, grass carps are vegetarians, consuming most vegetation. Both white and silver amur mature in New Zealand at 3-4 years old and 3-4 kg in weight. During the summer months, broodstock from the farm are transported up to the Mahurangi Technical Institute in Warkworth where a combination of high level feeding, temperature and injected hormones bring the ovaries to ripeness. The facility produces offspring by hand-stripping females and males. Hatching occurs very rapidly with the tiny young reared on egg yolk and rotifers until transfer back to the farm at 1cm. At this size they are around ten

days old. Sterile or triploid white amur are also produced by pressure treatment: this is accomplished by pressurising fertilised eggs at 8,500lb per sq inch Prior to the introduction of carp, transects are conducted to Prior to the introduction of ascertain current aquatic weed infestation to aid in management the small fry, five juvenile techniques for control. This transect shows the weed height relative to pond depth over 420 metres. rearing ponds are fertilised to produce a heavy concentration of algal blooms from a range of microalgae. Rotifers are then brought in from the NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmosphere) Bream Bay Transects are continued to monitor the progress of fish. to inoculate the rearing ponds When compared to the top transect you can see a dramatic change in weed height in just 3 months. and to feed on the algal blooms. According to Gray, this will keep the fry going for 2-3 down to 30%, mainly due to predatory weeks after which they are weaned onto insects (controlled by spraying vegan artificial diet made up equally of etable or corn oil over the water surcorn or soya meal, soya flour and fish face) and the odd cormorant or heron. meal – all bound together with either soya After approximately six weeks the or corn oil. This is fed twice a day whilst fish – now 6cm in length – are ready wheat germ is fed three times a day. for transfer to growout ponds or other To begin with, about 70% of the fry growout farms based in Wellington would be lost in the first few weeks. So (southern part of the North Island) and the farm flew in Harrell Revels from a Waipu ( an hour north of Auckland). federal hatchery in Florida to underFish are fed grass clippings until hartake some training. Now losses are vested – by draining the ponds – at

Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 9

FARM PROFILE

Comments from various sources on the use of white and silver amur for biological control of weeds: • L Cavers, Manager Drainage and Waste at the Hauraki District Council was very specific about the benefits of utilising the carp. “With the Carp programme introduced to the major drainage canals, we could see a 50% drop in costs for drain maintenance and a 25% drop in pump running costs.” • Ray de Zylva Consultant Biologist said that the Glenbrook Steel Mills saved NZ$75,000 per annum by introducing Grass carp; downtime became a thing of the past! • The Manager of Parks and Reserves at Auckland City Council Mr S Dass said “In my opinion the release of grass carp and silver carp in Western Springs has had a very beneficial outcome. I believe that where there is a recognised problem with aquatic weed control, whether or not the area is deemed ‘sensitive to water fowl’ that grass carp are the best option. In the past, before the fish were introduced each year there were hundreds of bird deaths attributed to botulism which they had contracted from rotting weed masses floating on the lake. This past summer was the first that botulism did not occur.”

250g (25cm total length). Some of them are destined for aquatic weed and blue green algae control with others going to the Auckland’s Asian food markets. “We get around $10 a kilo if

• S. Muir, Chairman of the Aka Aka Otaua Drainage Board: “Trials with grass carp in Aka Aka Otaua Drainage Board area have saved farmers $3,500.00 per year, per km”. • The Royal Society of New Zealand, Marine and Freshwater Research Volume 37, Number 1 (March 2003) – “After the Grass carp were released in late January to the treated drain and the untreated drain, had become quite different, there was much less surface cover in the treated drain than the untreated drain which had increased from 6% – 65% compared to a 5% increase in the treated drain: Vegetation throughout the water column in the untreated drain had increased from 32% – 78%. In contrast the treated drain had virtually no submerged vegetation in January 2000 and the macrophyte biomass was too small to record.” • Ken Holmes, Drainage Chairman of the Churchill East Drainage District (Waikato District Council): “The cost of drain clearance using a digger is similar to the Grass carp lease costs. Additional savings with Grass carp could be made through reduced need for screen clearing, and reduced cost of electricity for pumping, as the pumps operate more efficiently if the screens are not blocked by aquatic vegetation.”

the animals are 1-1.5 kilos; bigger ones fetch only $6 per kilo.” Before live transport they are purged for 48 hours and sent to markets in metropolitan areas or lakes, ponds and

drainage systems throughout the North Island. An approval has just been received for the first release of the farm’s fish in the South Island – at Ashbunton for weed management. Current markets for Asian consumption is about 30 tonnes per year though about 80 tonne/yr is forecast due to demand for live fish. Biological Controllers Gray leases his fish to Regional, District and City Councils for control of weed infested drains and creeks in their respective catchments. Fish are leased on a per hectare basis, and numbers released are dependant upon the weed in question that has to be eradicated. “Generally, we will stock 100-200 x 25cm (250g) juveniles into a weed problem area and raise and lower numbers of fish to suit each site, Gray explains. “We employ two main approaches of weed management through altering the stocking densities. With low densities we can have the fish just eating the top weeds within the water column, thus keeping stabilisation of the bottom sediments and nutrients. Or we can have high densities for total weed eradication in which everything is removed.

10 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

FARM PROFILE

“The fish can daily eat between 100 and 150% of their body weight at 20 to 22°C, which helps us gauge the length of time they will be required to control a weed affected area. “We are also looking at the possibility of catching koi carp from the wild, taking them back to the farm to be graded and sent live overseas,” he explains, “Particularly the European market in which there is an apparent lack of disease-free, good specimen fish. However, to bring back koi carp to the farm requires a permit as you are generally not allowed to have a noxious fish on site.” The farm has set up nine of its ponds as recirculation systems incorporating a bio-sluice sand and rock filter system to ensure that no carp or carp eggs can escape into the nearby river. It currently employs four people but is looking to triple this when the koi carp project takes off. NZ Waterways Restoration Ltd has in conjunction with Australian Waterways Management Pty Ltd also designed a pest management system that has the potential in reducing finfish pests, primarily European/koi carp, but also species such as mosquito-fish (Gambu-

sia affinis). According to Gray the system has patents in NZ and Australia. The pest management system is a species-specific system consisting of two approaches. First is a three-week trial using a trainer bait – conducted by feeding a floating pellet into an enclosed area and monitoring what types of fish are eating the pellets and at what feeding rate. Once it is concluded that no native fish are eating the pellets, the feeding schedule is increased to ensure that the target pest fish consumes all the pellets in 30 minutes. The amount of food required can then be multiplied out to calculate the feed required for the target area. Secondly the same floating pellet is feed but this time it has a dosage of antimycin A, which kills the fish. Gray has turned an environmental disaster into something that can hopefully not only make the business some money but also cement its position in the industry as a leader in pest fish management. The potential of the Pest Fish Management System has sparked interest by CSIRO in Australia who are planning to undertake a trial using the project

Lake Orakei 34 months after the Silver Carp were transferred to the 3.5 ha area (trial area is to the right of the barrier).

patented design in Albury/Wodonga. “The trial is a collaborative project between us, and CSIRO. We are pretty confident it will go ahead later this year,” says Gray. By Phillip Kerr with Dos O’Sullivan For more information contact Gray Jamieson, NZ Waterways Restorations Ltd, PO Box 413 Orewa Auckland, New Zealand. Tel: +649 426-5143, Mob: +64 21 908-676, email: weedkill@nzwm.co.nz Reference McDowall, R.M. 1990. New Zealand Freshwater Fishes, Reed Publishing, Auckland, NZ.

Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 11

FARM PROFILE

Diver stays home to succeed with mussels Mike Hunder, like many mussel farmers, used to be a diver. The lucrative work was overseas but family demands forced him to consider a way of making money closer to home. After a year’s sabbatical he bought an existing 3ha mussel lease at Safety Beach on the eastern side of Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay in 1985. This grew to 6ha when Fisheries Victoria offered mussel growers a chance of better viability by to expanding their farms. He chose to take up 3ha on the Flinders Aquaculture Zone at the entrance to Westernport rather than another 3ha at Safety

12 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

Beach, giving his operation a late maturing oceanic growout region to complement the early conditioning Port Phillip stock. Up until three years ago Mike worked alone but with new water likely to become available in the future took on a couple of partners. Peter Williams and Peter Maynard work full time in the building industry but are able to help out with some of the heavy work and when extra hands are needed, such as during the stocking season. The trio market under the name Dromana Bay Mussels (DBM).

Main: Promoting the consumption of mussels is what marketing’s all about says Mike. He carries stocks of this comprehensive mussel cookbook for his customers. Inset: Mike was a professional diver before he took up mussel farming.

FARM PROFILE

The farm at Safety Beach has its drawbacks being situated 2m off shore with no onshore facilities – Mike’s workboat is moored off shore. Getting to and from the shore, especially when returning with a load of mussels in the 2.4m tender can be a bit hairy, especially if the weather has come up since he put out to sea. The new marina being built at the southern foot of Mount Martha should alleviate this problem. Flinders is serviced by a jetty and boat harbour. The operation uses couple of widebeamed, stable, 6.6m-long ex-army workboats. The Flinders boat is powered by a 90hp Evinrude and the Safety Beach one has an 80hp Yamaha 4stroke. Each lease is 150m x 200m. At Safety Beach, the farm sits in 11m of water with the eight 115m (at the surface) longlines running east and west. Each line has around 200 x 6m droppers. At Flinders there are three 115m longlines, each carrying 200 x 5m droppers. Innovations The partners are looking at upgrading the farm to the double backbone continuous line system used so successfully in New Zealand. Mike expects this to double the present production of around 40t from the Safety Beach farm, with similar benefits at Flinders. A conversion to “Aquasteel,” – a rope produced by Donaghys in New Zealand – is also underway. Specially constructed from a high tech fibre it’s been found to last longer than polypropylene and doesn’t foul as easily. Mike says he’s looking forward to reduced maintenance and replacement costs. One innovation he expects to save the industry a lot of money is the replacement of mooring blocks with anchors. They are simple to install and do away with the need to take tonnes of cement blocks or old train wheels out to the site on barges.

The stingray anchors are easy to install and do away with the need to take tonnes of cement blocks or old train wheels out to the site on barges.

ting later each season. Last year 200 x 6m collector ropes were hung towards the end of August. Not only was there hardly any fouling but the quality and evenness of the spat was good. “If we put them out in June now, goodness knows what would happen,” he says. The partners hang in two stages spaced two to three weeks apart to make sure

they catch the spawning. If the spawning is late the earlier collectors tend to become fouled with sea squirts (cunjevoi) and the larvae, when they do make it to Dromana Bay, don’t settle as well. Quite a lot of spat can also be collected from the long lines and even the drums. Mike says that mussels like to attach to plastic for some reason.

Spat management Mike likes to sock when the spat are a decent size so he can get a reasonably accurate count of how many mussels are on each dropper. Traditionally spat is collected between June and July but he’s noticing that spat collection is getAustasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 13

FARM PROFILE

One of the two workboat on its trailer. Note the wide beam and ample working space.

In a normal season the larger spat socked in late February to early March will be ready for market by September the same year, giving a 15 month cycle from spat settlement to harvest. Some years the overburden grade off the growing lines – 15mm to 20mm – can be used. The farms use 42m Italian mesh that allows the mussels to grow out through it. It’s not biodegradable

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and can make stripping a little more time consuming. For the smaller spat (5mm to 10mm) New Zealand biodegradable socks are employed. Growout Given late spawnings, Mike has found that the mussels are also tardy putting on condition. Port Phillip mussels can be as late as July before they spawn and lose condition, pushing back the time that condition is recovered. So whilst he likes to have mussels ready for his customers in September/October, in recent years it has been as late as November. The Flinders mussels come in around late November to early December, overlapping and complementing the supply of Safety Beach mussels. The Flinders mussels can hold their condition until as late as August.

Channel dredging Mike has concerns about Government plans for blasting and dredging to widen The Heads and deepen the Bay’s shipping channels. He says: “There’s a clause that prevents anyone from claiming compensation for any loss suffered because of the dredging. It leaves us all a bit up in the air.” Markets Most of the product is sold to local customers, restaurants and retailers around the Mornington Peninsular. Mike believes that quality is important, not only the meat weight in the shell, but also size. “We get a better price because we let them grow on. The restaurants want the bigger size. There’s a market for smaller stuff too. I have customers who want 65mm for the risotto, soups and marinara,” he adds. A premium can be charged too by

FARM PROFILE

they’ve says that if the mussel doesn’t open during cooking to discard them. That’s not right. A lot of my customers still don’t know. I cook them till most of them are open then open the rest with a knife. This way they aren’t over cooked. I only throw away those where the meat doesn’t pull away from the shell,” he says. “If they look small and stringy I discard them too.” Dromana Bay Mussels are confident in the future of the industry provided they can bring their costs of production down to industry best practices. The “stingray” anchor and double backbone continuous lines will go a long way towards this goal. The new water, when finally made available, will also help introduce economies of scale, further lowering the cost of production. Then they will only have to deal with the vagaries of the seasons and the market place. By John Mosig Mike with some of Donaghys new long life ‘Aquasteel’ marine rope.

delivering to the door. Top grade is 75mm to 85mm retailing for $6/kg. Restaurants and wholesalers are supplied at a discounted price. The smaller mussels sell for less and there’s a market for bait mussels. Mike has no doubts about the health benefits associated with his product. “The white adductor muscle is full of glucosamine, which is good for your joints,” he says. “I make sure I eat them every time I have a feed of mussels.” Another benefit to mankind mussels may provide is in the realm of medicine. Mussel larvae can identify what they are about to settle on and adjust the chemical make up of their viscus thread to suit. Mike says scientists are trying to identify the particular amino acid combination that will enable them to stick fractured bone together. But the biggest benefit is in the eating. And Mike has a few home truths here too. “People need educating. For many years, in all the cookbooks,

Mike Hunder can be contacted by phone on (03) 5987 3808, or by email on mussels@alphalink.com.au

AAQ 2005 Conference & Annual Workshop August 26 – 28 at Kondari Resort – Hervey Bay, QLD Includes: • Full day workshop (Friday 26th) concentrating on major industry issues. • Two day conference (Sat 27th & Sun 28th) includes presentations by some of the country’s top industry professionals who will present updates on all aspects of freshwater finfish aquaculture. • Trade show supported by some of Australia’s leading aquaculture suppliers. Registration includes attendance at the AAQ industry dinner and annual aquaculture hardware auction.

For more information visit the Aquaculture Association of Queensland website: www.aaq.com.au

FARM PROFILE

Garfield Fish Farm rewards ‘round-the-clock’ obsession

Some of the plate size fish at Garfield Fish Farm. Note the excellent condition of the fish. Not a scale out of place. A first rate product.

Brian and Elaine Fox began farming fish at in a temperature controlled re-circulation system in early 2000. Situated at Garfield on the edge of Victoria’s rich Kooweerup horticultural district they started from scratch and have been learning on the job ever since. The Hesy system is housed in a 500m2 insulated shed with fish grown from fingerlings to a kilo plus. The quarantine system consists of 10 x 280L tanks connected to a 1.5m3 bio-filter using a European medium (Bionet® bio-tube) giving a surface area of 300m2. The nursery and growout systems are made up of four x 1,000L, two x 1,500L, two x 2,500L, two x 7,500L and four x 9,500L tanks. The system has a total production capacity of 67.8m3 and holds 72m3 of water in total. Bio-filtration is by 36m3 of the same bio-tube giving a surface area of 7,200m2. Drum filtration is thorough

and the water is oxygen injected using a 4.5L/min Oxymat® oxygen generator before being returned to the tanks. Brian says the water is supersaturated to 250-300% but the figure he looks at was the DO level as the water left the tanks. “Oxygen drives the system. If the DO is 100% when it leaves the tanks we know the fish have had access to maximum oxygen,” he says. Water flow is 180m3/hour (twice/hr) through the drum filter into the main pit. From there it is delivered separately to the trickle filter (biological filter) and the upwelling filter. The upwelling filter removes the spent bacteria parti-

cles that drop out of the trickle filter. From the upwelling filter the water goes across eight x 36w UV tubes before being returned to the pit. Mains power is backed up by a 53KVA 4-cylinder diesel generator. A Kaeser air compressor is used to supply air to the oxygen generator. Water temperature is maintained at 27–28°C by natural gas. Business plan The business plan has changed considerably since the couple began. They originally planned to grow Murray cod because of its high value but were

Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 17

FARM PROFILE

forced to switch to Barcoo grunter (Scortum barcoo) when cod seedstock wasn’t available at the time of the year they commissioned their system. Although initially assured of a $12/kg farm gate market for the species – sold as jade perch – their buyer pulled out after a couple of months. So Brian found himself spending a lot of time behind the steering wheel and knocking on doors delivering and selling his produce. The best price he could find was $10/kg delivered, and then only in small numbers. Slow growth rates were also a negative factor making them uneconomical in a re-circulation system. However Brian and Elaine feel they were a good fish to learn on. “You need to hit them with a brick to kill them,” Brain says. The operation turned the corner when the switch was made to barramundi with a dramatic improvement in both growth rates and cash flow: a quality market product now is turned out in five months. The fish are grown from fingerlings and they do their own marketing and processing. The farm is a family operation although casual labour is occasionally called in at times of high work load.

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18 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

Production cycle The fish come in as 50mm to 60mm fingerlings from West Beach Aquaculture (WBA) in Adelaide. The couple are very happy with the seedstock. “They do a good job over there. The fish are always healthy and any small stuff is graded out,” Brian says. The fish go straight into the independent quarantine system for two to three weeks, before the water flow is changed over to the main system. Although no problems have ever surfaced quarantine procedures are religiously followed. Feeding at this stage is on demand from first thing in the morning to last thing at night. The 3g fingerlings will reach 22g to 25g in five weeks and are graded every seven to 10 days. Elaine says they could probably grade more often but it’s a time factor; however, cannibalism hasn’t been a problem. From the quarantine tanks they are

FARM PROFILE

moved to the 1,000L ‘junior’ tanks where they are grown to 80-100g over five to six weeks, grading every 10 days to a fortnight. Brian says that every time you grade the fish you come up with three grades. Feeding has been changed over to belt feeders at this phase. From the ‘junior’ tanks the fish are graded into 2,500L tanks and grown on to the first market size of around 400g to 500g in. This takes another eight weeks. By taking the larger 3g to 4g fingerlings the farm achieves saleable product in 20 weeks. Some fish are carried through to over a kilo. These are graded up into the larger tanks and fed at a reduced rate to slow growth and maintain their condition. It takes another 16 weeks to put on the extra 500g but the buyers are prepared to pay a premium for the banquet-size fish. Provisos Brian pointed out that these growth rates depended on everything being right. “You have to have good water, good temperature and good feed before they’ll do it for you. But if any one of those factors is wrong they won’t.” Constant management is another issue. Grading, feeding and density management are ongoing making it a seven day a week, 24 hour a day job. “At least with cows you get a break between milkings,” he laments. Growth variation occurs right through the cycle, from 50mm up to 200mm making grading a constant task and one of the major labour cost factors. Once over 200mm size variation is not such a problem.

Top: The oxygen generator ensures the fish have access maximum dissolved oxygen (DO) at all times. Below: Water quality and demand feeding lifts the 3g fingerlings to over 20g in five weeks, a growth rate approaching 5% daily.

