Summer 2012

Volume 26 No 4 – Summer 2012

Fresh target for Bali Barramundi Electric blue marron a hit in tanks Aussie crocs in Hermes handbags Seaweed boosts prawn credentials Huon Salmon’s prestigious award Oyster farmers’ disease response Asia focus for Oz grouper expertise Preventing black spot in prawns

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Contents Editor-in-chief Dr Tim Walker Regular contributors David O'Sullivan John Mosig Subscription/editorial Austasia Aquaculture PO Box 658, Rosny, Tas. 7018 Ph: 03 6245 0064 Fax: 03 6245 0068 Email: AustasiaAquaculture@netspace.net.au Advertising Megan Farrer Design/typesetting Coalface Production Pty Ltd Prepress & Printing Geon Group Copyright © by Austasia Aquaculture.

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Contents cannot be reproduced without permission. Statements made or opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Turtle Press Pty Ltd (ABN 98 506 165 857).

Austasia Aquaculture magazine (ISSN: 0818 552) is published by Turtle Press Pty Ltd (ABN 98 506 165 857) for the promotion of aquaculture in the Australasian and Asian regions – inclusive of farming in marine, freshwater, brackish and hypersaline waters. Reader's contributions are encouraged on the clear understanding they will be subject to editorial control and, if accepted, will appear in both printed and online versions.

Cover photo A montage of photos taken from stories contained in this issue. Captions and photo credits as per the details inside.

FA R M P R O F I L E

Bali Barramundi targets fresh markets

F E AT U R E

4

Aussie industry swings into action following devastating Pacific Oyster disease

Electric Blue Marron an ornamental hit

10

Eco-Tourism a winner at Hartley’s Creek Crocodile

16

Aussie funded Grouper projects see expanded production

Aussie links to Lombok pearl farm

22

TECHNOLOGY

RESEARCH

Prawnfresh Plus prevents black spot in prawns

Seaweed further enhances Aussie prawn farms’ global environmental lead

26

Huon achieves prestigious global G.A.P. accreditation

32

34

38

43

Summer 2012 | Austasia Aquaculture 1

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FA R M P R O F I L E

Bali Barra pioneer Rob Garrison in the cage staging area.

Photo courtesy of T. Keast

Bali Barramundi targets fresh markets An integrated facility established on the north-west coast of Bali is selling fresh sea grown barramundi taking advantage of a beautiful seacage site, cheap running costs and regular flights into multiple destinations. Although currently being supplied with high quality fingerlings from Singapore and Western Australia, a broodstock program is planned to be up and running by the first quarter of 2013 which, together with upgrades to the hatchery and onshore nursery, will take production to around 500,000 15g fingerlings a year. Given infrastructure now in place for an annual production of over 800 tonnes (wet weight), the company is set to emerge as a major player in the regional market.

P

hillips Foods Inc., a Baltimore-based seafood processing business, began in 1914 with Augustus E. Phillips building a Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus) processing plant on Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, USA. The company has been operated by three generations of the Phillips family and remains family-owned.

The major expansion started in 1956 when son Brice and his wife Shirley opened the first ‘crab shack’ in Ocean City, a small resort town on the shore of the Bay, to sell excess crabs from the plant.

That first location has evolved into Phillips Seafood Restaurants which now operates seven high-volume restaurants in the Eastern United States, as well as a growing network of franchises in major air4 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2012

ports around the country.

The demand for quality crab meat this expansion fuelled became a major, ongoing challenge.

Then, in 1990, grandson Steve discovered a blue swimming crab (Portunus pelagicus) in Southeast Asia nearly identical to the crab in the Chesapeake Bay. Subsequently, Phillips began opening crab processing facilities around the world to meet the demand for crab meat that the domestic supplies couldn’t fill.

Today, Phillips is the largest importer of pasteurized blue swimmer crab meat in the United States. It owns and operates 17 plants worldwide – in the United States, Ecuador, Mexico, Indonesia, India, the Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.

Not only does the company sell its crab meat to its own restaurant chain but also through grocery stores right across the country. And a number of top chefs delight in using Phillips’ crab meat – and other delicacies in its seafood line-up – in their own establishments.