Stocking density Brian and Elaine feel there is an optimum stocking density. “Too sparse and they won’t feed well; too dense and they won’t grow well – the smaller ones miss out on the feed. In our system we’re happy with densities between 80kg/m2 and 100kg/m2. We know the system will handle it. We’ve had Barcoos in there at up to 150kg/m2 when we were waiting to find the markets for them. But the bottom line is that the biofilter will handle 60 to 70kg of feed Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 19

FARM PROFILE

Water quality and demand feeding lifts the 3g fingerlings to over 20g in five weeks, a growth rate approaching 5% daily.

a day,” Brian says. Feed is Ridley’s 52% protein and 12% fat Barramundi Starter and 50/12 Barramundi Grower. Once the fish move into the “junior” section feed is available 24 hours a day from continuous belt feeders. Originally the feeders were loaded at 8am and 8.30pm. Now the feed is positioned on the belts to feed out from 8am to 5pm and from 5.30pm to 5am, giving the fish and the biofilter a respite period. This also schedules the workload in the shed more toward creature comfort as Brian put it. Fish space cost The fingerlings cost 1.1¢/mm plus freight, which makes them expensive compared to buying smaller fish. But from a business point of view Brian and Elaine reason that they are lowering the fish space cost and increasing cash flow. With a 20 week growing cycle, they are putting through just over two crops a year of the 500g fish. Considering it took them nearly two years to clear their first crop of Barcoo grunter, the economic turnaround in the operation has been phenomenal and very welcome. The system – rated as a 12.5t/p.a. Murray cod system – is still operating below full production capacity. With a 20 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

biofilter comfortably capable of handling 65kg of feed daily and a feed conversion of 1.1:1 the farm can produce 59kg of fish a day … or over 21 tonne of barramundi a year. Brian stresses that this is only the theoretical output. “Keeping everything in balance is the secret and it doesn’t take much to lose production for a day or two – or longer. You don’t catch up this lost production,” he says. “The intensity of that sort of production is also hard on the operators”. The grunters were fed as much as 75kg/day but Brian admits the water quality was not as good as it is now. His concern is that at if they operate the system at full capacity they may not be able to maintain the current water quality parameters and growth rates. Operating costs Production costs are estimated at $810/kg including all outgoings including the lease on equipment, processing, delivery and marketing costs but excluding amortization of the shed and property … and wages. Costs are escalating. Elaine says gas used to be $500/month. It’s now $850/month. Electricity has increased as well. Now with fuel prices soaring, operating costs are a major concern. Just the other day the diesel generator

The heart beat of the operation. The generator, gas furnace and the air compressor are housed together at the side of the shed.

had to be run for eight hours. This summer solar panels were installed and this has already saved $150/month. Similar savings are expected during winter. The farm had no problem changing over to the food safety program rolled out by PrimeSafe as it was already registered with the Health Department of the local council. It was simply a matter of being audited and registering with them. However, what has shocked them was the dramatic increase in the cost. Although only a small producer, PrimeSafe’s lowest fee paying group runs from nought to 50 tonnes! It cost $124 a year to register a food business with the local authority. They were audited under this regime, but the council absorbed the cost. When PrimeSafe took over costs rocketed to $614/p.a. (395% increase) plus the cost of two audits visits a year. This is a huge strain on a budget hit by other rising inputs, including the rocketing fuel prices. Fisheries Victoria’s Cost Recovery Program has also added to the cost of operating the farm without contributing anything to its viability. Feed, at around $1,600/t delivered, is a minor costs by comparison. At conversions of 1.1:1 the feed per kilo of fish produced is a competitive $1.76/kg. Brian is quick to point out that

FARM PROFILE

labour was cheap. Elaine estimates they put in 60 hours a week in the shed, but it’s how that 60 hours was spread was the killer. Being on call 24 hours a day in case of disruption to essential services such as power and gas means that if they had to pay award rates and penalties the farm would not survive. Markets Both live and scaled HOGG fish (heads on, gilled and gutted) are marketed to food service industry regional markets in Gippsland, the Mornington Peninsular and the retail sector in the south eastern Melbourne Suburbs. Melbourne city restaurants looking for well presented fresh fish are also targeted. Market sizes range from plate size (400g to 500g, both live and HOGG) to larger fish that come in at 800g to 1.2kg – primarily sold live. There is a market for 1.5kg fish but anything larger becomes expensive to the consumer and is supplied on special order at a premium. Purging Feed is withheld for a couple of days prior to harvest and all fish are purged for seven to eight days before processing. The extra purging time has paid off according to the excellent feedback from clients. Finding a home for the fish is a problem Brian says although they have to be able to get rid of the fish as they reach market size. Processing the fish is one way of increasing the product range and selling more fish. “We’d be happy selling everything live at $12/kg to $14/kg and give the processing away, but that reduces your options,” he says. Prices vary depending on the size of the order and the size of the fish. Plate size HOGG fish fetch $15-16/kg delivered. Brian estimates that 18% of the weight of the plate size fish is lost during purging and cleaning. The weight loss on the banquet size fish would be slightly higher at around 20%. Elaine feels there could be more effort spent on marketing locally produced fish in general. “We produce a first-class product, but no one knows that it’s available. The pork, beef and poultry industry are always pushing

The processing room passed PrimeSafe inspection with flying colours, however the annual cost of the license increased by a tick under 400%, and that’s without the cost of the two annual audits.

The tanks are designed for maximize water cleaning efficiency. The standpipe is used for draining the tanks for harvesting. Water is delivered off-picture to the right and the outgoing water is drawn up the pipe running from the sump to the tray. The strainer and tray catch any debris drawn up the pipe to minimize the load on the drum filter. It also allows the operator to see what’s coming off the bottom of the tank.

their product, but you never hear about the wonderful fresh seafood we farm here in Victoria,” she says. “When you look at the websites of Fisheries Departments in other states you see the support they give their seafood producers. Fisheries Victoria doesn’t even mention the word fish to the public. The medical industry is pushing seafood more than anyone else. That Epicure article in The Age was spot on. The public needs education about how to recognize quality, what to do with

fish when they bring to home and where to buy it with confidence.” The learning curve at Garfield Fish Farm may have been steep, but having successfully weathered the establishment phase and turning off top quality fish, the rewards are starting to flow. By John Mosig Brian and Elaine Fox can be contacted on (03) 5629 1166, or by email on garfieldfishfarm@dcsi.net.au Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 21

FARM PROFILE

Huon Aquaculture’s innovations mean bigger better fish Tasmanian Atlantic salmon produced by the Huon Aquaculture Company are some of the biggest in the market place. The focus is on maintaining the best growing and handling conditions to achieve this premium product.

The cool clean water of the Huon river is an ideal place to grow premium Atlantic Salmon. The leases cover areas of both brackish and full salt water conditions. This is perfect for nursery and on growing cages.

Tasmania has long been known as the home of a number of top quality aquaculture products. Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) is a flagship species. The Tasmanian harvest only accounts for a very small percentage of the world’s production yet it’s high quality and year-round availability attracts a premium price in Japan, France, USA and many Asian countries. Located in the south east of Tasmania at Dover, Huon Aquaculture Company (HAC) is the second largest producer of Atlantic salmon in Tasmania. Advertising their product as ‘Premium Salmon from Pristine Waters’, HAC is able to produce the largest salmon in Tasmania without affecting the high quality of the product. HAC, established in 1986 by Peter and Francis Bender, originally farmed ocean trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) until able to receive an allocation of Atlantic Salmon smolt. Salmon were 22 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

first farmed in 1988 and since then the operation has seen enormous success with Francis being named Rural Woman of the Year in 2001. “All of seven stocked leases are located in the Huon River but they all have different (water quality) variables which make them ideal for Atlantic salmon farming,” explains Josh McKibben, HAC’s Research Trial Supervisor. “Our main lease at Hideaway Bay covers approximately 60 ha, which at some points can be up to 38m deep. This lease also has land access with many of the administration buildings and harvesting equipment based there.” The others leases are five to ten kilometres away from the main lease making towing the cages between sites – it can take half a day to cover just two kilometres – a costly exercise. A maximum towing speed of only one knot ensures fish are not placed under undue stress. To monitor how well the

fish are travelling divers inspect the cages every half an hour. The leases are able to support between twelve to twenty eight cages each. The 80 or 120m circumference cages are all made from double collars of 350 mm on 400 mm diameter, the smaller ones used primarily for smolt. Mesh sizes start at 12mm for smolt nets and rise up to 40mm for growout. Cages are all stocked around 8kg per cubic metre in summer; in winter they can be stocked more heavily (12kg per cubic metre). Research and innovations “Huon Aquaculture Company has come along way since Peter and Frances Bender first considered the idea,” says Abby Ward, HAC’s Sales and Promotions Coordinator. “Not only is this due to the premium quality fish that we produce but also a willingness to take risks to make improvements. It's through these risks that some of our

FARM PROFILE

most important innovations have been developed and then put into practise.” For example, HAC has developed the world's largest live fish pump with a purpose-built grader and an electronic counter. The airlifts of the triple-barrel pump has been found to be advantageous for the handling of smolt as it isn't as rough on the smaller fish. The fish return to feeding faster than with other types of graders and fish pumps. Such low-stress handling is a feature of HAC’s fish race that allows passive bathing and handling as well as a selfdelivery channel taking harvested fish directly into a percussive stun harvest system. And there’s the AquaSmart feeding system too (described below), initially developed in Tasmania and now exported internationally. Currently the farm is trialling two new diets with a varied oil composition. Research is also being done on the growth of salmon in oxygen-injected water. “We received a federal government grant for this research and have had great support too from our sponsors including Ridley’s, BOC and AQ systems,” says Josh. “The trials consist of a number of smaller rectangular cages – set up just as the commercial cages – monitored for dissolved oxygen (a probe is suspended at 3m ), temperature and salinity. Some of the cages are injected with oxygen using oxygen grids. The system we use allows us to set the higher and lower oxygen limits, automatically starting the grids when the oxygen levels fall too low and stopping it when it reaches the higher limit. A number of these cages are also trialling the new diets.

placed on a full saltwater site. But if our nursery site is full we can place the smolt directly on to the saltwater site. All smolt are placed in the 80 m cages at around 50,000 fish per cage.” The fish are held in the nursery for four to eight months before transfer – at a weight for 1-1.5kg – to full seawater sites. Once the fish have been transferred, the nursery site it is rested until the next delivery of smolt. After fish graduate to the ongrowing sites further movement of the cages is kept to a minimum. “Towing the cages is not only costly but during that time there is no feeding and the fish are susceptible to heightened stress levels” Josh explains. The fish stay in the ongrowing cages for up to fifteen months, being graded just the once to keep handling to a minimum. Most grading is done in the cooler months of May or June to reduce stress on the fish. Feeding The farm first began working with the AquaSmart feeding system in 1993; now it’s installed in all their cages. It is able to monitor uneaten feed and cease feeding if the fish stop eating. So fish are fed exactly to the their appetite.

A three tonne feed bin is floated at the centre of the cages with a spinner system which can distribute up to two kilos of food per spin to all areas of the cage. The feeder is set by computer to feed a specified amount over a selected period of time. However, if the fish aren't eating, the pellets will fall through the water column. Submerged below the feed bin is a hessian cone with an infrared sensor at the base to count uneaten pellets. The computer can be set to stop the feeder when a preselected number of pellets pass the sensor. All data is relayed to laptop computers on board the work vessels. “We monitor the cages fairly regularly ,” says Josh. “We do have feeding targets so we know how well the fish are doing and whether there are any problems in the cages.” The feed bins are regularly filled by one of the five specially-constructed boats. Another feed boat holds twelve tonnes of food, enough for ten or eleven cages. The feed is supplied by the manufacturer in one tonne bags. The boat comes alongside the cages and pulls the bins to the side to pump the feed in. “At the most a cage can be fed up to one and a half tonnes over a day but

Huon Aquaculture is known for producing some of the largest Tasmanian Atlantic Salmon without any effect on the high quality. Some year classes have had averages of up to five kilograms.

Smolt Stocking HAC purchases all of its Atlantic Salmon smolt from either the Cressy, Sevrup or Saltas hatcheries. At 15 months old and 70g, the smolt are transported to the Huon in specially designed transport trucks or converted milk tankers. “The smolt are taken to our nursery site to start with,” Josh explains. “The water at the site is brackish and the fish are able to adapt to the slight change in salinity better than if they are just

Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 23

FARM PROFILE

The feed bins each hold three tonnes of food and are dragged to the sides of the cages for refilling by the feed boats.

After dragging the feed bins to the side of the cages the feed boats use the hose to pump the feed into the bin.

that's at the high end of the scale,” says Josh. “All the feeders are run on batteries which are recharged by a cage-side solar panel. “The feeding routine varies depending on the size of the fish. For the smaller fish we try to feed them as often as possible to promote high growth rates. So we usually feed for three hours in the morning, one hour at lunch and another three hours in the evening. The larger fish are generally fed twice a day whilst fish of four to five kilos get just a maintenance diet.” While the AquaSmart system has proven itself to be reliable method for feeding the cages, staff are still required 24 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

to visually monitor the feeding to ensure that the fish are being fed to satiation. A Ridley's diet is used. Again the feed size is dependant on the fish size with the smallest being a 3 mm pellet up to a 10 mm pellet. Seals and other problems Seals are the major predators. Originally a seal fence constructed around part of the Hideaway Bay lease kept them at bay. But the farm quickly out grew this fenced area. Since then it has been using predator nets on the (double-collar) cages themselves. The innermost collar holds the fish net with the outer one supporting the predator net. A series of 140kg weights keep the

sides of the nets as taught as possible. “The main times for problems with seals are between March and September,” Josh says. “For this reason we have ten seal traps. Once the seals are caught we contact Parks and Wildlife who pit tag them and relocate them.” However this doesn't always fix the problem with serial offenders often returning as with one seal relocated to the north of Tasmania that made the return trip in just six days. The seals ram the nets to stun the fish inside and then suck their innards, leaving the carcases in the cage. “Seals were responsible for the loss of about 10,000 fish from our 2003 year class,” Josh confides. “Since then we have changed predator netting to something bigger and stronger.” Birds are another problem for the farm so all of the cages are covered in netting. But it’s not to stop them eating the fish but instead to protect the feed! Apparently the local birds had been consuming substantial quantities of the feed pellets. That wasn’t just a costly waste, it also compromised calculations of how much feed the fish were actually consuming. Whilst not common in the area, algal blooms have the potential to destroy large quantities of fish stocks. For this reason the farm monitors algae at each lease on a weekly basis. And one year jellyfish killed a full cage of fish. “This hasn't been a problem in quite a while. But we still remain alert so we can move a cage if there is a large swarm of jellyfish approaching,” says Josh. Routine and regular practices Huon Aquaculture Company employs over eighty people at their Dover location. “Of these probably fifty work directly on the farm and we also have other contractors,” says Josh. The farm has approximately 25 work boats as well as the five feed boats. Every two days divers remove dead fish (morts) from inside the cages. Placed in bags onshore these are collected regularly by the local Amish community who use them as a natural fertiliser on their fields. Whilst the divers are in the cages

FARM PROFILE

they also do routine net inspections for holes, tears and fouling growth. Once such growth reaches a point where it could compromise water flow through the cage – about once a month – divers wash off the fouling organisms with a high pressure water hose. Routine monitoring of the dissolved oxygen levels in each cage is done every morning (when the levels are likely to be at their lowest). “Once they fall to 5.5 mg/L all feeding is stopped. And if they don’t subsequently rise then the nets are changed to increase the water flow. Oxygen can also be increased by removing the predator netting or by providing additional air or oxygen directly to the pens.” Summertime temperatures increase the rate of biofouling which means more net changes are required. Removed nets are washed by an onsite net washer, left in the sun to air dry and then taken to the farm’s net shed at Port Huon Wharf for mending and folding prior to re-use. Any temperature over eighteen degrees also reduces the FCR of the fish. “The added stress that an increase of temperature places on the fish can significantly reduce the feeding and health of the fish,” says Josh. “So in the summer months we reduce cage stocking densities to minimise stress.” He adds that while the AquaSmart feeding system is considered very accurate, it only stays that way if the feeders are routinely checked. “Every month the feeders are checked and calibrated. The infrared sensor that detects uneaten food is tested by dropping a known number of pellets into the hessian cone and ensuring the system gives the correct reading. It's also important for the spinners to be calibrated. For every spin it is expected that a particular quantity of feed is released and if this isn't calibrated then all of the computer readings are inaccurate. This can cause problems with monitoring the feed that each cage is getting.” As the impact that the cages have on the sea bed is of vital concern to HAC, the seabed is surveyed every season. If there are any problems the bottom is fallowed for twelve months. A collabo-

The feed for the farm is supplied in one tonne bags which are loaded on to the feed boats using cranes. The boats hold up to twelve tonnes of feed which can be separated for various sizes.

Research cages are set up to simulate the conditions in the commercial cages. Solar panels are used on all cages to charge the batteries for the equipment for the cage.

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Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 25

FARM PROFILE

rative project between the University of Tasmania and the CSIRO has produced nitrogen budgets for around the pens to assist in calculating the impact the cage is having on its surroundings. All cages are moved every six months and the movements recorded to ensure no areas are overused. Bathing Two technicians are primarily responsible for fish health checks They check the fish on a weekly basis – including the gills for AGD (amoebic gill disease) as well as weight checks. As part of their responsibilities for the smolt intake they need to travel to lease sites from which smolt are being transferred for health and weight checks to ensure the fish will be able to be transported with no problems. Josh explains that whilst AGD can be a significant problem, it is controllable fresh water bathing. Summer temperatures boost the prevalence of AGD and therefore the frequency of bathing to once a month from the winter average of once every three months. “But this is all carefully monitored so that if a cage requires more frequent bathing it's

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done,” he says. The converse also applies. “If there is no requirement for a cage to be bathed it means no disturbance to the cage.” For bathing a plastic liner is suspended over the net of an empty cage placed alongside the one to be treated. The liner is then pumped full of freshwater and injected with extra oxygen from onsite oxygen towers (to maintain concentrations of about 200% for the entire bathing period). The fish – first starved for 24 hours prior to bathing to minimise waste build up in the liners – are crowded slowly into a speciallydesigned fish race for lifting using a small elevator. The fish slide off the elevator down a small incline into the lined cage. Such careful handling has markedly reduced handling stress. After a bath of four hours a boat equipped with a roller device removes the liner, allowing the fish to return to saltwater. Harvesting and Marketing Continuous harvesting ensure uninterrupted supply to the markets, with peak demand at Easter and Christmas. “We harvest up to 10,000 fish six nights a week, mostly to order. The fish are first swum into smaller rectangular cages moored to the jetty before being pumped onto the harvester. This creates a simulated current to encourage the fish to swim into small channels where they are killed instantly with a percussive stun. This method is not only the most ethical but results in a better fish quality for processing. After being stunned the fish’s throat is slit and allowed to bleed out in an ice slurry. After 20 minutes the fish are removed and weighed before being taken to Huon Valley Seafood for processing. “Most of our fish are sold in the HOGG (head-on gilled-gutted) form,” explains Abby. “We can supply fillets but that can be more expensive and most of the customers prefer to fillet the fish themselves.” Huon Aquaculture Company sells mainly to domestic markets with the largest in Victoria and New South Wales although demand in Perth is on the rise. “It's difficult to compete with the tropical reef fish in the northern

states,” Abby continues. “However the quality of the Tasmanian Salmon is widely recognised. We try to take advantage of our clean green image. Tasmania is already widely known for our other top quality exports of wines and cheeses and our salmon – the best in the world – gets a premium at the market.” To minimise costs most of the fish is transported using road freight. “We can air freight the fish but we have found that it's too costly. We are happy to send the fish via air freight for urgent orders but usually it's not necessary.” The fish are generally sold to fish bars and markets packaged in Styrofoam boxes with a very striking blue cardboard cover. Huon Aquaculture is able to produce larger salmon than other fish farms – the 03 year class of 4,500 tonnes of HOGG salmon averaged 3.95 HOGG weight, up from the 3kg achieved on other farms, Abby says. “These larger fish opened up a Japanese sashimi market for us. They were very happy with the quality as well as the size of the fish. “Our marketing at the moment is very focussed on allowing people to be able to try our product,” she continues. “We try to do a lot of promotion through cooking demonstrations as we believe that people would rather taste than just see the product. And the use of brochures with cooking suggestions helps people to be a little more adventurous.” So what’s next for the team at Huon Aquaculture? “A current limitation is that we have no value added products.” says Abby. “This is certainly going to be the next big thing for us. Also the market potential for a pre-packaged salmon, similar to chicken or beef, is high. Often the consumer likes to pick up the product and look at it. And by having the price on it also people know exactly what they are getting. But that's probably a bit further along in the future.” By Andrina Fay with Dos O’Sullivan For more information contact Abby Ward, Sales and Promotions Coordinator, Huon Aquaculture Company Pty Ltd, PO Box 1, Dover, Tas 7117. Tel: 03 6295-8111, Fax: 03 6295-8161 Mob: 0409 01-1559, email: award@huonaqua.com.au

FARM PROFILE

Want an oyster with your chips? 1

1.Ohiwa Oyster farm prides itself on supplying consistent good quality products. 2.Oysters are chucked and packaged on site to be sold in the adjacent takeaway shop. 3.The onsite takeaway is a constant hive of activity for both locals and visitors to the region.

Does the oyster industry capitalise on its domestic market? Are we too caught up in advancing exports that we forget about our own community and the potential markets right at our doorstep? Ohiwa Oyster farm in the picturesque harbour in the North island of New Zealand has capitalised on its local market, prospering from being part of the local community. The main aquaculture activity in New Zealand is the farming of filter feeding bivalves in natural waters below high tide mark. One major species farmed is the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas). There are 230 Pacific oyster farming areas located in New Zealand, occupying 750 hectares of water and, in 2003, harvesting 3,300 tonnes. Oyster farming first began in New Zealand during the 1960s in the Kaipara Harbour, Te Kouma Harbour and the Coromandel. Regulations were made to allow the farming and selling of oysters in 1963. Initially rock oysters (Saccostrea glomerata, now recognized as the same species as the Sydney rock oyster) were grown commercially. These took three years to reach market size. A new species, the Pacific oyster, was

accidentally introduced to Northland from Australia in the late 1960s. It proved to be a godsend for oyster farmers who quickly changed to farming this new species which grows a lot faster than the rock oyster â&#x20AC;&#x201C; reaching market size in only 12 to 18 months â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and has a higher meat yield with greater and more reliable spat fall. Today Pacific oysters are farmed on the North island from Parengarenga Harbour in Northland through to Ohiwa Harbour in the Bay of Plenty on the east coast. Ohiwa Oyster Farm The most southern Pacific oyster farm is located in the Ohiwa Harbour of Ohope, Bay of Plenty, three hours drive South of Auckland. Operating since the late 1960s when Pacific oys-

ters were first cultured, the farm totals 6.6 hectares over three leases and uses conventional rack and stick culture methods. Unlike much of the NZ shellfish industry, the farm has not needed to look into exporting product and is focused on the domestic market. Farm manager Scott Osborne worked for three years with the previous owner and took over the farm in 2002. Now three years into running the business, the farm is producing prime grade fat oysters with 95% of the product sold directly through the onsite fish and chip takeaway shop. The operation employs four fulltimers on the farm and another eight in the takeaway, producing 60,000 dozen oysters per annum from 180 bundles of sticks and 5,000 trays. A 3.5m aluminiAustasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 27

K E Y P E R F O R M A N C E I N D I C AT O R S ( K P I s )

FARM PROFILE

To allow inter-farm comparisons, each AAM farm profile details a number of key performance indicators for different aquaculture systems. Except for the comments under ‘Key Management Decisions’ which are prepared by the authors, the information has been supplied by the farmer: Key Management Decisions include: – Selling directly from the farm to the customer – Utilising the natural bay to entice customers to the area. – Providing areas for customers to sit and relax – Promoting local products to portray community comradeship – Providing a consistent supply of good quality product • Culture System utilised: Conventional stick and tray on racks • Growth rate (from stocking to market): 14 to 18 months • Survival rate: 80% from first stocking to sale size • Av. stocking density: 5 to 10 dozen per 1m stick, 10 to 15 dozen per 50cm by 25cm, 1 m long tray • Annual harvest: 60,000 dozen • Production rate: 10,000 dozen per ha per year • Productivity: 15,000 dozen per Effective Fulltime Unit (240 days, 48wk X 40hr) • Sale price: NZ$7.95 per dozen or 10 dozen for NZ$50

Looking out from the farms picnic tables, customers have a view over the farm and towards the entrance to the Ohiwa harbour.

Conventional Oyster sticks are set for spat in the Kaipara harbour, allowing oyster spat to settle, then transported to the farm for growout.

Small plastic oyster baskets are used in growing. Scott finds these a lot more user friendly on staff and equipment than older style large baskets.

um barge with a 30hp Yamaha outboard is adequate to service the farm and an onsite processing shed both processes oysters and holds other local product for sale through the takeaway. Spat for the farm can be caught prior to Christmas on the growout leases but, given variability in catch rates, the majority comes from Kaipara Harbour (which is well known for its consistent supply). Scott uses hardwood sticks – each 2cm x 2cm x 1m – set together in bundles of 36 on 75cm by 25cm H6treated timber racks. There are six bundles stapled per row, with six rows needed to fulfil spat requirements The time the sticks are set in the water dictates the number and type of animals attracted to settle on them. “We generally have a two month window to collect (oyster) spat,” explains Scott. “If we set the sticks to early or late in that window we can run into a lot of problems with infestations from various species of algae or crabs.” Whilst the trend within the New Zealand Pacific oyster industry is towards hatchery-reared spat, Scott feels that the prices are still too high for the farm to justify changing. Growout After four months on the sticks there are approximately 20 dozen oysters per stick – much higher than the industry average of 5-10 dozen. Scott says this is a SOP (standard operating procedure)

28 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

FARM PROFILE

in Ohiwa Oyster farm as the local market does not have a requirement for consistent shell shape – as opposed to export markets – and helps stagger production. At this point the weaker or clumped oysters fall into the mud and are picked up and placed into plastic trays 50cm wide by 25 cm deep and a metre long. The trays are fitted with a plastic lid and stapled to racks using 36mm staples. Oysters are grown in a 1.6 to 1.9 metre depth range, experiencing up to eight hours exposure per day within a water temperatures range from of 24°C (summer) to 14°C (winter). The farm, like most others, has had problems with poachers which have lead to a few prosecutions, and the stingrays in the harbour certainly get their share of oysters at high tides. However losses are minimal, the area has a good flushing with each tide and exposure times are sufficient to burn off fouling. After approximately 18 months the oysters are greater than 10cm in length and are ready to be harvested. Food Safety Each oyster farm is subject to a National Marine Biotoxin program that gauges biotoxin levels within their respective areas and contributes to conditions – based on rainfall in the catchment – set for harvesting. As rainfall increases so does the length of time that harvesting is prohibited. In the case of Ohiwa Oysters, the following restrictions are in place depending on the rainfall over a 48 hour period: • 0 to 9.9 mm – no closure, • 10 to 19.9 mm – two days closure, • 20 to 49.9 mm – four days closure, • 50 to 59.9 mm – five days closure, • greater than 60mm – seven days closure. As part of the this program water quality is checked once a month and oyster meat is analysed every two months to determine the levels of biotoxins and faecal coliforms. “Due to our climate and the farming industry around us we get a lot of rain and nutrient runoff,” Scott says. “Last year was a pretty bad year as we could not harvest for 128 days. These restrictions are not

Low tide exposes racks and sticks for maintenance and harvesting only a short distance from the processing facilities.

the same for the farmers in the Coromandel though, who need up to 50mm of rain to fall before closing for two days; we only need 10mm.” Oysters ready for processing are brought into the onsite processing facility and first tumbled to help break up clumps and remove biofouling. Any oysters smaller than 10cm are put back into the trays and put back on the racks until ready for harvesting. Two people

are in charge of splitting the oysters as they arrive and the half shell oysters are then are fed into a stainless tumbler set at 25 degrees and washed with saltwater to remove sediment and biofouling. The processing room can accommodate four shuckers who use air powered knives to open oysters on stainless steel benches and package them for sale. The oysters are sold as single cooked oysters in takeaway orders for

Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 29

FARM PROFILE

The farm operates 3 separate leases covering 6.6 hectares using stick and rack culture methods.

$0.95, punnets (200 grams net weight) and half shell (10 dozen in a box) for $7.95 a dozen or as washed green sacks (10 dozen or more) for $50. These are then placed in chillers within the shed which is only a 15 metre walk from the back of the takeaway for distribution. Takeaway Shop The takeaway store has a good reputation for supplying consistently fresh quality local products at a reasonable

price. As well as specialising in classic ‘fish n chips’, meals including beef and local seafood (mussels, whitebait, fish, etc) are prepared in store. The shop operates seven days a week (closing only for Christmas day) serving on average 17,500 single oysters per month in takeaway meals. “It really isn’t rocket science; we just rely on keeping the quality of our product consistent,” Scott says. “We have advertised once or twice on the radio but

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don’t bother anymore. Word of mouth is enough. So many come to the shop because they have heard from a friend about how good the food is.” Scott believes that the success of the takeaway is also due to customers being able to watch the oyster farm in action. Picnic tables have been set up overlooking the leased areas. And the farm is kept very tidy with planted gardens adding to the natural beauty of the location. “I also think it makes them feel good that their food was grown in their community.” Scott is happy with the farm and believes productivity is moving along nicely. In the future he would like to look at adjustable oyster longline systems but with the takeaway going so well it is not currently a necessity. By Phillip Kerr with Dos O’Sullivan For more information contact Scott Osborne, Ohiwa Oyster Farm, P.O. Box 3121, Ohope, New Zealand, Tel: 64 (07) 312-4565, Fax: 64 (07) 312-4510.

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30 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

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FARM PROFILE

Tropical Fish Growing in Melbourne Charlie Micallef and wife Jacqui operate a small but profitable ornamental fish farm in outer-suburbia Melbourne. Their business produces a range of tropical freshwater (South American) species, notably the majestic Discus Fish (Symphosodon sp.). Having grown their hobby into a fully commercial business, the pair are looking to expand in the near future. 1

1: A breeding pair of Discus (Symphosodon sp.) defending their eggs located on the spawning cone. Discus, like many other cichlid species, display a strong parental instinct. Photo by Charlie Micaleff 2: Charlie Micaleff feeding ground beef-heart to some sub-adult Discus. The glass aquaria sit on metal tank stands that are 3 rows high, this maximises use of thespace in the shed. Photo by Jacqui Micaleff. 3: The fish shed is steel framed with colourbond sheeting. It is insulaated with 50mm freezer panels to reduce heat loss. The 200 m2 is built on a concrete slab and holds around 40,000L of water in 200 plus glass aquaria. Photo by Charlie Micaleff 4: The glass aquaria are all hard-plumbed in to facilitate automatic water changes and easy drainage of tanks. This serves to reduce the labour needed to operate the facility. Photo by Charlie Micaleff

32 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

Charlie, who has kept fish as a hobby for most of his life, started selling fish seriously in 1995. At first, sales were limited, Charlie says. “At first I would sell trade or sell some fish to pay for food and equipment to support my hobby. This allowed me to gradually build up my breeding facility until I was producing enough fish to pay for all my costs and make some money. It was around that time that I decided I could make a living from breeding fish.” However, it has not been an easy transition from hobby to a full-time job. As a hobby breeder, Charlie was not required to have any permits or licences. Not so a commercial operation. He has had to navigate the maze of local and state government red-tape to get the necessary permits and licences in place. But while there were some problems Charlie now has all the necessary permits and has just been granted a building permit to double his current facilities. “Our property is still zoned as rural residential. However this will change soon and once it does we would no longer be able to get approval to expand. So we decided to go ahead and

FARM PROFILE

get approval and begin building now.” The economics and reality of making a living out of fish breeding is also much different from how it looked as a hobby. “When I had had mortalities or pairs stoped breeding for a while it was nothing major before. Now it’s my livelihood every setback directly affects my bank balance,” Charlie explains. As a one man operation, it’s also a struggle getting away from the farm. However, whilst it is a seven daya week proposition, he doesn’t have to be around all day every day. So there are some free hours. “The farm is generally running well at present but I can’t get weekends off like I used to. I guess it is a lifestyle thing,” he says. And after operating full-time for around 18 months now he reckons the operation is a success despite the initial steep learning curve. Charlie is a boiler-maker by trade and has saved a lot of money by not only constructing the building but installing the tank stands, tanks and the associated plumbing as well. Vic Fisheries recently valued Charlie’s facility at just over $100,000. But his cash cost has

been considerably less as much of the work was done himself. An added benefit is that he knows exactly how everything is put together, allowing for easy maintenance and retrofitting. Land and Facility Charlie’s farm is based in Rockbank near Melton, around 25 minutes from the airport and 30 minutes from Aquarium Industries Pty Ltd – his largest customer. He currently has permits to develop up to 250m2 of the property for the tropical fish farm which is housed in a 110 m2 colourbond shed lined with 50 mm freezer panels for insulation and temperature control. The shed is built on a concrete slab sloped to provide a self draining floor. Heating is provided by a household gas-powered, ducted heating system capable year-round of maintaining temperatures optimal for most tropical species. Charlie aims for a water temperature of around 27°C. There is some variation between the top and bottom layers of tanks. However this is not a problem with species that prefer warmer temperatures housed in the higher tanks, with species breeding

Long narrow aisles help maximise the use of space in the shed. The concrete floors are sloped towards floor drains that allow any water on the floor to drain away. Photo by Charlie Micaleff

at lower temperatures kept below. Charlie has over 40,000 L of water in his shed housed in 250 glass aquaria, generally 200L each. These are stacked three high on metal racks to maximise the use of the shed. The aquaria are all ‘hard plumbed’ – each has a 25 mm hole in the bottom with a 15 mm PVC standpipe sitting in it – to allow for easier water changes and cleaning.. All tanks

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Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 33

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

FARM PROFILE

To allow inter-farm comparisons, each AAM farm profile details a number of system performance criteria. Except for the comments under ‘Key Management Decisions’ which are prepared by Dos, the information has been supplied by the farmer: Key Management Decisions include: – Most of the construction done on site by the owner to reduce construction costs and need for outside labour – Strong marketing relationship with major customer – Continual exchange of technical information and trouble-shooting with major customer to improve quality and supply – Looking to expand to reach ‘scale of economies • Growth rate: around 4 months to market size. • Av. stocking density: between 3 fish per litre and 1 fish per 4 litres. • Production rate: 500 fish per 1,000m3 (growout system volume) per year • Water use: 25,000 L per week • Power use: Not enough data for new facility • Productivity: Not enough data for new facility • Production cost: Varies considerably with species, not enough data for new facility

have air-driven sponge filters that act as both solids and biological filters. To do a water change, Charlie drains water to the required level and then switches on a pressure pump which delivers water to the tanks. Each tank has its own float valve which allows the tanks to fill back to the correct level. If an aquarium needs to be drained and

34 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

cleaned, then the standpipe is simply pulled out to allow the water to drain making tank management a lot easier and safe. “Having the tanks hard plumbed means that I don’t need draining hoses everywhere which reduces the trip hazards and water spills on the floor,” he says. All effluent water is used to water Charlie’s garden and surrounding grounds, as per his license provisions. “We don’t have a lot of waste water. I suppose it would be around 25,000 L per week. Rather than waste the water we use it to water the surrounding area, which means we have a nice green lawn all year around.” Water is sourced from Melbourne town water which is generally quite good for breeding tropical ornamentals. The pH is generally 7 or just slightly acid and conductivity (which indicates the levels of salts in the water) is around 65 microsiemens. This makes the water particularly suitable for ‘soft-water’ species like those originating from the Amazon River basin such as Discus Fish (Symphosodon sp). However, recent changes in the water’s original source seems to have affected the breeding output of some species. Charlie says: “Since the water has been changed, I have noticed that there has been a change in fertility rates of eggs and the survival of larvae and fry of some species. I suspect that there has been some subtle changes to the water chemistry. The parameters I measure are all okay but something seems to be amiss. I will be getting some samples analysed soon to see if there is anything that could be causing the problems.”

Feeding Feeding is a very important part of Charlie’s routine as good nutrition is vital to continued spawning for many of the species produced at Melbourne Ornamental Fish Farm. The majority of these are classed as ‘partial spawners’, able to spawn several times during the spawning season so long as temperatures and water quality remain suitable. In the hatchery, that means spawning for many tropical aquarium species can be extended for most of the year by ensuring suitable temperatures and water quality plus a high quality diet. Charlie uses broodstock diets such as minced beef heart, frozen livefoods, and high quality pelleted feeds such as the Skretting aquarium fish diet. Charlie has had to change his hobbyist feeding routine to a more commercial one. “When I was doing this as a hobby, I tended to feed a lot more to ensure the fish were in peak condition. This often resulted in wasted food and the necessity for more water changes. Now that I have more tanks and I need to make money from this I feed the fish a lot less … but no less quality for the fish.” His feeding regime does vary a little from species to species but typically the first feed provided to fry is freshly hatched (or Instar I) Artemia sp. Initially fed twice per day to most fry it is gradually replaced with 200-400 micron NRD Artemia replacement diet (available through Primo Aquaculture). Weaning onto the NRD diet is generally complete after two weeks from first feed. The fry are then weaned onto 0.4mm Skretting Aquarium Fish diet, which is fed twice daily to satiation. As the fry

FARM PROFILE

grow they are moved onto larger sized 1.2 mm Skretting Aquarium crumbles. Some species such as Discus Fish are ‘finished off’ or conditioned for sale by supplementing feeding with minced beef heart that has some red colour pigment added to enhance the colouration of the fish. Diseases Diseases, in particular protozoan parasites, can be a major problem for ornamental fish producers. The high tem-

peratures that the fish are kept up (generally over 25°C) often result in short life cycles for parasite species. Charlie is fortunate in that he does not have too many problems with parasites. The main problem species are gill flukes (Dactylogyrus sp.) which primarily affects Discus Fish. However this is generally easily controlled through commercially available treatments. Charlie has a strict disease treatment regime and checks his fish regularly for signs of disease, using both visual

observations and microscopy. Fish are treated upon signs of disease, as well as periodic prophylactic treatments being done regularly on all tanks. Charlie also maintains a good hygiene program and tries to keep equipment and tanks separate to prevent cross-contamination. Marketing Charlie started marketing his fish to local pet shops but, as production increased, began selling to Aquarium Industries Pty Ltd, Australia’s largest

Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 35

FARM PROFILE

wholesaler. Charlie prefers to sell there as it is located nearby making it easy for deliveries. Aquarium Industries also has considerably high demand for fish due to a large turnover of several million fish per annum. This reduces the need for Charlie to find other markets for his fish, leaving him more time to produce fish. In fact the demand for fish by Aquarium Industries was a major impetus for Charlie going full time with his hobby, “Rick Datodi of Aquarium Industries PL was very helpful and supportive in supplying information about what products to use and how to set up the fish room. This even extended to supplying some inexpensive second hand glass aquaria which are the basis of my farm. Without his support I doubt that I would have taken this step,” says Charlie. The company has also helped Charlie by providing broodstock and technical advice. Charlie’s fish generally reach market size by 4 to 5 months of age. Fish are harvested from tanks and hand graded for size and conformity to ‘standards’ for the particular species or variety. Fish

36 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

that are too small are restocked in tanks for further grow-out while mutated or sub-standard fish are culled. Those ready for sale are packed in plastic bags with water and oxygen using standard industry packing methods. The bagged fish are then transported by car in polystyrene fish boxes to the customer. This means that transit times are very quick – generally under three hours tank to tank – resulting in minimal transit stress. At present, Charlie is concentrating on producing small sized fish as he does not have the room to grow-out larger species. However, once he expands his operation he will be able to grow fish to larger sizes. The main species produced are the Discus Fish, but Charlie also produces species such as Green Horseface (Geophagus spp), Blue Rams (Microgeophagus ramirezzi), Gold Severums, Firemouth Cichlids and is constantly looking for other species to breed.

months, doubling his production capacity. He believes that the extra capacity will make his business much more profitable “Other breeders I have talked to suggest that you need a 200 m2 room with around 70,000L to make a profitable business, particularly if you are only producing cheaper species. “I am producing more expensive species but I still think I need to be larger and produce a more diverse range of species to reduce cash flow problems if a problem develops with any one species. Charlie is also considering taking on an employee to help give him some free time.

Future Developments Charlie is looking at starting to build his new fish-room in the next few

Rockbank, Victoria, 3335.

By Shane Willis , National Aquaculture Training Institute Pty Ltd For more information contact, Charlie Micallef, Melbourne Ornamental Fish Farm, 1203-1205 Leakes Road, ph: (03) 9747 1669, fax: (03) 9747 1969, e-mail: charliem@iprimus.com.au.