Aquaculture focus Bali Barramundi is Phillips Corporate Responsibility Initiative’s first aquaculture venture. “Phillips’ new Bali Barra is a great addition to the Phillips seafood product portfolio,” says Steve, now Phillips’ CEO. “While reaffirming our commitment to sustainability and the future of the seafood industry, our Bali Barramundi is of the highest quality and offers many health

FA R M P R O F I L E

benefits that will attract consumers.”

The pilot project started in 2009 and is located in the clear tropical waters off the northwest coast of the island of Bali, Indonesia. Initially there were just four cages and a nursery raft occupying around 1.5ha for an initial production of 100 tonnes. Since then the operation has been boosted significantly with sales of commercial quantities of barramundi since 2011.

It’s a fully-integrated operation with an onland hatchery, feed store, workshop and administration complex (3ha), a seabased nursery site and a lagoon protected growout site. According to Troy Keast, Phillips Director of Aquaculture and Sustainability, there’s the infrastructure in place to produce 1,000t/year. Bali Barramundi is currently scaling up operations (hatchery, nursery and growout) to reach this goal by the end of 2013.

Such rapid expansion has been enabled by some smart ‘partnering’ with industry specialists. “Our major partners are feeds supplier Cargill, animal health experts MSD Animal Health (Singapore) and the nearby Gondol Mariculture Research Station.”

Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are a major part of all the Phillips businesses. “Our low technology approach sees us use local labour with high levels of community involvement. We employ a mix of religions to cover us through the various religious holidays. It is a win/win scenario.”

increased water exchange. Moorings consist of self-burying 100kg metal anchors

Seacage growout The growout site is over muddy bottom in about 16-18m water depth (the tide is around 1.5m per day) and visibility can often be at more than 15m (except after major rain events) – enabling the bottom and the mooring anchors to be seen. The cage sites sit behind a 2km long barrier reef, protecting the lagoon from storms or rough water. Given the nearest river is 3km away, water-borne debris is not usually a problem.

The cages are spread apart to allow

and 3.5cm link chain which is then tied to 30mm polypropylene ropes.

The sea-based activities operate along a strict production ‘pipeline’. Phillips Foods Bali’s Troy Keast explains: “We want to be loading the system with a new batch every three months for year-round harvesting. For each batch we stock 100,000 fingerlings in the nursery cages in halfinch mesh nets. We hold them there 2-3 months until they reach 50g; then they are transferred into one inch mesh nets

From top: Steve Phillips feeding Barramundi; note the net to stop them jumping out.

Photo courtesy of T. Keast

Rolling up the pellet ‘fence’ for cleaning and sun-drying.

Bags of the specially formulated SEAKAP Barramundi feeds from Cargills.

for another three months until they reach Summer 2012 | Austasia Aquaculture 5

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Management Metrics Key Management Decisions for Phillips Foods include: • Focus on fresh sales to regional markets.

• Use of strategic relationships with suppliers and Government.

• The consistent and cleaner flavour profile of sea cage cultured fish over pond raised.

• Locating the farm within easy access to the international airport opens up marketing options.

• Manually changing nets rather than utilise high technology net cleaners.

Key performance indicators for Bali Barramundi growout farm: • Growout: 21 months from fry to 2.5kg.

• Survival rate: 95% from first stocking to sale size.

• Av. stocking density: 27 kg/m3.

• Annual harvest: infrastructure for 1,000mt.

• FCR: 1.5.

A 20m diameter seacage with Mount Ijen, an active volcano on the nearby island of Java in the background.

300g. Then they are ready to be transferred to the growout cages which also have one inch mesh.”

Troy says that the ‘secret’ to their confidence in this production pathway is adherence to the health management program developed by Neil Wendover at MSD Animal Health (formally known as Intervet; its parent company is Merk).

“Our program includes immersion and injection (vaccination) treatments for Streptococcus iniae (a gram-negative bacterium) and a vaccine injection against Iridovirus (a severe viral disease common in Barramundi, Grouper [Epinephelus spp] 6 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2012

and other finfish). The program is our primary guidance and we endeavour to only stock healthy fish.”