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NZ abalone dynamo talks up a future for paua On completion of the Maori Fisheries Settlement in the early nineties, the NZ Government put surplus fishing quota up for sale. So Jeremy Cooper and a few mates tendered for a tonne of paua quota. “We were keen divers and thought it would be good fun to pick up some extra cash for a few weekends’ work,” he recalls. “And it was too!” At the time abalone quota was trading for $40,000 a tonne so the decision to buy in wasn’t too difficult. But as the price escalated quickly, the diving friends became rapidly aware that they were sitting on a very handy capital gain. So when they thought it couldn’t rise any more, they sold out. Oops. Bad move. It’s climbed even more. There’s many others with the same story. People have made fortunes on quota trading. Others have missed out big time. “It left a lot of bad blood within the industry,” Jeremy continues “and created an industry with rivalries, jealousy and little co-operation.” Still, Jeremy – a man of the land – was out of it, continuing on with his career as a horticultural chemicals advisor. Then, four years ago he found himself with time on his hands over winter. So he opted to harvest four tonne of abalone quota for a company that held a lot of quota around Nelson (top of the south island). He was in for a big surprise. “Shocked is the best word to describe how I felt when began diving again,” he says. “I was in the same area I’d collected paua nine years before. But the fishery was in all sorts of strife. Just one example is the CPUE (catch per unit effort). It was about half that previously. “One of the problems was the increased number of divers in the water which lead to completely uncoordinated harvesting. It was playing havoc on the abalone which get stressed very,

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38 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

very easily. You pick them up and put them back and they’ll stop eating for a week. Pick them up every week for a year and how much growing do you think they’ll do? “Yet that’s what was happening. One group of harvesters would come in and do over a bay and then the next week another lot would arrive to do the same thing. Ridiculous!” Not surprisingly he informed the company he was harvesting for – a large Maori Business Unit that owned quota as an investment – of his findings. They were all ears to someone prepared to tell it like it was. And Jeremy, shocked as he was, didn’t need much prompting. The upshot was that the company sold its quota and left the fishery entirely. But Jeremy didn’t. He didn’t own quota, didn’t have a stake in the industry and didn’t owe anyone any favours. Yet he could see that the fishery didn’t have to be in the mess it was in. It needed an agent of change and since none were standing up, he nominated himself. He started small and in his home base – Nelson. “At the time quotas came in, New Zealand was split up into a number of management zones (Paua 2 through to Paua 7) – Lower North Island, Upper South Island, Upper East Coast of the South Island, Lower South Island and Chatham Islands. “I had dived in the Upper South Island zone known as Paua 7.” Knowing that Paua 7 was in trouble and recognising that the stocks needed an immediate respite, Jeremy began enlightening quota holders of the benefits of ‘shelving’ some of their yearly catch. “I knew that quota cuts would be imposed at some point. However it would be too late. The scientists are always behind the ball, about two years behind. I’ve heard of one meeting six years ago where the scientists told industry what a strong fishery Paua 7 was. The harvesters present told them that was rubbish, a major problem was brewing. “They were right. In the next few years, the government reduced the catch by 30%.” Indeed, Jeremy says that the Govern-

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ment sees it’s primary role as one of ensuring sustainability, with quota cuts as its only effective implementing mechanism. Other than that, industry had to look out for itself. So this was the poisonous atmosphere he faced. Industry was polarised between large quota owning companies (primarily investors that did not participate in the harvesting process) and smaller quota owners who did their own harvesting but had much less clout and much more resentment. The Government stayed above the fray, in strict ‘hands-off’ mode. Jeremy began talking with all the stakeholders in Paua 7. By force of personality, persistence, salesmanship and sheer bloody-mindedness he kept on where others would have flagged. Everyone predicted failure. But a true believer is hard to sway; in the end he swayed all the doubters. All quota owners signed on to a catch reduction scheme. Now for the fourth year (out of the past five), a percentage of quota (15%) in Paua 7 is ‘shelved’ into a holding company. Industry is safeguarding the resources future, sustainability and productivity by implementing its own catch restrictions that will speed up the fishery rebuild. The victory was highly symbolic. “Because of the shelving process, people in the industry witnessed what could be achieved if we forgot the past and started co-operating,” Jeremy says. Having achieved the near-impossible, Jeremy and the company he worked for at the time – the Paua Management Company – began to look further afield. Could the “industry unity” achievements in Paua 7 be the start of something on a national scale? A Herculean task to be sure but again Jeremy came up with the aces. Convinced of the need to bring everyone together in a co-operative atmosphere, he conceived the idea of a national abalone conference where the large companies and the small quota owners would be made equally as welcome. “It took a hell of a lot of horsepower to get it together. The doubters said it would never happen but I made sure it was going to be a lot of fun. We had

professional MCs, night-time entertainment and a terrific program. “It was a bloody great conference and for two days the baggage of the past was forgotten and the small beginnings of a vision and a structure for the future began to develop.” Crucially, New Zealand has a visionary funding process mandated for all trulyrepresentative industry bodies. Called the Commodity Levies Act but re-packaged for the seafood industy as the Commercial Stakeholder Organisation (CSO) Levy, it allows for the compulsory collection of money to fund all CSOs. “What it effectively means is that all of the quota owners (in a specified quota management area) have to be supplied with the proposed work plan and budgets and so on. If 66% of them are present (or represented) at a voting meeting and 66% of those support that work plan/budget, then the levy is implemented and becomes compulsory for all quota owners in that region,” Jeremy explains. “In other words, agreement is needed from 46% of the industry.” It also means that the noisy disagreement of a few cannot derail the best intentions of the majority. Armed with this mechanism to achieve a workable industry structure, Jeremy set to work. A representative committee of concerned abalone quota holders and divers from around New Zealand was formed to seek out and encourage involvement from all industry sectors. At the core of the structure are Paua

Management Action Committees (MACs), one for each of the five regions. Regional quota holders drive the MACs who, in turn, become the only shareholders of the Paua Industry Council. Jeremy believes the structure is ironclad, as transparent and representative as humanly possible. “We spent far too much time and effort on setting it up but the result is very, very robust. We needed to answer all the Doubting Thomas’s and couldn’t leave anything to chance that might of jeopardised the approval of CSO levies.” Whilst the Paua MACs are staffed and run primarily on a volunteer basis, the Council has two part-time employees (Jeremy is one and Chairman, Ed Arron, the other) who concentrate on the generic issues such as marine reserves, biosecurity, poaching, fishery enhancement and so on. Each MAC sets its own CSO levy. By law this can range up to 4% of the beach price but currently averages about 1.8% across the regions. The New Zealand fishery is really very different to its counterpart in Australia. Paua do not live nearly as deep as here. In many sections of the Kiwi coastline, the reef meets the sand at a depth of just seven metres or so. Therefore underwater water breathing apparatus is banned in the fishery – for commercial and amateur sectors alike. But like Australia, marine protected areas (MPAs) loom as a big threat. “Although the conservationists say they

Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 39

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only want 10% of the coastline, they’re not showing any interested in protecting inlets. They want the high energy reefs where paua grow. So that 10% of coastline may represent over 30% of the potential harvesting area for paua!” It’s quite a worry. That catch cannot be diverted elsewhere, especially given the reduced state of the stocks. Indeed, Jeremy sees enhancement through reseeding as the only real path to rebuilding the fishery and safeguarding its future. On this issue too, he’s found himself out on a limb. “The first reseeding trials were done in the Chatham Islands 13 years ago and showed that some habitats are really good and others are bad. The research was ticked off and there was no follow-up.” Until Jeremy came along. “My experience from horticulture and agriculture is that you need to generate future production – you can’t rely on nature alone to produce the next generation. Of all the fisheries, paua’s an absolute sitter to adopt this model. We could rebuild this fishery with reseeding and no other wild harvest fishery has that opportunity.” So he’s poured his boundless enthusiasm into this project too, encountering knockers all along the way. Again, however, he talked around the people who matter, securing $75,000 in funding from the Government, about $80,000 from Paua 7 quota holders and a further $20,000 from the Government for a Masters student to study some of the issues in detail. Crucially, he also snared the support of Cawthron Institute scientist Rodney

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Roberts. “Most scientists I’ve talked to about reseeding have quickly knocked it. They reckon it will never happen. But Rodney’s like me; he really wants to make this thing work.” And work it should if the research results are any guide. The Masters student built artificial reefs in the entrance to the Marlborough Sounds and then painstakingly began testing all the variables. The biggest finding to date is that 75% of hatchery-produced juveniles – reseeded at a size of 20mm – survive the first three months on the reef, confounding all the critics. Jeremy’s ecstatic. Now he’s ready to move on the next part of the vision – reseeding enough abalone to rebuild the fishery to its former glory in ten years. That will take a massive number of reseeded abalone; indeed more 20mm seed than can be produced used current hatchery capacity. So, ever on the lookout for an edge, Jeremy’s taken a renewed look at the area’s numerous mussel leases. “The 6 metre V-tanks they use in the abalone hatcheries can house 70,000 5mm paua but only 4,000 at a size of 20mm,” he explains. “We need to find a nursery for the young ones and mussel farms are the key. Just look at Chile. There abalone are commercially grown out to 80mm in growing structures under the marine farms. Three mussel leases in Marlborough Sounds are now in various stages of doing the same thing here too. “ Interestingly, the Maori Business Unit that he’d originally advised to exit the wild harvest paua industry are now running trials on growing paua on some of their marine farms. Jeremy’s own trials have been with 1.2m plastic pipes, each 250mm across with filters and caps on each end and tied into bunches of nine. These are being placed in Tory Channel where the tide peaks at six knots, flushing the pipes well. “Once a week the pipes are lifted, the end caps removed, the pipe filled with seaweed and the cap replaced,” he says. “There are no filtering costs, no pumping costs, the food is grown on site and labour costs are reduced. And they are

growing and surviving splendidly. One of the sites is recording survival rates of 99% from 10mm to 20mm on commercial scale trials.” Even so, he’s recently picked the brains of two visiting Chilean scientists on how they tackle the process. Those in the industry that can see the potential are talking about pushing for a future reseeding levy of around $1500 per tonne of quota which would allow for five million seeds a year. “We should ultimately aim to be seeding enough abalone to replace what we harvest each year.” From Nelson he can look out on a local model of just such a scheme. Scallop enhancement is big business in the region. For many years the harvests have been great, even though recreational fishers have easy access to the reseeded beds. The key has been a refined program of reseeding and rotational harvesting. But now those fishers have hit a snag. Over the past few years they’ve been forced into fighting a proposed mussel farm, a huge development that they fear will encroach on their harvest areas and strip so much algae from the water that scallop growth will slow. Over $1m in funding has been spent on the fight and that expense has robbed the reseeding program. Consequently, only 120 tonnes of the 750 tonne allowable catch has been landed in the current year. The warning has been heeded and remedial action started. It does go to prove though how a well-funded, well-researched reseeding program can underpin an entire fishery. Jeremy’s in no doubt that it will work even better for abalone. Clearly he’s got his work cut out for him but will find time to come to Tasmania this May to present a paper at the 3rd National Abalone Convention. After that it’s back home to organise the second abalone conference for New Zealand. “After the success of the first one, you can imagine the pressure on me to do it better again!” This dynamo never stands still it seems. By Tim Walker

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Abalone grower’s long journey to a golden harvest Mike Wing greeted the nineties with ‘itchy feet’. So the farm hand at Colin and Sue Dyke’s Little Swanport operation decided to trade in oyster grading and harvesting for the excitement of driving off into the sunset. A working holiday for a few years was the pitch. In truth Mike and his girlfriend Juliene made a decision to keep driving until they could go no further. Then if the money got tight they’d be too far away to run home and would simply have to make do. And how far was that? Try Darwin. Any further and they’d be swimming with the crocodiles. So the young couple packed the Subaru ute with camping gear, boated the Strait and dawdled their way right through the Centre. Loved every minute of it too. But when they reached the Australia’s most cosmopolitan city, Mike’s first job there began to pall after a few months. Preparing tractors and machinery for sale in a second-hand truck yard just didn’t do it for him. So began a quest to peel back the layers of his adopted home, a quiet nosing out of opportunities. And the gem was revealed. It seemed there was a pearl oyster breeding outfit in town – Pearl Oyster Propagators (POP) – run by Dr Bob Rose. Mike called in to see him and landed himself a job. POP’s service was a comprehensive one – the design, building and commissioning of pearl oyster hatcheries, conducting of production runs and training of hatchery staff. Services also extended to sea-based nursery culture if needed. Mike soon found himself growing algae, sourcing broodstock, spawning that broodstock, rearing larva and spat and then transferring it from the hatchery out onto the farms in NT and WA. This was a technical job and it required specific expertise. “Col Dyke

had already convinced me that Aquaculture in general was a good thing and Bob Rose further convinced me that I should get more technically involved,” Mike recalls. “So I completed a graduate diploma with Deakin University by correspondence.” POP’s domain took in a number of sites on WA’s northern coastline plus some sites in Indonesia. Mike soon found himself travelling to Indonesia once or twice a year – generally for 4-5 week stints – and from time to time, to the Kimberleys in WA. Between the varied job and an idyllic tropical lifestyle, Darwin suited the young couple just fine. Eventually though the pair decided to get married in Hobart and made “the fastest trip from Darwin to Hobart by car” (3 days). After the wedding they were very happy to go back to the NT. As Mike says: “Darwin had become our home”. Still, it took six weeks for the honeymooners to return. The drive back took in the continent’s east coast – Sydney, Brisbane, Rockhampton, Longreach, Mt Isa and Tennant Creek. They were to be in Darwin for another three years. “And then one day we just knew we’d had enough’,” Mike

continues. “So we sold up our house and came back. “This happens a lot in Darwin. As nice a place as it is, it has a very transient population. People come and go all the time. That’s probably one of the beauties of the place.” But before the Wings left there was a last request from POP to travel to Indonesia. This time both of them went … and for two and a half months too, much longer than usual. On their return, the trusty Subaru came out of storage and began a trip that took in the Kimberlys, Broome, the WA coastline all the way down to Albany and across the Nullabor to Melbourne for the boat ride to Tassie. Ten weeks of camping heaven according to Mike. Not long after their return Mike saw a ‘Positions Vacant’ ad in The Mercury that had “my name written all over it”. It was for a technician with the Tasmanian Tiger Abalone Company at its hatchery on the banks of the Denison Canal at Dunalley. The hatchery also ran a pilot scale farm, its mission to develop both sufficient seedstock to start a commercial farm and the growout technology to use on that farm. A short time after Mike began with

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Tasmanian Tiger Abalone, the general manager departed. Mike stepped up into the boss’ shoes. A technician was recruited to take his place. For the next few years Mike and his team – which at one stage numbered six – ran a series of growout trials. “We looked at tank design, water flows, substrate, stocking densities, all those things that are crucial to commerciallyviable growout. “This was done bearing in mind what we knew about abalone preferences in water quality – oxygen and ammonia levels for example. This was available in existing literature”. “I think we trialled five or six growout designs. We started off with oblong tanks with rounded ends, went to a round tank and ended up with a rectangle with rounded corners. The

reason we moved from a round tank is that we wanted a complete flowthrough and opted for water to inflow at one end and go straight out at the other end. Although round tanks were cheap to build they were never going to be commercially viable.” Not only tank shape went under the microscope. Tank construction did too with fibreglass, plastic and concrete all being tested. The company settled on concrete. And it’s had the same tank builder from day one. It was about this time that the Partnership of Tasmanian Tiger Abalone was wound up and Cold Gold went on independently to continue the quest of successful abalone culture. Pilot scale testing is an inherently uncertain business. Just as well Mike sleeps well at nights. “I didn’t get too

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stressed,” he says. “I always felt sure that we would develop technology that we could use on a large commercial scale. Although it was someone else’s ‘hurt money’ it was no reason to take things lightly.” That ‘someone else’, the company’s owners, kept their eyes on the long term goal. “They kept focussing on the bigger picture, on what the farm could be rather than fretting about the 5,000 animals had turned up their toes in a certain tank design. “Abalone grow slowly. Some trials took 18 months to two years. We were never going to have the answers overnight. Instead we were given the time and backing to do our job properly,” Mike continues. “We knew what our goals were. We needed to be able to hold a commercial density of abalone in a tank (800-1000 kg/tank yield at harvest), they needed to continue to grow well at that density and the tanks needed to be cost-effective to build, easy to maintain and labour efficient. “Once you had that you could scale up to a commercial farm.” By 1999, that’s exactly where Cold Gold stood. It was happy with its technology, now it needed to go on and commence building a farm. Mike and Cold Gold’s sole director looked up and down the South East coast of Tasmania, focussing on a number of suitability criteria – access to power and to the coast, pumping head, fall of the land (gravity flow for waste water), distance to the airport (for freight) and the city or towns (for staff). How ironic then that one of the ideal sites ended up to be leased paddocks just three kilometres along the road. Cold Gold began building the farm in 2000 with water flowing through tanks by March 2001. In the meantime, the hatchery continued its role of building up numbers of small abalone (3040mm) for stocking those tanks. Having successfully completed this initial stocking, the company closed down the hatchery, opting to concentrate on growout only and buy in the seed from another farm. “With the numbers we were doing at the time, it

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was cheaper to buy seed than produce it,” Mike explains. “Although that equation might change as the farm gets bigger, we’ve decided that it is best to do one thing very well and for us that’s growing out to market size. “So we canvassed two of the other hatcheries to see if they were interested in supplying us and one of them was. Now they supply seed for three farms – themselves, us and another farm.” Cold Gold is into its third (calendar) year of commercial production – five tonnes in 2003, twenty tonnes in 2004 and another twenty slated for this year. However, with the farm into its fourth building project since 2000 – expanding the tank numbers by another third (to 92) – a further leap in the harvest will occur from 2006. At that point the operation will be just one third of the site’s target size. And each year, Mike continues his quest to shave production costs, improve efficiencies and build margins. Harvest size is 80-120 grams. All fish leave the property live, either packed in polystyrene boxes (if going to the airport) or in a plastic bin (if destined for a local processor). The abalone bound for the Japanese live market is sent first to Cairns – where it is rested awhile in tanks – before on-forwarding to Tokyo. Of those canned in 2004, much was done locally with the remainder processed in Adelaide. This year most canning will occur in Victoria. Cold Gold is also in discussion with local processors to develop other value added products. “We need to stay flexible as to how we deal with our harvests,” Mike explains. “Markets can change from live to cans to frozen. You need to adjust your value-adding to suit. It’s no use relying on just one type of product.” Given such upscaling of farmed abalone harvests occurring on this and other farms, it’s just as well that the growers now use specially-designed docket books to record movements of their product – similar to the paper trail, tracing landings from abalone divers working wild stocks. Mike considers the new guidelines and docket books to be one of the

biggest successes of the Tasmanian Abalone Growers Association (TAGA), of which he is the President. “It took eight or nine years between TAGA with assistance from the Tasmanian Aquaculture Council and consultation with the Department to come up with this workable solution. It was a matter of carefully going through all the issues, deciding which ones were relevant and then designing an effective process. Indeed Mike says the TAGA has become increasingly adept in both fostering links between individual growers and advancing their concerns with the research community and government. “Traditionally growers used to be a bit secretive about how we went about things. Now we basically have an opendoor policy to other existing farmers: we know our opposition is not within Australia but perhaps the farm in Chile or South Africa.” In tandem with on-farm developments, there has been substantial advances in early life history, nutrition, broodstock conditioning and selective breeding, advances won through substantial research efforts funded in the main by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) in conjunction with various state and federal agencies. “I’m quite sure that the Australian abalone farming industry would not be where it is today without the assistance derived from the FRDC. The Abalone Aquaculure Subprogram (AASP) oversees research topics that have been chosen by industry and are directly relevant to abalone breeding and farming.” The AASP is led by Dr Ann Flemming who has a long association with abalone culture research But leveraging benefits of the selective breeding programs in particular will be difficult in Tasmania due to quarantine issues that currently restrict the import of viable stock, sperm, eggs and larvae into the state. Instead, Mike says, state based growers have begun talking about implementing a Tasmanian program. Aquaculture is known to be hard on its participants in terms of the hours on the job. So how does Mike balance his farm responsibilities with those of a young family?

“When we were first building this place there was a fair bit of pressure on me. I told my wife – pregnant with our second child – that she couldn’t have the baby until the water was flowing on the new farm site.” Daughter number two was born ten days after the pumps were commissioned on the farm. “But as an operating farm, that pressure has fallen away slightly, now that we have confidence in our systems and responsibilities are shared with other key staff on the farm. Now it’s more a matter of finding the right people, training them and hanging onto them, make them feel part of a team rather than just the worker. “The pumping stations are all alarmed; if there is a malfunction on the weekend, whoever is on call comes in and attends to the fault. This rarely happens now but gives good peace of mind.” So the Wing family is able to going away fishing on granddad (Bernard) Wilson’s 40-footer for a weekend of fishing and snorkelling. And Mike can find time to busy himself with landscape gardening or his other passion, Italian motorbikes. In truth, he’s a committed Tasmanian again. “I’m glad we went away, got that wanderlust out of our systems. Now we’re anchored here back in the “Abalone Isle” and happy to be so.” By Tim Walker

School of Aquaculture 20 year Reunion Friday 8 July 2005 Calling all graduates and former staff of the School of Aquaculture!! Join us to celebrate 20 years of aquaculture training and research Hook into a 3 course gourmet dinner and fine wines Catch up with old friends and hear the latest news in Australian aquaculture Contact us for more information Ph (03) 6324 3801or email enquiries@aqua.utas.edu.au

Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 43

NEWS

Natfish celebrates 10 years Students taking water quality measurements

Harvesting silver perch – a student loading the transport tank at the pond

Lisa is the Head Teacher at TAFE NSW North Coast Institute’s National Fishing Industry Education Centre (Natfish) in Grafton. With a degree in Marine Biology and Graduate Diplomas in Fisheries Technology and Vocational Education, she has previously worked in oyster and prawn hatcheries and on a prawn farm. In her spare time she helps her husband on their silver perch farm. Here she reflects on her 10th year of teaching at Natfish. 44 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

I started with TAFE in July 1993, Tim Jones and myself were hired to write curricula for an aquaculture certificate. At that time there were no accredited aquaculture courses readily available in Australia for people wanting to gain the technical skills to become farmers. We organised a series of seminars around the state with NSW Fisheries and the Office of Labour Market Adjustment (OLMA) and had a huge response. Over 600 people attended, indicative of the level of interest in aquaculture in NSW. NSW Fisheries was actively encouraging people to become involved growing Silver Perch. We realised from the outset that the “normal” TAFE way of having people in a classroom from 9 to 4 wasn’t going to work. Our prospective students were mature aged, employed and scattered far and wide, often from rural and isolated areas. To overcome this we planned to run the course by distance delivery with blocks of practical workshops where students would get wet and dirty! Our students would need text books and materials to work from and we would need a computer based management system that didn’t rely on massive main frame computer systems – neither existed in TAFE NSW nor anywhere else for that matter. Tim and I were fresh from the aquaculture industry. In a way this was a blessing – we focused on what the

NEWS

industry needed and were blissfully unaware in those early days of the challenges of fitting what we were doing into a massive TAFE system. We gained our teaching qualifications once we started with TAFE. In January 1995 we enrolled our first 60 students in the Certificate IV in Aquaculture Production. By the end of the year we had 180 students. The students were typically mature aged, male and from a wide variety of backgrounds and were from all over. We had farmers who were looking to diversify, plumbers, electricians, teachers, bankers, a taxi driver with family and land in Lebanon , a vet, and so on (even the then NSW Education Minister enrolled to do a short course – she is now the Chair of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority). Some had already invested in the industry others were looking to. The view of some educational administrators at the time was that one teacher could manage hundreds of students doing distance education. Unfortunately we quickly proved that wrong and our team grew. We needed extra teachers at the workshops. Glen Searle was invited to do some teaching at the first workshop block, then some writing for a module, then coordinating for the second workshop... 10 years on Glen is still at Natfish juggling his hatchery and teaching. Tim moved on and various other teachers have come and gone, each adding their own unique industry experiences. Some teach only at workshop blocks or mark assignments as they are actively engaged in aquaculture, others have had a break from farming and stayed a while. By the late 90s we had over 500 students enrolled, ran workshops at Wagga Wagga, Kurri Kurri and Bribie Island to satisfy demand and had picked up a few state and national awards along the way for our innovative delivery. TAFE NSW invested over 5 million into the industry through Natfish in the last 10 years. In the same period, aquaculture production in NSW has grown from $37.1 million in 1994/95 to $50.8 million in 2003/04,

1. Injecting fish with hormone at a hatchery workshop 2. Matt Breakwell feeding bream at Searle Aquaculture 3. Harvesting silver perch at Terraquatic 4. Student collecting silver perch eggs at a hatchery workshop

with similar growth in the other states. Out of those early students many made an informed decision not to go into aquaculture. Others such as Ian Charles took up the challenge. Ian is now President of the Silver Perch Growers Association and recognised as an industry leader. A newspaper ad for the course sparked Ian’s interest in aquaculture. He enrolled in the course

in 1996 and by the time he had started his second year of the course had put in three trial ponds and applied for an aquaculture permit. I asked Ian recently for his thoughts on the course. “I found the course really worthwhile,” he said. “In particular I enjoyed the hands on work with fish; harvesting, sampling, and checking for disease and so on. One of the assign-

Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 45

NEWS

ments we did in the first year was to actually go through the application process and submit an aquaculture application to be marked. I was able to use the assignment as the basis for my permit application.” Ian recalled one amusing incident during a communications workshop – as did many students he approached the day with less than enthusiastic view. “I thought I’ve been in business for years do I really need to do this. At one point we had to do a role play scenario. One at a time we went to see the communications teacher in her office, she was our client and wasn’t happy with our last box of fish. She was a very good actor. One of the older students in the group went in and we could hear her tearing strips off him as his fish weren’t up to speed. This poor guy took it personally and got quite hot under the collar – he came out gathered up his books and shot through. We found later him out the back downing cups of coffee to calm his nerves! The next bloke had a completely different approach. Not only did he calm the angry client he also managed to negotiate a price rise! I reckon we all learnt something that day.” Whilst some of our students have established farms both here and overseas, others have used their certificate to gain work. We have graduates on fish, crayfish and prawn farms and hatcheries, working for CSIRO & NSW DPI (fisheries). I like to think we have made a positive contribution to the growth of the industry. In preparing for a conference talk a couple of years back, I tallied up that around 80% of the silver perch industry have had a connection with Natfish. Many of our other graduates have entered the industry in a variety of ways across the country: Anthony O’Donohue had found underground salt water on his property in the Hunter Valley. He built a small pond and dabbled with a few marine species with encouraging results. When he decided to expand his operations and begin hatchery operations both Anthony and his wife Sue enrolled in the Natfish Hatchery Techniques Short

46 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

Student learning to fillet fish at the Clarence River Fishermens Cooperative

Course. Anthony found the biology and water quality content of the course to be important but it was the hormone induction and live food production component that were vital to the further development of the business. The home study coupled with block workshop attendance format of the course enabled Anthony and Sue to minimise the disruption to their other family business while studying. Assistant Hatchery Manager at NSW DPI’s Narrandera Hatchery is Mark Stimson. Mark gained employment at

Using microscopes in lab at Natfish for health checks

NEWS

Narrandera as a fisheries technician while he was studying his Certificate 3 in Aquaculture with Natfish. Upon completion of his studies Mark has been promoted to the position of Assistant Hatchery Manager. Mark found the flexibility of the course vital to his needs. Mark was employed for the duration of his course but was easily able to organise leave to coincide with the scheduled workshops. The availability of telephone support from teaching staff also facilitated Markâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s smooth progress through his course. John Hedison operates the Stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s longest running marine cage fish farm growing several species including Mulloway, Snapper and Yellow-fin Bream. John came to the aquaculture industry from an engineering background, he had no biological training whatsoever. When John enrolled with Natfish it was that basic fish biology and water quality information that had the most immediate benefit for him. John studied flexibly, doing his theory from the course workbooks at night and between feeding his fish and attended 3-day workshops to pick up the practical skills. Mat Breakwell gained employment before the end of his Certificate 3 in Aquaculture at Searle Aquaculture a multi species marine fish hatchery. He was a key employee there for over 2 years rearing species such as Australian Bass, Mulloway, Yellow-fin Bream and Silver Perch. When the travel bug bit Mat decided to head north to warmer climates with his Certificate in his hand and gained employment on one of the larger Barramundi farms in Qld within days. Over the years we have seen other TAFE colleges come online, notably Innisfail and Darwin specialising in tropical aquaculture, Port Lincoln and Freemantle. A national training package has been developed for the industry and network of aquaculture teachers now meets nationally every two years. In response to demand we have broadened our courses to incorporate more species and offered short courses in recirculation technology and hatchery techniques. We are also offering courses in areas such as marine studies

Where are they now? Natfish graduates are working all over the country and Natfish would love to hear from them all. So if you are a past Natfish student who is working in or still has some interest in the aquaculture industry drop us a line to Natfish, Locked Bag 5, Grafton, NSW 2460 or send us an email to natfish@tafensw.edu.au. Let us know what you are doing and give us your current contact details so that we can try to keep in touch.

and recreational fishing industry services. Another important facet to the Natfish annual program is the overseas groups we now provide training for. In the past we have had individuals travel from New Zealand and Brunei for our courses and some Australians study with us while they travel the world but now we have forged links with two Japanese colleges and provide training for them annually. Natfish provides training for students from the Japan College of Foreign Languages each year. The students stay in Australia for 10 months. They study English for six months and complete a Certificate 3 in Marine Studies with Natfish. The most popular part of this course is the work they students do with marine mammals, particularly dolphins. This year we are providing this training for 32 students Also from Japan, about 20 students from the Japan Marine Science College

study at Natfish for three weeks each year as part of their Japanese Certifcate course. They gain an introduction to the Australian aquaculture industry, learning about basic water quality and fish biology and then progressing to fish hatchery techniques. These students are enthralled by the sessions where they hormone induce spawning and then follow the development of the eggs they have produced and the subsequent hatching and development of larvae. Where to from here? As the industry matures and the economics becomes tighter with soaring fuel costs, higher government charges etc, the challenge for farmers is to become better business managers, more efficient farmers, gain HACCP and Foodsafe accreditation, become better at marketing their product and keep abreast of the rapidly advancing technology. Is there a role for TAFE? I would argue there is. By Lisa Terry

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NEWS

Nomination for Seafood’s ‘Best of the Best’ Nominations are now open for The Australian Seafood Industry Awards to be presented on Wednesday, 14 September 2005 at The Big Top, Luna Park. The Awards dinner concludes Seafood Directions 2005, Australia’s peak seafood industry conference which this year is hosted by Sydney Fish Market. The awards recognise excellence in the Australian Seafood Industry and will bring all sectors of this vibrant industry together in one location. The purpose of the awards is to showcase the Australian Seafood Industry, its value to the national economy, its professionalism and its commitment to supplying some of the finest seafood in the world to the local, national and international markets it serves. “This is a celebration of excellence in all facets of the industry from water to waiter,” says Grahame Turk, Managing Director, Sydney Fish Market.

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There are eight award categories for The Australian Seafood Industry Awards 2005: Seafood Restaurant Presented to a seafood restaurant that has demonstrated excellence in consistently providing consumers with high quality seafood and a positive seafood dining experience. Seafood Business Proudly sponsored by Seafood Services Australia Presented to a seafood business involved in commercial fishing, aquaculture, processing, wholesale, export, import, retail, tourism, transport or other seafood related activity that has demonstrated business growth, innovation, excellence in product, service, marketing and made a significant contribution to the future of the seafood industry. Seafood Industry Producer Presented to a producer that has demonstrated excellence in the production of high quality seafood, improved fishing/farming practices, innovation, promotion of a positive industry image and overall contribution to the industry. Research and Development Proudly sponsored by Fisheries Research & Development Corporation Presented to an individual, company or organisation that has demonstrated excellence in research and development outcomes relevant to the sustainability or profitability of the Australian seafood industry. Seafood Industry Promotion Presented to an individual, company, organisation, promotion activity or event that has made a substantial positive contribution towards improving the public profile of seafood and the seafood industry.

Environment Proudly sponsored by Seafood Services Australia Presented to an individual, company, organisation, activity, project or event that has contributed significantly to protecting or rehabilitating fisheries environments and ecosystems, innovation and/or minimising the industry’s impact on the environment. Seafood Training Presented to an individual, company, organisation, project, student, trainee, training provider, employer or employee – in recognition of excellence in seafood industry training. Seafood Industry Icon Proudly sponsored by Sydney Fish Market Presented to an individual, company or organisation whose contribution has been judged by the Australian Seafood Industry Council as having made a very real and positive difference to the industry, including outstanding contributions over a sustained period of time and the establishment of positive, precedent setting outcomes that have secured a more secure future for the industry. Each award category has specific judging criteria against which nominees will be assessed and nominations for all but the Seafood Industry Icon Award, must be submitted by a member of the Australian Seafood Industry Council. Any person involved in or associated with the Australian seafood industry may submit a nomination for the Seafood Industry Icon Award.

The closing date for all nominations is Friday, 5 August 2005. For information on how to enter the Australian Seafood Industry Awards including award categories, please download the Award Information and Nomination Form at www.seafooddirections.com

NEWS

Young scientist joins Tas Uni’s academic staff

School of Aquaculture at University of Tasmania has appointed a new academic staff member, originally from South Australia. Ms Louise Ward grew up on a farming/vineyard property, north of Naracoorte in the south east of SA. She moved to study in Launceston because the aquaculture course was so well established with the best facilities in Australia, and it was highly regarded internationally. But she was also tempted by Tasmanian lifestyle which is much cheaper, so she could afford to both study and make the most of camping, diving and bushwalking. Having completed her Honours, she returned after time overseas specifically to work with the large rock lobster aquaculture team at Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute, and with the nutrition research group who had the best facilities to do lobster research in Australia. She has completed her PhD thesis, which is currently under examination. "The most exciting part of my work is to see students graduate not only with the knowledge and skills to operate and manage farms, but the inspiration and innovation to start their own ventures and develop research projects. The students who come to study aquaculture are from all over the world, and I enjoy the interaction and diverse backgrounds and experiences that they bring to the course," says Ms Ward. Louise has always been very interest-

ed in applied research. She wanted to work in areas with application to new aquaculture, and through this have found sharing research findings with industry and at conferences is most rewarding. She finds particularly exciting the opportunity to introduce the next generation of aquaculture students to the principles of aquaculture and current research. She is also enjoying Tasmanian lifestyle. "The longer I have been in Tassie, the more I realize how little I have seen! Tassie offers great quality of life where it has the benefits of bigger city living but without the traffic and living costs of Adelaide and Mel-

bourne! I enjoy its relaxed lifestyle, festivals, music concerts, great food and wines and all parked on the doorstop of the most amazing world heritage areas. I find I am still a tourist every weekend after 9 years of living here," says Louise.

The School of Aquaculture University of Tasmania accepts applications for both a traditional (February) and mid-year (July) start. Special offers are available for Honours students from interstate, starting either in the second semester 2005. Please contact 03 63243801 or email enquiries@aqua.utas.edu.au for more information.

TONY ROCK

We sadly say goodbye to Tony Rock. Tony passed away in Hobart after a short fight with cancer. He was a pioneer in warmwater aquaculture and recognized as a breeder of quality native fish. He started in aquaculture at Barrington, breeding aquatic plants and ornamental fish in 1975. In 1983 he moved his operation to the Bowman River and established Bowman Native Fish Hatcheries. Concentrating on silver and golden perch and catfish, Tony was always willing to talk fish to those who visited his farm and he has set many people off on the right track with his sound and generously offered advice. He and Yvonne are remembered for their hospitality and warmth and many’s the time visitors found themselves well behind schedule by the time they drove away. A firm believer in the future of the silver perch as a commercial species, it was Tony’s efforts that triggered the formation of the Gloucester Native Fish Growers Co-Operative. From his ornamental breeding days he was conscious of the importance genetics would have on the successful development of the species and by simple but thorough selection he put together a strain of breeders that produced commercially focused seedstock. He and Yvonne retired in 2002 to an idyllic spot on the Huon River, where Yvonne still lovingly tends her garden. The condolences of the industry go to Yvonne and children David, Simon and Hannah.

Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 49

FROM THE NAC

2006 Australasian Aquaculture Conference takes shape Representatives from the National Aquaculture Council (NAC), Asia Pacific Chapter of the World Aquaculture Society and Primary Industries and Resources South Australia (PIRSA) have been busy promoting the 2006 Australasian Aquaculture Conference and Trade Show. Simon Bennison, Chief Executive Officer of the NAC and Ian Nightingale, Aquaculture Manager at PIRSA have just returned from the World Aquaculture Society conference in Bali. They have been gathering interest for our region's biennial aquaculture event which will be held from 27-30 August

50 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

2006, at the Adelaide Convention Centre, South Australia. The response from delegates to the Bali conference has been extremely positive and most have already scheduled the Adelaide event in their diaries. Australasian Aquaculture 2006 will build on the success of the inaugural event for which over 1340 delegates from over 49 countries attended. Over 200 presentations were delivered and the exhibition space was sold out early. Additional booth space was created totalling over 105 trade show booths. The theme for Australasian Aquaculture 2006 "innovation in aquaculture".

Innovation means more than just increasing production. Maintaining of increasing profit, entering new markets, obtaining skilled labour, in fact, all aspects of aquaculture require a level of innovation. The series of events will provide a forum for aquaculture farmers, processors, business operators, equipment suppliers, scientists, educators, consultants, government representatives and others to meet and discuss the latest advances and innovations in the industry. "This is a conference by industry, for industry. We want to make sure people get the most value from their atten-

FROM THE NAC Main Picture left: Alistair Douglas of Aquafin CRC – ‘Post harvest & marketing – Production and product quality’ The presentation was: ‘To market to market to buy a fat tuna – Aquafin CRC Tuna Quality Project, Sensory Evaluation Workshop’ as part of Australasian Aquaculture 2004. Right: Adelaide convention centre

dance. Part of the success of the 2004 was due to the people who made it happen," said Bruce Zippel, Chair of the Conference organising committee. Various committees are being formed from program development to communications. The conference organisers have their ears and eyes wide open for suggestions and are looking for people to put their hands up to be involved. A dedicated Conference Coordinator has been appointed on a secondment from Meetings and Events South Australia. Claudia Metti has a wealth of experience in meetings and events and conference management were very fortunate to procure her services. Australasian Aquaculture is a biennial conference and exhibition of the Asia Pacific Chapter of the World Aquacul-

ture Society, the National Aquaculture Council of Australia, and the South Australian Aquaculture Council. Australasian Aquaculture 2006 is hosted by the Department of Primary Industries and Resources South Australia and the South Australian Tourism Commission.

If you are interested in being involved in the conference in any capacity, please check out the website at: http://www.australian-aquacultureportal.com/ or contact the Conference Coordinator: Claudia Metti – phone 08 8226 2269 or email: metti.claudia@saugov.sa.gov.au

Tim Flowers from South Australian Research & Development Institute. He is presenting (with Wayne Hutchinson, not pictured) ‘Current Research in Developing and Aquaculture Industry Using Water from Salt Interception Schemes in South Australia’. He presented during the ‘Inland Saline Aquaculture’ session at Australasian Aquaculture 2004.

Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 51

FROM THE NAC

Industry remains firm on labelling standards The proposed amendments to country of origin labelling put forward by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) have major implications for the aquaculture and broader seafood industries. Under the new code, labelling of unpackaged produce as 'imported' will not be mandatory. The proposal gives retailers the option of providing point of sale labelling - if they feel so inclined. It makes sense that the majority will probably choose the option of providing the information to customers 'on request'. The aquaculture industry in Australia is one of the most heavily regulated in the world. Fish, shellfish and crustacean farmers have high regard for the environment and society in which they operate. Australian producers comply with strict laws which ensure our farms are

ecologically sustainable and as such, the quality of aquaculture produce here at home is some of the best you could hope to find. The proposed amendments seriously jeopardise the ability for people to make informed decisions and chose to support their local produce and industries. Consumers have a right to know where their food comes from. Most will assume the product is from Australia if there is no prescribed labelling. It's just not fair to put the onus on shoppers to undertake a complex investigation to try to find out where their dinner comes from. "The NAC have made a submission to FSANZ which is consistent with the views of the aquaculture industry. Consumer groups are also very supportive of the stance we are taking," said Mr Simon Bennison, Chief Executive Officer of the National Aquaculture Council.

"We're keeping a close eye on developments. The position being taken by FSANZ will be extremely detrimental to the industry. History has shown that the recommended approach would not overcome the issues relating to country of origin labelling. "Industry is flabbergasted by the lack of understanding by FSANZ and the lack of justification behind the proposed amendments. "It seems as though the proposed amendments came up because the labelling alternative is just too hard. I cannot believe our government would jeopardise Australian industries' hardearned reputations as producers and suppliers of top quality produce," Mr Bennison said. The relevant Ministers need to make it known as soon as possible how they feel about these proposed changes and advise FSANZ accordingly.

Solutions for Aquaculture and Pearling For the aquaculture and pearling industries, a reliable mooring is as important as a traditional farmer's fences. Wind, current and wave-induced forces all threaten the integrity of fish farms â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a mooring must be well-designed to account for all of these forces and deliver a solution that is cost-effective.