A fortnightly prophylactic treatment in a 150ppm hydrogen peroxide bath for 60 minutes is used to combat parasites in the nursery cages. “We try to limit our growout activities to feeding, changing nets and final harvesting; we don’t want to be doing any grading out there. We grade heavily in the hatchery and only stock evenly-sized fish into the nursery/pregrowout. Fish are then graded into three sizes – small, medium and large before transfer into the growout cages.”

Two floating rafts now function as the nurseries. “The rafts contain 3m x 3m nursery pens. Our last batch from the hatchery was stocked directly into a 10m diameter polar circle cage with good results so we will be looking at replacing the rafts with pre-grow out polar circles cages.”

Bali Barramundi takes the fish up to around 300g before stocking into 20mdiameter (ex-salmon), growout cages sourced from Chile. Aquagrid® Containment Systems (nets) were also imported and assembled on site. “The use of the Aquagrid ensures we have almost zero escapes – although small numbers of fish may jump over the sides or escape during net changes.

Usually we can catch those fish as they stick around the cages looking for food.”

The barramundi are cultured at low densities to avoid overcrowding and stress.

Floating pellets are hand-fed to prevent overfeeding, stopping excess feed from being introduced into the delicate ecosystem. Small mesh nets hung at the surface ensure the pellets don’t get carried away from the cages.

“We use specifically formulated feed from Cargill called SEAKAP which is 44% protein and 13% lipid with vitamins added,” Troy continues. “Their pellets are supplied in 25kg bags, each with batch numbers for traceability. We start with 5mm pellets – fed twice a day – in the nursery cages. We then work through 7mm up to 15mm pellets which we feed in the afternoons.”

Troy says they’re pretty happy with this feeding regime. “The FCR averages 1.5, and we are conducting trials with the American Soy Bean Association and Gondol (Research Institute) on non-marine based feed as part of our sustainability program.

The availability of marine-based fish oil is a potential limiting factor to the industry. We would like to stay ahead of the curve with a pro-active approach to researching alternative proteins.”

“We don’t have any problems with predators (birds, fish or sharks) and through MSD we have a great disease control program, so our major issue is with fouling

FA R M P R O F I L E

of the nets. We have a program of changing two nets per week, most nets to be changed every six weeks. It is usually just the top metre or so that has the most fouling. We tried a net cleaning machine but that didn’t work well and we don’t want to use antifoulants.”

Bali Barramundi didn’t want to have to install cranes or lifting equipment on its work barge, preferring to use as much local labour as possible. “We won’t be able to go too big in our cage size but we have a good system now where we float up the fouled net and then slide the clean net underneath. Fish are then released into the new net before dragging out the fouled net with the barge and towing it to shore.”

The smaller nursery nets can simply be pulled onto the barge.

Troy says that this handling does not seem to damage the Aquagrid nets. “The nets are very tough; we haven’t noticed any damage dragging them up to the shore. There they are laid out to dry before cleaning with a high pressure water hose and being rolled up ready for transport out on the barge when the next net change is due.”

With average water temperatures around 28°C (varying in the limited range of 26-30°C), growing conditions are excellent such that the 300g fingerlings reach the harvest at 2.5-3kg in about 18 months; in total a culture time of 18-21 months.

Harvesting & processing Phillips’ aim for the Bali operation is for a focus on fresh markets. Bali, being an international logistical hub, fits this model well. Barramundi was chosen as it fitted into a range of fresh markets from retail to white table cloth/fine dining.

Troy considers that due to the efforts of industry pioneers the name ‘Barramundi’ is now recognised throughout the world opening the door for new players to enter the fold.

“The discerning market prefers the consistency and flavour profile of the darkerskinned seacage product over pond-raised

A happy Phillips employee getting the ice slurry ready for harvesting the 2.5-3kg Barramundi.

Photo courtesy of D. Keast

fish sealing our decision to culture in cages.”