For more information contact JEYCO: Geoff Wolfenden

08 9418 7500 geoff_wolfenden@jeyco.com.au www.jeyco.com.au 52 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

FROM THE NAC

Industry's pearls of wisdom to make the world their oyster Australia's pearling industry will look at new ways of raising the profile of its high-quality product. Speaking at a pearling industry meeting in Fremantle, Australian Fisheries and Conservation Minister Senator Ian Macdonald said – as part of the Australian Government's Aquaculture Industry Action Agenda – the pearling industry would be encouraged to find new marketing and branding strategies. "Our pearling industry already generates a healthy $300 million a year in export income but, given the high quality of Aussie pearls, there's considerable scope

for expansion," Senator Macdonald said. "This meeting in Fremantle provides industry members with an opportunity to hear more about the Action Agenda and how it can help grow their industry." Senator Macdonald said one of the ideas involves the industry taking a more unified approach to promoting its wares worldwide – to pearl traders, retailers and consumers. "This would involve 'tagging' exquisite jewellery pieces featuring Australian pearls and even promoting the product at events like the Australian fashion week," Senator Macdonald said.

"Recent research has found that there is expansion opportunities for Australian pearls into the world's more affluent jewellery retailers and buyers. "We need to remind people at every opportunity that Australian pearls are amongst the best in the world. "It's vital, therefore, that we build a strong, stand alone awareness of the Australian pearling industry and its top quality product." Senator Macdonald said a vital part of any strategy would be the formation of an Australian Pearl brand mark to raise recognition.

Updated guide book to keep industry on the environmental front foot An easy-to-use guide book to help Australian seafood producers select the most effective way of managing their impacts on the environment has been launched at an industry summit in Brisbane by the Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Richard Colbeck. Senator Colbeck said the guide – Seafood EMS Chooser (second edition) – sets out an easy-to-follow, eight-point plan to help seafood producers boost their environmental performance. "There has been a real need to demystify EMS - environmental management systems - and provide information on user-friendly models specifically designed for use in the seafood industry," he said. The Managing Director of Seafood Services Australia, Ted Loveday, thanked the Australian Government for its support. "Seafood EMS - made possible with

funding from the Australian Government's Pathways to Industry EMS program - is helping seafood industry people to achieve a secure and sustainable future," Mr Loveday said. Senator Colbeck said the Seafood EMS Chooser complements a CD-Rom and other EMS Training resources launched last year to help Australian fishers set specific goals regarding food safety and environmental performance. Both are part of a comprehensive push by Seafood Services Australia, through its involvement in a number of Australian Government initiatives, to: • raise awareness of the aims and achievements of seafood EMS programs • develop a comprehensive training package to encourage the wider use of EMS • develop standards, as well as auditing and accreditation processes • support individual businesses through

mentoring programs and workshops. "The Chooser guide book and CDRom demonstrate the seafood industry's strong commitment to ensuring their operations are sustainable and environmentally responsible," Senator Colbeck said. "These new industry resources were developed with assistance of the Australian Government's Fisheries Research Development Corporation it's another example of how our RDCs are helping ensure the future prosperity our multi-billion dollar primary industries."

Copies of the second edition of the Seafood EMS Chooser are available by calling Adam Knapp in Seafood Services Australia on 1300 130321, or by visiting the Seafood Services Australia web site – www.seafoodbookshop.com

Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 53

TECHNOLOGY

10th Anniversary: Aquatic Diagnostic Services International (ADSI) In August 1995, five enthusiastic postgraduate students combined their expertise and experiences and limited capital to form Aquatic Diagnostic Services International (ADSI) P/L. All were involved in aquatic animal health and came from fish, crustacean, mollucs and water quality backgrounds. They saw the need to provide a diagnostic service to the growing aquaculture industry in Australia. ADSI was the first veterinary-based private diagnostic service to specially cater for the aquaculture industry in Australia and has looked at everything from abalone to seahorses, crocodiles to crabs, barramundi to zebra fish … and all things in between. ADSI continues to provide rapid and accurate diagnosis of problems and uses strategies, such as environmental parameter adjustments, therapeutic treatment and regular stock health assessments to help overcome any situation that may arise.

54 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

Over the years, ADSI has sought out – and been sought out by – like minded international companies, who wanted to provide the Australian aquaculture industry with quality proven products and experienced backup. First, Vetrepharm Ltd (a UK company) now Alpharma, approached us to provide their immunostimulant and benzocaine to the aquaculture industry as both products had a proven track record in the UK and parts of Europe. Syndel International Ltd, a Canadian company that specializes in spawning products approached ADSI; its products were internationally recognized and were tried and tested. ADSI then sought out AQUI-S Ltd NZ, who had developed the first fully NRA/APVMA registered aquatic anaesthetic, which had no with holding period. AQUI-S’s philosophy of rested and humane harvesting, complimented ADSI’s commitment to animal health and welfare. Finally Aquafauna Bio-Marine (US)

asked ADSI to distribute its premium quality hatchery diets in Australia. ADSI’s association with these leading international companies completed the company’s hatchery cycle of products by providing a range of diets, APVMA registered anaesthetic agents and spawning products. These relationships highlight its commitment to providing the Australian aquaculture industry with quality proven products and scientific backup. ADSI will continue to provide an accessible, reliable and rapid professional service and will source only the best products the world can provide for the aquaculture industry in Australia.

ADSI now comprises Dr Darryl Hudson and Dr Stephen Pyecroft. They can be contacted on Mobile 0409727853, Fax (07) 33526689 and at dhudson@hypermax.net.au.

TECHNOLOGY

Innovative value adding solutions for your product Some in the fishing industry may be considering diversifying, others how to exploit a price advantage for quality presentation of their product. Sometimes there is an existing problem such as how to solve the problem of the high cost of a manual process. Others, again, may be considering something entirely new – but hesitant because of anticipated problems – quite unaware of solutions involving available technology. The oyster industry, for example, was feeling the pinch because of the high cost and hassle of manual grading or sorting. A solution was found after it partially funded the development of an automatic grading machine capable of a specified level of accuracy, speed (volume of throughput) and number of grades. The result was the ShellQuipTM Oyster Grader of which there are now 22 in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Ireland and France after only three years on the market. The significance of this example is that not only did the automatic machine reduce the labour cost (approximately 13 personnel down to one and sometimes two) but also, because of the accuracy of the machine in measurement and counting, there was an added value price advantage of quality presentation to customers. In Aust there is a shortage of labour in the oyster industry and a move to give added value very much higher priority – hence also an interest in automatic grading. There is of course the immediate question of how applicable is the technology behind the oyster grader development to my problem in the fisheries industry? In the technology of the automated oyster grader alone there is general applicability to any grading which requires high volume, and accuracy and can cope with irregularly shaped items as well as regular. But further, the technology behind the development of the grader derived from experience with full line processing of a range of products – even of the design, construction and installation of a whisky distillery. There is thus considerable

knowledge resource on which to draw to solve problems arising from diversifying, adding value, and innovation. In this context it is not surprising that ShellQuipTM has been approached to provide grading solutions for Whole Salmon, Filleted Fish, Sea Cucumber and, also, the sorting of Blue/Green mussels in New Zealand. Progress has already been made with the very successful demonstration, under factory conditions, of a Blue/Green Mussel Discriminator and automated grading in fish processing companies. Then again, you may be thinking of a small factory for an innovatory processing of product but you are put off by the thought of the projected cost of manual labour. Or, perhaps you have been thinking that automation would be too costly – or even that automation was not possible. So if you want to be innovative, for whatever purpose, seek advice about

what is possible with today’s technology and you may be quite surprised by the outcome.

For more information call S.E.D. Shellfish Equipment P/L Tel: +61 3 6442 1563 Email: sed@sedesign.com.au Web: www.sedesign.com.au

AQUATIC DIAGNOSTICA BSN ERVICES INTERNATIONAL P 54 067 814 466

LTD

AQUATIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS • Disease diagnosis & management – all species • Sole agent for AQUI-S NZ, Syndel Ltd & Aquafauna Bio-Marine Inc. • APVMA registered anaesthetics & spawning products • Feed additive – Beta Glucans • Hatchery diets & Brine shrimp Dr Stephen B. Pyecroft BVSc (Hons)

Dr Darryl A. Hudson BAppSc PhD

29 Lincoln Street Wilston, Brisbane QLD, Australia 4051 Phone: 07 3830 5039 Mobile: 0409 727 853 Fax: 07 3352 6689 Website: www.adsi.com.au Email: dhudson@hypermax.net.au Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 55

FISHENEWS

ABALONE CONCERNS PERSIST OVER PINDIMAR FARM Residents opposed to the proposed Pindimar abalone farm are now concerned over their apparent abandonment by local and state governments. There are suggestions that opponents have been 'moved from one department to another', and that it's been very difficult to find information. It's true the proposal has been before four government ministers. Another issue is the loss of control of an environment which many regarded as retirement dreams over 20 years or more. Fears include loss of sea grasses, the spread of shellfish disease, noise from continuously-running pumps, and vehicular traffic. Developer Graham Housefield asserts the project has been examined from every angle over five years and there will be no significant impact. Residents' requests for more involvement in the approval process have been rejected by the council. Recently more than 60 people met on the beach in the area to observe the potential impacts of the development, with boats offshore indicating how far the water pipes associated with the development will be laid – some 540 metres. The group is taking advice from solicitors and expects to go before the Land and Environment Court. They also have some 18 questions being asked in parliament. The venture was approved earlier this year by Great Lakes Council. Source: Frances Thompson in the Newcastle Herald (7/5/2005); Port Stephens Examiner (12/5/2005).

DESTINY QUEEN CONTROVERSY The world's first floating abalone farm, the ship 'Destiny Queen' is operating in SA waters – and, it's claimed, taking advantage of legal loopholes to compete unfairly with Australian abalone producers. Now the Rann government is working on closing the loopholes which allow that unfair competition, after initially issuing the permit for the abalone venture. Issues include: the ship's owners avoid paying tax on export sales; the ship uses, according to the Maritime Union of Australia, the cheapest possible labour it can exploit – and bases them outside immigration jurisdiction; since the ship doesn't pass between ports and remains in SA waters there's no requirement for federal permits for foreign-flagged and crewed vessels; and the crew does not operate under an international labour agreement. The abalone grown on the ship are sold direct to Hong Kong at between $35 and $40 a kilo. All but four of the 30 Australian crew were sacked last year when the ship was shifted from Australian to Hong Kong flags. Source: Michelle Wiese Bockmann in the Australian (16/5/2005).

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SEPTEMBER START FOR AUSTAR MARICULTURE The first abalone farm operation in the South East, set up at Rivoli Bay near Millicent, is to establish its abalone breeding program in September this year. Austar Mariculture will be exporting one million abalone to China and Japan three years later. Owner Frank Tsai advises demand is high, with Taiwan alone seeking around 3,000 tonnes of produce annually. The breeding program will commence when 200 broodstock are placed into tanks to produce 2 million abalone. It's expected some 1.2 million will survive. The three year wait for harvest will allow production to shake down to a smooth operation. In the first production stage, around six people will be employed. Stage two will require a doubling of staff. Development to stage six is planned. Source: Aleisha Placock in the Border Watch (13/5/2005).

ELLISTON MEETING ON AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENTS The Elliston District Council, responding to community concerns on a proposal for development of an abalone farm at Anxious Bay, arranged for an information session to take place on March 31. The meeting was attended by around 120, with State Government officials and the proponents of the farm, and topics included an understanding of the Aquaculture Act and the development approval process, public consultation and the environmental management conditions that could be placed on an aquaculture development. Primary Industries and Resources SA (PIRSA) aquaculture director Ian Nightingale advised approval for a 20ha farm off Waldegrave Island was given in October 1999. A lease was made under the Fisheries Act prior to the development of the new Aquaculture Act and required fewer public notification processes. A new proposal for two 20ha leases adjacent to the existing lease was going through a full development review. If approved it will be a pilot lease needing approval annually for the first three years. Two additional areas at Goat Island are proposed in an area not currently zoned for aquaculture and will require development approval from the Development Assessment Commission. Mr Nightingale pointed out that the most important environmental safeguard was the annual licensing process â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a licence will be revoked if conditions aren't being followed. Another point is that the approval is specifically for shellfish. A number of issues were raised about recreational access, environmental impacts, navigation hazards, and proximity to a seal colony. The applicant, Australian Bight Abalone, was criticised for not notifying the Federal Government under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act. Mr Nightingale advised that of 208 submissions on the matter, 89 were in favour. However of the 123 against, only 84 had names and addresses which meant the official count was almost even. There's to be another round of public consultation, and he noted it is vital that names and addresses are supplied so that people can be contacted. Source: West Coast Sentinel (31/3/2005); (7/4/2005).

ABALONE GROWOUT AT SEA Southern Australian Seafoods, a land-based abalone farm at the tip of Point Boston, is proposing to develop a 10ha floating abalone farm near Rabbit Island. An employee also has a

proposal for a 10ha farm adjacent to the first. The proposals are under review by Primary Industry and Resources SA. The SAS proposal is similar to an existing operation being trialed in the State, featuring cages similar to tuna farm pontoons. Abalone will feed on the naturally-occurring growth on a net suspended in the cage or, if necessary, on supplemental feed. There'll be work to determine how abalone grow out at sea, with an option to transfer abalone more than 80mm in size from the land operation to the cages. The farm has been limited by tank space and the sea cage option will allow more production. Source: Port Lincoln Times (22/3/2005).

BARRAMUNDI CELL AQUACULTURE LODGES A PROSPECTUS A prospectus to raise $7 million has been lodged by Cell Aquaculture to help commercialise its EcoCell aquaculture system to grow barramundi. The company has sought patent protection for the system which was developed by company owner Quentin Leach's father. It uses a modular design which can be located close to an intended market and extended as required. The company hopes to make money for shareholders by licence and consulting fees for the use of the technology, sales of units, and sales of fingerlings from a hatchery to be built in WA. There'll also be profit share from joint venture companies to be established to produce barramundi and market the technology. The prospectus is seeking to raise $5 million with the ability to take over-subscriptions of $2 million. It is not underwritten Source: Michael Weir in the West Australian (3/5/2005).

BARRAMUNDI BUSINESS The Institute of Chartered Accountants has provided $1815 for Year 10, 11 and 12 students at the Fitzroy Crossing District High School to establish a business. It's part of the Young Achievement Australia Program. In the 16 to 24 week program students will work with real money and products, developing hands-on expertise and life skills. The Institute's grant represents 50 per cent of the sponsorship for the project. It's likely the students will establish a business around barramundi breeding. Source: Kimberley Times (12/5/2005).

STUDENTS RELEASE BARRAMUNDI Aquaculture students from Charles Darwin University are to release some 300 hand-reared barramundi as much as 300mm long into Manton Dam, around 80k south of Darwin. The fish are surplus to requirements. Source: Northern Territory (27/4/2005).

BARRAMUNDI BLUE Barramundi Blue is in the news again. Coming to public attention on winning an environment award, the business stayed there when the operation's Cynthia Taylor was asked to be part of the Rural Women's Trade Show. Now partner Geoff Orpin has been invited to a trade show in Hong Kong. And there's now a cafe-like facility at the front of the Barra-

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mundi Blue premises, and a kitchen and shop front. People will be able to buy fresh-caught barramundi, caught to order while the customer waits. There are plans to set up a multispecies hatchery at Lucinda. Source: Ashley Walmsley in the North Queensland Register (22/4/2005).

ENVIRONMENT AWARD FOR BARRA BLUE North Queensland-based barramundi farm Barramundi Blue has won the Environment Award at this year's Department of Primary Industry Awards. The award was given for the steps the farm's operators, Geoff Orpin and Cynthia Taylor, had taken to protect the natural environment through nil discharge and value-adding within the aquaculture industry. The farm has a recirculating system, and treated water is used to support hydroponically grown vegetables. Fish waste is prepared as organic fertiliser. Compared with a conventional farm, the Barramundi Blue facility has water savings of up to two million litres per day, with energy savings of up to 30 per cent. Mr Orpin plans to export the technology. Source: Townsville Bulletin (20/4/2005).

AUSTRALIS BOOMS Australis Aquaculture has sold all of its US production until January 2006. The company flies Australian barramundi fingerlings to the US and grows them out in a plant at Boston. Some 300,000 fingerlings are exported every seven weeks. It's expected the plant will meet capacity of 50 to 60 tonnes per month by the end of 2005, earning the company as much as $850,000 per month. Australis managing director Stewart Graham observes "The barramundi grow out better and taste better in the US because of the clarity and temperature of the water, the feed mix and the handling techniques. it produces an astonishingly delicious meal". Australis has grown more than 250 per cent since listing on the Australian Stock Exchange in August, and shares recently closed up 5 cents to 74 cents. The Boston plant will be upgraded, and there's a long-term plan to build another, providing the capacity to farm 5000 tonnes of barramundi annually. The share price and success of Australis has been helped by the company's signing five-year exclusive supply agreements with three of Australia's largest commercial barramundi hatcheries. The agreement also gives Australis the first right of refusal to purchase one of the established hatcheries. Source: Kevin Andrusiak in the Australian (31/3/2005); Trevor Hoevy in Shares (May 2005).

BARRAMUNDI BLUE IN THE LIMELIGHT Barramundi Blue will be a leader during this year's Primary Industries Week celebrations. Geoff Orpin and Cynthia Taylor, who run Barramundi Blue, are finalists in the Nursery Industry Accreditation Scheme Australian Environment Award, Ms Taylor was also selected to participate in a showcase of Queensland's gourmet food at the Enterprising Women in Rural Industries Trade Show. Barramundi Blue fish will be available for chefs, wholesalers, retailers and the buying public at the show. The farm can produce a tonne of fish 58 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

each week in an environmentally-sustainable manner – water is recirculated to provide nutrients for lettuce, tomatoes, capsicums and chillies. Fish from the farm have been used at the Hilton Hotel chain, and will feature in Australian food festivals in Romania and Taiwan. Source: Herbert River Express (29/3/2005).

BUNDALEER BARRA Along came deregulation and out went many long-established dairy farms, forcing unwanted change on a lot of farmers, including the Stark family. Christopher Stark and his grandmother allied to set up a fish farm and the first fingerlings were delivered on January 2, 2004. Things have progressed since then, and recently he bought in 2000 barramundi fingerlings to grow out in his 20 by 9 metre shed. They'll go to locals in the Cooloola Shire and throughout the Sunshine Coast – gilled, gutted and scaled. Source: Shelley Stachan in the Gympie Times (2/4/2005).

GULF BARRAMUNDI RESTOCKING ASSOCIATION Pressure from commercial and recreational fishers has placed stress on the barramundi population in the Norman River estuary. In 1992 the local professional barramundi fishers decided to address the problem and, along with other measures such as voluntary control of their own activities, they began restocking the Norman and Albert Rivers, forming the Gulf Barramundi Restocking Association (GBRA). While initially the Queensland Department of Primary Industry bred the fingerlings, eventually GBRA established its own hatchery. Now, some 15,000 fingerlings are produced annually. Larvae are grown naturally in ponds and feed on naturally-occurring plankton. Maintaining genetic diversity, 25 per cent of the brood stock is replenished each year with stock from the wild. Source: Riki Gunn, Barramundi Recovery Centre, in EcoVoice (1/4/2005).

WBA BARRAMUNDI GETS AROUND WBA hatcheries at West Beach in Adelaide supplies around half of the barramundi fingerlings required by the company Australis's growout plant in the US. In February they airfreighted 30,000, beginning their second year of dealing with Australis. WBA will supply six shipments a year. Orders for fingerlings are also strong within Australia – some 2.5 million are produced annually. The business is looking to duplicating its hatchery and broodstock facilities. Source: Tania Bawden in the Adelaide Advertiser (18/4/2005)

BARRAMUNDI AND SILVER PERCH IN SOUTHERN WA Clint Harris hates sheep and he decided to grow fish on a small area of his family's cattle and sheep property near Gingin. He had seven years of professional fishing experience following on completing Year 12, and studied aquaculture at Murdoch University – currently he's working through a Certificate II in aquaculture with Northam TAFE. His farm, The Freshwater Fish Farm, is on 1.6ha of land – he has permission to expand over the next 10 years. Currently he has 3500 barramundi and 5000 silver perch on hand. He claims he

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could sell 200 to 300 silver perch each week to the WA Asian market if he had sufficient stock â&#x20AC;&#x201C; he buys from other farmers to fill orders and is looking for more sources. Since barramundi is a tropical fish, he keeps them in hothouses in the cooler weather, though they go into ponds in the warmer months. The farm water comes from just two to three metres underground. Source: Sally Hincks in the Countryman (24/3/2005).

F I S H H E A LT H FARMS A SEA-LOUSE SOURCE Studies on a salmon farm in British Columbia, Canada, have shown the farm to be a massive source sea-louse infection for wild fish. More than 5,500 wild pink and chum salmon were checked every two to four kilometres as they followed a 60 kilometre from their freshwater spawning grounds to the Pacific Ocean. Parasite levels on wild fish were 73 times greater than normal in the vicinity of the farm, staying raised for 30 kilometres downstream. One of the researchers, from the University of Alberta, advises sea-louse production from the farm was 30,000 times higher than normal. It's claimed the parasites can remove nutrients from fish faster than the fish can feed, effectively eating them alive. The researchers state the results are relevant to farms in the US, Scotland, Ireland and Norway. Source: New Scientist (2/4/2005).

MARKETING CAXTON ANNUAL STREET SEAFOOD FESTIVAL The tenth annual Caxton Street Seafood Festival took place in Brisbane on the first of May, and more than 10,000 people enjoyed the event, which is now being described as the street's biggest annual trading day. The day's activities are enhanced by music â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and by beer. Some 130 kegs were emptied by the Caxton Hotel alone. Source: Courier-Mail (2/5/2005).

PIRSA AT BALI CONFERENCE Primary Industries and Resources South Australia (PIRSA) Aquaculture executive director Ian Nightingale, in company with National Aquaculture Council executive officer Simon Bennison, attended a world conference in Bali recently. SA's $355 million aquaculture industry was highlighted, and the two promoted the Australian Aquaculture Conference, which is to be held in Adelaide in August 2006. Source: Adelaide Advertiser (14/5/2005).

SEAFOOD TRAIL AN AWARD WINNER The Eyre Peninsula Seafood and Aquaculture Trail recently won the South Australian Seafood Industry Promotion Award at the annual Seafood Industry Awards. The judges said the Seafood Trail highlights the full scope of the SA seafood industry. The award is sponsored by Primary Industry and Resources SA Fisheries. Source: Port Lincoln Times (22/3/2005).

M U R R AY C O D CONDABILLA FISH FARM'S MURRAY COD There'll be a commercial harvest of Murray Cod from Condabilla Fish Farm in December this year. Owners Keith Bartley and his sons Andrew and Rob operate the farm, which was established in 1999. Currently they produce gold and silver perch. The farm is on the Condamine River and has a licence for 41ha of water. Right now there's 3.9ha in use and a 5.5ha pond soon to be operational. Condabilla perch goes mainly to CQ Foods in Melbourne, but it's expected the December harvest of Murray Cod will end up in Queensland restaurants. This season the farm will turn off 2 tonnes of Murray Cod, 1 tonne of golden perch and 15 tonnes of silver perch. The family's looking to be producing 50 tonnes annually within three years. Source: Andrew Mirosch in the Courier Mail (14/5/2005).

MUSSELS TWOFOLD BAY MUSSEL LEASE ISSUE The State Government is to approve development of a mussel farm in Twofold Bay based on a set of strict conditions to protect the local environment. The existing farm will expand from 15.5ha to 49.5ha. The Government claims it has struck a balance between local jobs, industry, the environment and the economy. The Minister for Primary Industry Ian, Macdonald, states he's satisfied the farm does not pose a significant risk to the environment. Expansion of the farm will move as much as $800,000 into the region as capital investment, with up to $600,000 annually based on 17 full-time jobs with other casual positions. He says the expanded farm will cover only 1.5 per cent of the Bay. Meanwhile Mayor David Hede claims there was no inconsistency in the Bega Valley Shire's decisions relating to mussel farming in Twofold Bay, as was suggested in a recent newspaper article. The Council had simply asked the State Government to defer a decision on the proposal pending a public forum to further clarify the proposed conditions of the approval and address the concerns of community groups and the proponents. A meeting was planned for April 6 at which Department of Primary Industry (Fisheries) officials will provide information on the farm expansion to Eden residents. In a letter to the editor of the Eden Imlay Magnet on 24/3/2005, industry members of the NSW Abalone Fishery Management Advisory Committee set out their comments on the mussel leases for Twofold Bay. They were based on the impact of the mussel lease extensions. This is an edited extract: "The abalone industry in NSW would support an aquaculture industry where any impacts are kept to a minimum acceptable level. Despite that, we are concerned that the mussel leases have contributed to the abundance of mussels on natural reefs and man-made structures in and around Twofold Bay...It is clear to many divers in the industry that the spread of mussels has been coincident, in space and time, with the expansion of the

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leases...The abundance of mussels in and around the bay now, is many times greater than any previous natural event over the past 40-50 years...The consequent reduction in abalone populations have directly reduced our catches. We draw your attention to Section 160 of the Fisheries Management Act that describes the ability of the minister to cancel or suspend a permit for an aquaculture lease if 'the area is being so mismanaged that the production of fish or marine vegetation in that area or any surrounding area has been prejudicially affected'. We are also concerned...that our issues have not been well addressed by the process to implement Stage 1 of the leases, or to consider Stage 2. As an industry, we are considering our options in this matter. Source: The Land (31/3/2005); Eden Imlay Magnet (24/3/2005); George Chung, Dennis Loubikis, Jim Miller, Donna Smythe, Garry Warren – Industry members of the NSW Abalone Fishery Management Advisory Committee, in a letter to the editor of the Eden Imlay Magnet (24/3/2005).

COCKBURN SOUND MUSSEL PROBLEM Recently-collected water samples taken near mussel farms in Cockburn Sound showed 12 times the normal level of the potentially-dangerous algae pseudonitzchia. While it may not be so on this occasion, the algae in its toxic form causes diarrhoea and vomiting. The discovery required many outlets to either buy in mussels from other areas, or to run out of product. Whether or not the outbreak is dangerous will be known in a few days Source: Eloise Dortch in the West Australian (18/4/2005).

Statement (EIS) should have been required, rather than a Statement of Environmental Effect. An EIS is a more rigorous scientific document. DIPNR maintains the concerns raised about the farm's effects and operation have been addressed. The NSW planning minister will have the final say on whether the farm will proceed. If it does, its final stage of development will result in the farm covering 45ha, and producing around 3228 tonnes of Moreton bay bugs each year. Source: Peter Caton in the Daily News (8/4/2005); Colleen Davis in the Tweed Sun (14/4/2005).

MARRON FARMER WINS THROUGH Graeme Leece has battled his way through two years of objections to his proposal to establish an 18-pond marron farm on his property at Gidgegannup, and now has permission to go ahead. He'd been facing opposition from neighbours and from the Wooroloo Brook Land Conservation Committee. There are claims some of those resistant to the proposal had timed their objections in order to force building work to be postponed during the restricted period when it was possible, then dropped their objections when that period was past. Other issues raised by opponents were that dams with a combined capacity of 10,000 cubic metres were constructed, then retrospective approval was sought when they weren't built in accordance with approved plans – objectors claimed they were too big for the watercourse and would cause the creek to dry. Another claim was that a dam was built in the wrong place. An appeal against an Environmental Protection Authority decision not to subject Mr Leece's application to a formal environmental impact assessment was dismissed by the environment minister. Source: Hills Gazette (2/4/2005).

O T H E R C R U S TA C E A N S COUNCIL LISTS PROBLEMS WITH BUG FARM The Tweed Shire Council has listed 26 serious issues leading to its opposition to a proposed $18 million bay lobster farm at Chinderah. Councillors voted seven to one against the Moreton Bay Bug Farm venture. The Council has stated the State Government's Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources needs to resolve the doubts before granting approval, and asserts a complete Environmental Impact Study should have been carried out on the proposal, which has alarmed residents and cane farmers. A major issue is the huge bund walls which will surround the ponds, since they will hold back flood waters. There's also the matter of salt water damage to the land surrounding the farm, waste management, discharge of waste water into the river, water quality, acid sulphate soils, traffic issues and visual impact. Councillor John Murray has stated there are so many holes in the information provided to the council by the NSW Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources (DIPNR) there should be an inquiry into the way in which the application was handled. DIPNR, requesting comment from the Council on the proposal, had failed to advise the Council about recent major changes to the venture. Another argument is that an Environmental Impact 60 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

SOUTHERN ROCK LOBSTERS REARED The Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Research Institute has reared larvae harvested from egg-bearing Southern Rock Lobsters – the successful effort, in laboratory conditions, is a first in Australia. An important component of the work was imitating the way in which the larvae exist in the ocean for some time, eventually settling on the substrate. It's taken 6 years and $6 million to successfully carry a group of the creatures through their 11 stages of development. It's estimated commercial production with the techniques is more than 10 years off, and the lobsters produced will be smaller than those wild-caught. Source: Geraldton Guardian (1/4/2005).

CRAB AND BARRAMUNDI FARM WORK BEGINS Site clearing has commenced for the Bowen Aquaculture Centre crab and barramundi farm at Yeates Creek, 20k south of Bowen. When fully developed the venture will produce 880 tonnes of soft shell mud crabs and 560 tonnes of barramundi annually, employing 45 people. The project is the commercialisation of technology developed over recent years by Aquacrab. The first stage – a 1.6 million unit crab farm and infrastructure – will be completed by the end of 2005. Stage 2 – the barramundi farm – will be completed next year. Source: Bowen Independent (18/3/2005).

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A FAMILY OF MARRON FARMERS Carey Nagle and his family are successful marron and silver perch producers, turning off 3.5 tonnes of marron and one tonne of silver perch annually. Mr Nagle is regarded as a leader in the industry. He's been in various positions on the Marron Growers Association committee and the board of directors of the Aquaculture Council of WA. He's done extensive work in selective breeding for quality and size of brood stock, and works with the Fisheries Department on genetic research. Currently he's involved in a joint research project with the University of WA, the Fisheries Research and Development Council, Fisheries WA, the Marron Growers Association and the Aquaculture Development Council. The intent is to increase the growth rate and reduce size variation of marron. His wife, son and two daughters are all involved with the farm's operations. The Nagles have won the industry award for best production of marron per square metre of pond area for the previous five years. The property has 2ha of water in 25 purpose-built ponds, a purging tank and breeding tanks. Mr Nagle believes one of the biggest problems in the industry is the number of failures by people who decide to produce marron without getting the right advice about the correct methods to use. Source: Keith Bates in the Countryman (24/3/2005).

CROP SPRAYING ISSUES Inadequate legislation to protect landholders is sustaining a legal argument over a crop-spraying incident in 2003 which is claimed to have resulted in the loss of product in 33 of 36 marron ponds. The farm had been established for 18 years, grew electric blue marron and had developed exports of $1 million annually. The farm had no total pond population crashes until 1991 – when a vineyard was established in an adjacent property. From then on there were around three crashes each year. In the summer of 2002-2003, during strong winds blowing towards the marron farm, the vineyard was sprayed for 10 days. More than 300,000 marron were lost from 33 ponds. Causes other than overspray have been eliminated. In March 2005 there were two reports of yabbies apparently killed by spray drift, and the Aquaculture Council of WA was prompted to run a seminar at which Agriculture Minister Kim Chance promised a review of all pesticide-use legislation. Occupational physician Andrew Harper asserts existing legislation is so limited that cases of chemical exposure are almost impossible to prove. Source: Peter Trott in the West Australian (24/3/2005).

O T H E R F R E S H W AT E R F I S H FISH FARMING IN THE HASTINGS REGION Opting out of their corporate and military careers, Brian and Dianne Irving bought a 150 acre ex-dairy farm with two kilometres of permanent water in Bril Bril Creek at Rollands Plains. They decided to examine intensive aquaculture options and eventually began farming sleepy cod and barramundi. They were overwhelmed when they took their whole

cleaned fish and fillets to their first Hastings farmers; Markets and sold out in fifty minutes. The Irvings grow the fish in a fully-insulated shed using eight tanks in a special recirculating system devised by Brian. The fingerlings are purchased in lots of 500 at 40mm. Salt is added to the bore water, making it some 25 per cent of sea water salinity – which provides for a well-flavoured fish and helps disease control. Totally natural fishmeal is fed, following organic practices. The fish are kept at a ratio of 150 kilos to 3500 litres of water. Harvesting is done on a weekly basis – orders are taken one week before harvesting. Product is delivered on Tuesdays and Fridays, scaled and gutted. The Irvings operate with eight other growers, marketing as the Hastings Fine Fish group. The Hastings Economic Development team used the catchcry 'Fresh fish right on our doorstep' to promote the region's farmed fish to restaurants. Growers in the Group, which is now chaired by Brian, are also having success with silver perch. Yellow-belly perch, Murray cod, yabbies and oysters are under consideration. There's also a possibility of value-adding – for example, production of smoked barramundi. Hastings Valley now produces around 100 tonnes of freshwater fish annually, and it's claimed there's huge potential for growth. Interest was sparked when State Fisheries closed many coastal rivers, including the Hastings, to professional fishers. Source: Lesley Penfold in North Coast Town & Country – insert (28/3/2005); Kevin Elsley in The Land (31/3/2005).

FISH STOCKED INTO DAMS The Maroon Moogerah Fish Management Association is busy restocking dams. Some 38,700 Golden Perch and nearly 25,000 Silver Perch were recently released into Maroon Dam. There's soon to be a release into Mooderah Dam and orders have been placed for 50,000 golden perch and 53,000 silver perch. Source: Fassifern Guardian (6/4/2005).

FORGET FARMING TILAPIA Brian Down, chairman of the Barron River Integrated Catchment Management Association Inc. was prompted to write to the editor of the Cairns Post on the issue of farming tilapia. He wrote: "This fish, native to southern Africa, has been introduced to various tropical and subtropical waters all over the world, mainly for aquaculture. It's ecologically disastrous spread has not only been made possible by intentional releases into river systems but by its escape from various forms of confinement including fish farms. The devastating effect of tilapia on the environment is well documented and the species has been nominated as among 100 of the 'world's worst invaders'. Should tilapia infect the Gulf of Carpentaria, it could well mean the destruction of the prawn and barramundi fisheries there. Queensland could hardly be regarded as the 'Smart State' if we sanction its farming. Source: Brian Down, chairman of the Barron River Integrated Catchment Management Association Inc. in a letter to the editor of the Cairns Post (2/4/2005).

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TALKING ABOUT TILAPIA Former fish farmer Eddie Collins asserts Australia should be breeding tilapia and exporting the fish to make a lot of money. He claims it's the sixth most popular seafood on sale in US supermarkets. Currently, anyone in Australia possessing, rearing, selling or buying the noxious species faces fines of up to $150,000 – yet its a multi-million-dollar business in both Indonesia and North America. Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries Scientist Peter Jackson advises tilapia are far too great an environmental threat in Australia to allow an aquaculture industry to develop. The species is known to have established in parts of the Far North Source: Tim Mudge in the Cairns Post (22/3/2005); Cairns Post 22/3/2005).

OTHER MARINE FISH NT INDUSTRY GROWING SPONGES LoTech Technologies based in Darwin has received a $33,000 Federal Government grant to use in improving the marketing and quality of its Arnhem Land sponges. General manager Graeme Dobson will go to Japan, China and London over the next few months to arrange exportation of the sponges which are farmed by communities in Arnhem Land. Softer yet more durable, the sponges are considered of better quality than many from other parts of the world. Mr Dobson advises the idea behind LoTech Aquaculture is to create industries in Aboriginal communities which provide an income without disrupting the traditional culture. Source: Greg McLean in the Northern Territory News (5/5/2005).

BLUE SWIMMERS FOR CHRISTMAS The director of Coral Coast Mariculture, Dr Clive Keenan, advises blue swimmer crabs grown at the Bundaberg Port could be available at Australian restaurants by Christmas. Funds are being raised to allow construction of the farm to commence. When operational the facility has the potential to deliver $3.5 million annually to Bundaberg. Source: News Mail (11/5/2005).

SEA CUCUMBERS TO BE TRIALLED Senior fisheries biologist Cathy Hair advises some 120 sea cucumbers are to be collected from the Warriors Creek Reef area and used to assess the potential of the species for commercial aquaculture. They'll be used as broodstock in a project to be conducted at the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries' Northern Fisheries Centre in Cairns. Sea cucumbers are also known as beche de mere and sandfish Source: Torres News (4/5/2005).

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW STANDARD SET FOR KAILIS The level of assessment for the MG Kailis Group's tuna farming trial in the Recherche Archipelago has been set at 'Public Environmental Review' by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). It's the second highest level of assessment normally adopted by that body. An MG Kailis

62 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

spokesperson advises the company is pleased with that level of assessment. There is an appeals period, finishing on May 26 – however assessment levels may only be appealed upwards. The convener of Vive le Recherche – a community group opposed to the proposal – advises the group will appeal for a higher level of assessment, and suggests other interested persons do so. A recent post card campaign on the issue resulted in more than 1000 cards requesting the highest level of assessment being sent to the Environment Minister. The Esperance Shire Council passed a motion requesting review at the highest level. MG Kailis is to establish a Community Reference Group to pursue the venture. The company's proposal is for 4 to 6 circular pens each 40 metres in diameter to be placed in 40 metres of water near Remark island. Southern Bluefin tuna taken from the Australian Bight would be fattened in the pens. There have been calls for the project to be operated under World's Best Practice, and projects manager Stephen Hood advises that, responding to that demand, he'll attend the World Aquaculture Society Conference in Bali, where there'll be one full day devoted to tuna farming. He'll apply the knowledge he gains to the Kailis proposal. Assuming the level of assessment is not changed, the following procedure is to be followed: Kailis must establish what are most likely to be the possible environmental impacts, and produce and release a public review document; there's a four-week public comment period; the EPA collates the issues raised and provides them to Kailis for a response; the EPA considers all the information and prepares a report with recommendations for the Minister; there follows a two-week appeals period on the EPA report followed by an appeals convenor's report to the Minister; the Minister decides on the future of the proposal – and if it is to proceed, he establishes the environmental conditions under which it will progress. In later news there have been 10 appeals regarding the project, all relating to the assessment level and asking for a higher level. The appeals coordinator has been unable to set a timeline for the consultation process required under the appeals system. Issues raised under the appeal include: the high level of public interest in the proposal; potential for generation of biowaste; impacts on biodiversity; incompatibility with the tourism and conservation values of the Recherche Archipelago; that the proposal is a first of its kind in the area, potentially leading to similar proposals. MG Kailis advises other bigger ventures have not been subject to the highest level of assessment Source: Crystal Fairburn in the Esperance Express (26/4/2005 & 28/4/2005; Victoria Young in the Esperance Express (12/5/2005).

MASIG SEA SPONGES SHOW PROMISE The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) has made its first assessment of sea sponges deployed at Masig late last year – some sponges have more than doubled in size. Masig Islanders are now integral to the sponge research in the area with full responsibility for monitoring and measuring experiments until the next visit by AIMS in June Source: John Toshie Kris in Torres News (13/4/2005).

FISHENEWS

GET THE FACTS BEFORE COMMENTING In a letter to the editor of the West Coast Sentinel, Brian Jeffries of the Tuna Boat Owners Association comments on remarks made about the industry by a previous correspondent. In an edited form, here are some of his remarks: "My view is that every community should look hard at advantages and disadvantages of every development proposal. Development of any type changes things. It is the balance of advantages/disadvantages which is the issue. (Your previous correspondent) makes some points which do not stand up. First, on the environmental impact of tuna farming. All the independent scientific evidence is on the PIRSA and SARDI websites. Every year after harvesting, the sites are tested for bottom sediments. For further evidence, see 'Nature' magazine, 9 December 2004. If people say they do not believe either scientists or industry – then we can do no more. Second, on the demise of fisheries in the tuna farming area outside Boston Island. I have never heard this before. If that was the case then we would not get recreational boats on the sites after the tuna around the pontoons have gone. This is not the case. The important thing is that a community makes an informed decision on a given development proposal Source: Brian Jeffries of the Tuna Boat Owners Association in a letter to the editor of the West Coast Sentinel (14/4/2005).