Once the fresh markets are saturated Phillips will move into frozen markets given its strategically-located processing facility in East Java. “The food safety certification of this facility allows us to access all markets and we also have a ‘state of the art’ BRC-approved value adding facility in Indonesia which can be used to diversify our product range. This facility already produces a full range of value-

Troy watching the feeding activity of Barramundi; note the covering net to stop them jumping out.

Photo courtesy of R. Garrison

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FA R M P R O F I L E

Aerial shot of location of the farm in the right hand side of the lagoon behind the protective fringing reef.

A work boat is used to drag the fouled net ashore after a clean replacement net has been tied in its place. Note the buoys used to holdup the net.

Loading a cleaned and dried net onto the barge.

added seafood for both the food service and retail sectors.”

Harvesting is undertaken cage-side with the fish being seined up alongside the work barge before stunning in an ice slurry. All fish are bled which Troy says provides a point of difference for the organoleptically trained palate/eye. Fish are then layer packed on ice before transporting down to the processing facility. Typically 2,000-4,000kg is harvested per session.

“Shelf life is of major importance in fresh fish so we focus on process sanitation to minimise bacterial loads,” Troy adds. “We generally land IVP fillets into our target market in under 48 hours. In most cases the product is cleared (sold) in less than 60 hours. All reports we have back from the market indicate that the fillets are still holding out well the week after shipment but we continue to focus on our in house SSOP’s (Sanitation [Food Safety] Standard Operating Procedures).”

The majority of fish are processed into skin-on, belly flap on IVP fillets which yield about 50% although some customers prefer shallow skinned fillets.

Packaging is either in a generic IVP bag or Phillips own ‘Bali Barramundi’ retail bag. Fillets are then packed into airline approved outer packaging prior to delivery to the airport.

Troy is enthusiastic about the Australian markets for barramundi. “This market represents the ‘low hanging fruit’ as far as location goes. We can land our fillets faster than some of the barramundi farmers in Australia’s north. The market there just loves it – with excellent sales so far this year we have not had a single complaint or reject.”

By Dos O’Sullivan.

For more information contact Troy Keast, Phillips Foods Bali, Jl. Bumi Ayu Gg.Mawar No.7 Sanur, Bali Indonesia 80228. .

Mob: +628127204260 Email: tkeast@phillipsfoods.com Web: www.phillipsfoods.com

8 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2012

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Summer 2012 | Austasia Aquaculture 9

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Electric Blue Marron an ornamental hit

A south-west WA marron farmer believes there is a significant market for marron colour morphs in the ornamental or pet market. He has been selling electric blue marron for more than five years to Australian markets and has ‘a consistent stream’ of overseas enquiries.

G

reg and Tracie Craig have been operating a marron (Cherax caini) farm at Red Gully, near Nannup in Western Australia’s south-west, for almost 18 years.

They have a 168 acre property that in the past has been used for goat breeding and berry farming.

“We have an ungazetted spring-fed creek which is called Red Gully Creek; this runs year round through our property,” says Greg. “We are very lucky that we have no neighbours in the catchment as the creek comes through thousands of hectares of bush so our water quality is very high.

The water comes out quite cold and we have a 7m deep gully dam that forms a 1ha lake. From there the water is pumped with a 3-cyclinder diesel pump made by Deutz to a 50m by 50m supply dam from which we gravity feed to most of our 2.5ha of growout ponds.

“We also have two Davey HiFlo 240V pumps to distribute water to the ponds and the purging shed; these go via a venturi to provide some aeration as well.”

Greg says he has relied heavily on the recommendation and advice of the WA Fisheries Department especially when designing and building his farm. “George 10 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2012

Cassells was particularly helpful and our main mentor who helped to design the pond layouts. Because of his help we were able to get started with some success.

“Since then we have modified our culture and harvesting techniques and now we have production of between 1.5 and 3.0 tonnes a year; this is totally based on the amount of time I can work the farm as I am often away undertaking construction and other work off the farm. However, it does bring in an easy $80,000+ or more when you combine the edible marron, blue marron sales and supply of broodstock for other marron farms.”