RECREATIONAL KINGFISH CATCH LIMIT CHANGES AGAIN Reacting to reports of unusually large numbers of juvenile kingfish in the Spencer Gulf more than two years ago, the State Government modified its size limit and bag limit regulations for the recreational catch of kingfish from 600mm and two fish to 450mm and 10 fish. The intent was to help remove kingfish which may have escaped from farms from the environment, since their effect on the environment was not known. The size and bag limit regulation was reverted to the original standard only a few months ago, but the 450mm and 10 fish standard has now been reintroduced following concerns on more escapes from farms. It's known there have been two escape events, one caused by storm action and the other by shark damage. Fishers on lower Eyre Peninsula have encountered schools of small mulloway suspected to be escapees, and some are calling for the size limit on that species also to be reduced. More research is required to determine if escaped kingfish do have an effect on the environment.

CEDUNA COUNCIL EYES FISH FARMS Ceduna District Council Deputy Mayor Allan Suter recently successfully passed a motion to authorise chief executive officer Tony Irvine to investigate the possibility of council obtaining approvals for two or four sites for sea cage farming of tuna. The intention is to attract members of the industry to Ceduna. Mr Irvine put the proposition to Primary Industries and Resources SA Aquaculture director Ian Nightingale – however neither the council nor Mr Nightingale will comment on the matter. Brian Jeffriess of the tuna industry has applauded the council for being forward thinking, but cautions that, though Ceduna is close to the fishing grounds, it doesn't have the infrastructure capacity of Port Lincoln, which is from where Australia's tuna farming industry operates. A previous proposal to farm tuna off Sceale Bay was stopped owing to community concerns. Source: Stan Gorton in the Port Lincoln Times (7/4/2005)

MULLOWAY NOT FROM FARMS Primary Industries and Resources SA (PIRSA) Aquaculture executive director Ian Nightingale advises there's no evidence to suggest a large increase in the number of small mulloway being caught by recreational fishers in the Spencer Gulf is as a result of escapes from farms. However he was not prepared to discuss investigations currently under way with the three companies farming fish in the Spencer Gulf area, into recent fish escapes. SA Marine Finfish Farmers Association president Dr Simon Stone says he's not aware of escapes of mulloway, though farmers did know about the recreational catches. The sizes of fish taken recreationally did not match the sizes of the caged fish. Mulloway, he advises, are less likely to be washed out of cages than kingfish, as happened recently. Mulloway are more likely to 'ball up' at the bottom of cages. Source: Port Lincoln Times (14/4/2005).

SOUTHERN STAR DOUBLES AND MORE Having more than doubled its kingfish tonnage from 300 tonnes to 650 tonnes – and recently showcased the product to Melbourne's leading chefs and seafood distributors – Southern Star Aquaculture will now be selling product into the city. Whyalla's entire aquaculture industry was on show as part of a tour of the Eyre Peninsula coordinated by the South Australian Marine Fishfarmers' Association and Food South Australia.

Source: Port Lincoln Times (21/4/2005).

Source: Whyalla News (7/4/2005).

TUNA TEMPTERS FOR THE US US retail giants Wal-Mart and Trader Joe stand out amongst many US companies expressing interest in buying valueadded tuna products from PL Tuna Processors, a Port Lincoln cannery. It's possible the company's turnover could increase from $45 million to more than $100 million. Part of the situation is the US Free Trade Agreement which came into force on January 1 – a 35 per cent tariff was eliminated from canned goods. The other issue is that the US has only basic tuna products, while the Australian company has 16 tuna tempter products.

TUNA HARVEST Industry has been heartened by seeing early tuna prices as high as $27/kilo, and harvesting has begun – as the Mexican tuna farm harvest ends. The Mexican farm industry has expanded in the last year, but is still smaller than Australia's. And Australian product is apparently regarded as of better quality. Another benefit to Australia is that the country's main competitor, the Mediterranean farming area, is seen to be in decline. Source: Port Lincoln Times (31/3/2005).

Source: Nigel Austin in the Adelaide Advertiser (22/4/2005). Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 63

FISHENEWS

MAHIMAHI ON THE WAY Marine Farms Limited is establishing a fish farm to produce mahi mahi a few kilometres south of Exmouth. The fish, naturally occurring in WA waters, has some remarkable attributes. It can be grown naturally, without hormones or chemicals. It breeds year-round and has a tremendous growth rate estimated at forty times that of other species – in eight months a hatchling will grow to 4 kilos. The species reproduces well in captivity. From a consumer perspective the flesh of the fish is very nutritious with high levels of unsaturated fatty acids associated with good cardiovascular health and nervous system development. Source: Gerry Blum in the Northern Guardian (6/4/2005).

MG KAILIS DECIDES ON SMALLER FARM Responding to concerns from community members and environmental activists, MG Kailis Group has reduced the size of its proposed trial tuna farm off Esperance by around 50 per cent, and agreed to have the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) submit the project to the highest level of assessment. The company will develop an appropriate submission on learning of the EPA decision on what is required. Source: Kalgoorlie Miner (5/4/2005).

KINGFISH ESCAPES EXAGGERATED, SAYS FARMER Reports earlier in March of kingfish escapes from cages off Arno Bay have been exaggerated, says Cleanseas' Hagen Stehr. While agreeing small fish were washed out of cages during bad weather in February, he asserts most of the fingerlings were recovered, while those not retaken would not survive in the wild. He says suggestions thousands of fish have escaped are 'nonsense'. The State Government announced in March it would launch an investigation into such escapes and how they were reported to authorities. Ian Nightingale, executive director of Primary Industries and Resources SA (PIRSA), is not able to discuss the investigation, but notes all fish farm operators have been reminded of their obligation to report all incidents no matter how minor. PIRSA is also investigating quite serious and specific escapes from Fitzgerald Bay fish farms. An interim report by government researchers into escapes is complete – another more detailed and Federallyfunded study is being conducted by biologists at Adelaide University. The Stehr Group is now harvesting 10 to 15 tonnes of finfish per week, and is one of two major contenders in finfish aquaculture – the other is in Fitzgerald Bay. Mr Stehr has challenged any fisher to catch escaped kingfish. Source: Stan Gorton in the Port Lincoln Times (22/3/2005).

OYSTERS AUSWIDE PROJECTS TRAINING OYSTER GROWERS Auswide Projects is delivering training in oyster aquaculture to Aboriginal community members in the South Coast region. In the longer term it's expected the development of fish and mussel aquaculture in the area will provide opportunities additional to those in the oyster culture industry. The Auswide training provides skills enhancing employment 64 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

chances in an aquaculture facility. Auswide thanks Aquaculture Enterprises for providing the use of its training facilities at Millingandi. Source: News Weekly (4/5/2005).

NO QX QUARANTINE IN BRISBANE WATERS – NO POINT? The Department of Primary Industries has announced that Brisbane Waters will not be quarantined to prevent the oyster disease QX from attacking the Central Coast oyster industry. A department spokesman advises the disease has not been detected in Brisbane Waters – in known infected waters such as the Hawkesbury and its feeders, a quarantine prevents farmers from moving their stocks elsewhere. Brisbane Waters is used as a fattening area by a number of farmers from other NSW locations, who would be locked out by a quarantine edict. There are claims that sooner or later someone will bring in infected oysters and close down the Brisbane Waters industry. And in another disheartening press article, the Canberra Times has stated that the NSW Oyster Farmers Association describes the whole Sydney Rock oyster industry as 'finished'. The price of Sydney Rock oysters remains steady at around $9 -$12.00 a dozen retail. Meanwhile, owners of one of the 23 businesses affected by QX on the Hawkesbury, Kevin and Sue Buie, describes themselves as definitely feeling let down by the government. Having lost their farm income, since they own other properties, the Buie family doesn't meet the government's current criteria for financial assistance: "They're more or less saying, get rid of your assets or we won't help you," Mr Buie says, "I believe the government should be responsible for keeping the water clean." Another issue is, despite being promoted as QX resistant, the 200,000 new oysters granted by the government have been cultivated under scientific conditions and are untested in the river – there are no guarantees of success. Source: Alison Branley in the Central Coast Express (29/4/2005); Central Coast Express (29/4/2005); Stan Gorton in the West Coast Sentinel (28/4/2005); Amelia Pulsford in the Sydney Observer Magazine (May, 2005).

WATER QUALITY MONITORING CHARGES Greenwell Point Oyster farmers met recently with Shadow Fisheries Minister Duncan Gay to discuss the prospect of the farmers being required to pay for all of the water quality testing in the rivers they use in farming. While previously they've paid 70 per cent of the costs with the Government meeting the remainder, there are expectations the government will withdraw its $900,000 component. This would mean that the Greenwell point farmers alone would be required to pay an extra amount of between $5000 and $15,000. Mr Gay suggests if the NSW oyster industry is forced to pay the full cost of the $3.6 million program, a third of the industry could be forced to exit. There's a sustained argument that the extra cost to oyster farmers is unjust since many other users benefit from the outcomes of the monitoring program. The oyster farmers believe they're the watchdogs of the whole river system – and they're paying for it. Source: Bay Post (11/5/2005).

FISHENEWS

WORKSHOP FOR OYSTER GROWERS AT STANSBURY Participants were pleased with the advice and information they received from a wide range of experts at a Primary Industries and Resources South Australia (PIRSA) oyster farming workshop held recently at Stansbury. The workshop's intent was to explore ways of increasing grower returns on investment, and oyster seed management was the main topic. Advice came from two of Tasmania's leading shellfish companies – Cameron of Tasmania Pty Ltd and Shellfish Culture Pty Ltd respectively made available Michael Cameron and Richard Pugh. The companies produce large quantities of oyster spat for most Australian states. The workshop's conclusion was that, with improved farming techniques, Yorke Peninsula oyster growers would evidence their product having an improved quality benchmark providing new marketing opportunities. The workshop provided many other options for information exchange, with a tour of the oyster hatchery at Stansbury, various representatives from PIRSA, the Yorke Regional Development Board, the South Australian Oyster Growers Association and numerous other interested parties Source: Yorke Peninsula Country Times – Kadina (10/5/2005).

GRANT FOR FLAT OYSTER PROMOTION An In-Market Experience Scholarship of $32,944 has been awarded to Denmark's Wilson Inlet Seafood Company to help promote its native flat oyster. The grant is available via the New Industries Development Program and will be used in targeting domestic restaurants and seafood retailers. The Asian market will also be tested Source: Albany and Great Southern Weekender (5/5/2005).

GREAT LAKES FARMERS CONCERNED Wallis Lake oyster farmers are concerned they'll become victims of the outcomes of a possible outbreak of QX disease. Loss of the $40 million industry in the area, as happened in The Georges River and more recently in the Hawkesbury, would devastate the area financially. Some Lake Wallis farmers have already been affected since they also farmed in the Hawkesbury to take advantage of differing oyster seasons. Producers have called on the Great Lakes community to stay on top of protecting the water quality of the Wallis Lake/Wallamba River. Water quality is considered ultimately important in preventing a QX outbreak. While Wallis Lake has not yet suffered an oubreak, it and the majority of the State's oyster-growing regions have been shown to be the home for oysters carrying the parasite Marteilia sydneyi in their gills. The parasite is known to be instrumental in delivering the QX virus into the oyster gut when some environmental event stresses the oysters. Most local producers believe that a deterioration in water quality is the most likely environmental event to precipitate an outbreak. There are claims of a link between increasing urbanisation resulting in a drop in water quality, and QX. In one way, Wallis Lake farmers are lucky. The 1997 hepatitis A outbreak prompted the Great Lakes Council to establish the Wallis Lake Catchment Management Program. This has resulted in water quality in the region being better than in 1997. Source: Jason Parker in the Great Lakes Advocate (20/4/2005).

HELPING OYSTER FARMERS A government package to help oyster farmers damaged by the spread of QX disease includes: 200,000 disease-resistant oysters supplied to farmers in April; some $200,000 worth of juvenile oysters for next year's production season; the waiving of industry fees for Hawkesbury River growers; Establishment of a QX disease task force; Free access to financial counselling services and other state government support services; Asking the Federal Government to grant exceptional services support; Asking the Federal Government to help with the clean-up and dumping of affected oysters, and a structuraladjustment package if growers want to leave the sector; continuing research into QX disease. The NSW Opposition has said that the package doesn't go far enough Source: Antony Lawes in the Hornsby Advocate (21/4/2005).

INTO COURT FOR PEARLERS Port Stephens Pearls has launched an action against the State Government in the Land and Environment Court over its refusal to allow the company to operate from deep water leases inside the Port. Managing director Ian Burt advises, "We don't believe the government has properly considered its decision. We believe (the decision) is more political and racist than environmental." Mr Burt says his Japanese-backed company is still keen about the Port Stephens project and, after more than $5 million in investment, isn't walking away from it. Projections are it will be several months before the case comes before the court. Source: Port Stephens Examiner (21/4/2005).

OYSTER OPINION Gary Rodely of Tathra Oysters, a multi-award-winning business, advises growers in the Far South Coast are unlikely to experience problems with QX. He's known about it for 17 years – at which time it was thought to be a semi-tropical disease and confined to the Tweed River. Mr Rodely believes the disease lies dormant in oysters and is triggered by something as yet not identified, at which time it becomes lethal to oysters but has no effect on humans. He believes the problem occurs as a result of changes to the natural environment, and points out the devastating outbreaks have occurred in two of the most urbanised waterways in which oysters are farmed. Source: Daniel Lewis in the Sydney Morning Herald ( 20/4/2005); Bega District News (15/4/2005).

SCIENTISTS CHASING QX ANSWERS The battle against the oyster disease QX is being pushed on several scientific fronts. Since 1997 NSW Fisheries have been selectively breeding a QX-resistant oyster, using the survivors of the outbreaks in the Georges River. Three generations on they've produced a strain with a 43 per cent reduction in the mortality rate – it will be at least another year before a fullyresistant oyster is produced. Dr Robert Adlard of the Queensland Museum is studying the times of year when QX disease outbreaks occur and collecting samples in various parts of the coast. Researchers at Macquarie University are investigating Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005 65

FISHENEWS

the immune system of oysters to determine why the parasite Marteilia sydneyi, which is the vector which causes QX disease, becomes a problem. The parasite has been detected in oysters in areas where QX disease has not yet become a problem, such as Lake Wallis. The scientists believe that the oyster's immune system controls the parasite until some sort of environmental change stresses the oyster and the parasite gets past the oyster gills, where it is usually stopped. There are many environmental factors which can stress oysters – for example, low salinity following heavy rainfall. It's believed low salinity was a factor in the Georges River outbreaks, though it wasn't in the Hawkesbury. However, there is another factor which is common to the two regions. In both areas, an enzyme component of the oyster immune system – phenoloxidase, was inhibited before the outbreak began. It's believed this is what allowed the outbreaks to occur. Oysters die within six to 12 weeks of being infected. Outbreaks are more likely to occur in March and April. Source: Jason Parker in the Great Lakes Advocate (20/4/2005); Hills News (19/4/2005); NSW Fisheries information in the Great Lakes Advocate (20/4/2005).

UNLUCKY FOR SOME... It's expected the Eyre Peninsula oyster industry will see a rapid increase in sales as a result of the recent destruction of the industry in and around the Hawkesbury River. The area, once the second largest producer of Sydney Rock oysters, has been devastated by an outbreak of the uncontrollable disease QX – and some NSW farmers believe the parasitic disease may destroy the entire Sydney Rock oyster industry. Eyre Peninsula oyster growers are expected to increase production by 40 per cent this year, and had already been planning a large marketing operation. East coast markets are now recognising oysters from Franklin Harbour, Denial Bay, Coffin Bay, St Peters Island, Streaky Bay and Smoky Bay as premium quality. Source: Nigel Austin in the Adelaide Advertiser (19/4/2005).

MARKETING PEARLS There's now more emphasis on marketing and branding Australian pearls in the face of weakening global demand. In 2002 the MG Kailis Group launched the Kailis Australian Pearls brand in Spain. The step was designed to reassure customers they were buying only Australian south sea pearls from the Kailis farms in north-west Australia. The Sydney company Pearlautore is one of the three companies dominating the marketing of Australia's south sea pearls – Paspaley Pearls is the third and largest. Pearlautore represents Australian producers other than Paspaley and Kailis, and two Indonesian companies. Pearlautore's Rosario Autore advises that two or three years ago producers were virtually dumping stock via auctions – there's now a more orderly approach. Pearlautore now has retail outlets in Sydney, Japan, the UK and Spain, with five more in plan. The industry is also examining the lack of a standard grading and certification system. An improvement in that area could help establish the quality premium on Australian pearls. Source: Business News (14/4/2005). 66 Austasia Aquaculture | June/July 2005

GOVERNMENT EXPLANATION Fisheries NSW has, defending its approval of pearl oyster farming in Port Stephens, stated that the proposal by The Cove Oysters in North Arm Cove to operate a pearl farm was based on the fact that the proposal was by an existing lease holder, and did not involve any significant change in operation on the lease. This has occurred despite the fact that, in August last year the Minister for Planning, Infrastructure and Natural Resources Craig Knowles rejected a development proposal by Port Stephens Pearls to operate a 34ha farm in the area. He said there were risks to the environment and a high level of community opposition. Meanwhile the argument between opponents and proponents of the proposed pearl farm has developed further with legal advice made available that a development application is required to start a pearl farm. Several leaseholders in the Port Stephens area have begun to convert their shallow-water leases to pearl farms. Concerns are that there could be pollution from shellcleaning and disruption from the security patrol craft. Source: Melissa Chain in the Newcastle Herald (6/4/2005); Port Stephens Examiner (14/4/2005).

LEAVE SHOALHAVEN ALONE! Showing their anger at the State Government's water policy, Shoalhaven oyster farmers have united to oppose a recently released water statement which details the taking of more water from the Shoalhaven River. Already, removal of water from Lake Yurunga and Tallowa Dam has resulted in there being no overflow from these resources into the tributaries of the Shoalhaven River. Fresh water input is necessary to ensure survival of oyster farming in the area. Source: South Coast Weekly (28/3/2005).

MAKING THE GRADE The two Greenwell Point oyster farming businesses winning gold medals at the Royal Easter Show were competing in an event in which they had to score 82.5 per cent or more to gain gold. Shoalhaven Oyster Services, owned by brothers Brian and Barry Allen, and Bedrock Oysters, owned by Rob and Lyn Desoto, made the grade. The Desotos have been oyster farmers for five years, while the Allens are fourth generation oyster farmers. Source: Damian Mcgill in the South Coast Weekly (28/3/2005).

FUNDS FOR BAMAGA PEARLS The Queensland Government has granted $30,000 to Queensland South Sea pearl company Bamaga Pearls, which is based on Turtle Head island near Bamaga. The support will go towards the company developing a plan to expand its market and to improve production processes. Bamaga intends targeting the Japanese, US and European markets with round pearls, half pearls and pearl shells. The company has a vision to be innovative and increase sales by more than $6.7 million over three years, creating 15 new jobs. Source: Torres News (6/4/2005).

FISHENEWS

EMPLOYMENT

Algae Technician - Bream Bay Aquaculture Park, Ruakaka This position is responsible for producing algae for NIWA and on site industry partners. Also this position will provide technical support to various NIWA projects at the Bream Bay site including brood stock maintenance, larval rearing, operation of recircultation systems and when required, assist with the over-all running of the site. We are looking for someone preferably with a tertiary qualification in biology or aquaculture with practical experience in culturing feeds on a commercial scale for algal, rotifer and brine shrimp culture. Experience with laboratory procedures in relation to live food production is essential as is good computer literacy, the ability to use word processing, spreadsheet, statistics and other application packages. You must be able to work at times under the pressure of deadlines and have a flexible, proactive approach to work. If you are interested in the position further information and online application forms can be found at www.niwa.co.nz/about/jobs/. Applications close on 4 July 2005.

EMPLOYMENT

Abalone Growout/Production Manager Great Southern Waters operates an established and expanding modern Abalone Aquaculture facility situated on the Bellarine Peninsula, 30 minutes from Geelong. An opportunity now exists for an experienced Growout/Production Manager to join our team. The incumbent will have excellent communication and demonstrated staff management skills with the ability to motivate and lead a team. This is a hands-on position which requires a complementary balance of practical and scientific knowledge, keen organisational and observation skills with a focus on continued improvement in farm production practices and outputs. Applicants must have significant experience in staff and stock management, be fully computer literate, and driven to achieve results. An attractive salary commensurate with experience will be offered. Applications in writing should be forwarded by Friday 30th June to Operations Manager, Great Southern Waters Ltd., 366 The Esplanade, Indented Head, Victoria 3223 Australia. Email: info@gsw.com.au For further information phone : (03) 5257 2033

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