Greg originally obtained some blue marron juvenile stock about 15 years ago.

Through some selective breeding he was able to develop true-breeding family lines so that now he has five of his 25 ponds devoted purely to producing blues. He named his company True Blue Marron and set up a website (truebluemarron. com.au) in 2009 to promote his unique product (author’s note – I know of only one other large-sale or commercial breeder of blue Marron and that was at Denmoore near Albany which is currently not operating. In a recent visit to China I found a

number of colour morphs of Yabbies [Cherax destructor] including ivory, plum red, bright orange and sky blue which are supposedly grown by a breeder in Shanghai based on Aussie broodstock.

However, there were no reports of locally produced colour morphs of marron available in the pet or fish shops).

Earthen ponds There are no set breeding ponds; all are treated as growing ponds and Greg only separates his blue marron. Greg’s original five breeding ponds (smaller than the growout ponds) are now used for experimenting with different crosses. The remainder (20) of his ponds – approximately 50m long by 20m wide (0.1ha) – are all for growout.

“Some of the earlier ponds were only 1.5-1.7m deep. However, our newer ones are 2m deep; this gives us a bit of leeway during summer when evaporation is at its highest. It means we can be away from the farm without the stress of worrying about the pond water levels. The shallower ones do give increased production.

However you need to be continually topping them up to compensate losses to

FA R M P R O F I L E

evaporation. If we were going to build more ponds I would make them approximately 50m by 50m wide and 2m deep.”

Greg says he was lucky that his father spent the majority of his life working on earthmoving equipment. “With his expertise and knowledge we were able to build the majority of ponds and now I still have a bit of construction plant around the farm. This helps when we drain the ponds as we can get the 2tonne excavator, John Deere back hoe and Bedford tip-truck going and get rid of mud and muck that can build up in the drains that lead to the deep settling pond. This would be an added cost if you didn’t have your own machines and is vital in enabling the ponds to drain quickly to ensure that the marron are not sitting in muddy water for any length of time.”

The only additional substrate Greg puts in the pond is limestone which helps buffer the water, preferring the bigger pieces of limestone over the crushed variety. “I use the crushed limestone firstly as a way to build harder bottoms around the drain pipe. And as a way of constantly improving the ponds I have extended this up the centre of each pond and up the sides as years go by. The result is that we now have compacted, user-friendly pond bottoms that we can drive vehicles on if needed.”

Greg is undecided on the value of the paddlewheels. “At present we have approximately six in use. We mostly use Machines imported from an overseas supplier by Diamond Networks. They create good water circulation but I am not sure if the cost of the power they use is made up by increased production. I feel that they have a use and can be beneficial correcting an algal bloom. However I know that I am lucky with good quality water year round which allows me to top up a pond or flush out a pond if needed.”

From left: A drain harvest involves all the family and friends. Each pond is drained harvested at least once every 3 years and then the mud is hosed out and a crushed limestone added before refilling.

A pond harvest includes the beautiful blues plus some ‘throwbacks’ or browns which are sold to the table Marron market. The harvested Marron are graded into colour and then size.

After a drain harvest it is time for some fun and loads of mud ‘therapy’. (From left) Jimmy, Darren’s son Jaxon and Darren.

This paddlewheel is held in place with rope tethers. The mud is hosed out at the end of the drain harvest.

Husbandry With breeding takes place in the growout ponds – along with some experimental breeding within the smaller ponds – Greg has worked with Government and other growers to improve the genetics of the farmed marron. “A group of marron growers – from a variety of areas within WA and SA – were involved in the Super Marron selective breeding program. And we have also been breeding off our ‘flyers’ (those marron that grow faster than the rest). We have found that a hybrid between our flyers and the supers has produced a very good stock with fast growth and good survival.”

Greg used to check temperatures, pH and other water quality variables.

“However I can now tell by looking at the Summer 2012 | Austasia Aquaculture 11

FA R M P R O F I L E

marron and the rest of the pond ecosystem. We have no troubles with moult deaths (no doubt due to the limestone addition and the fact the water is likely to be ‘hard’ anyway – high in carbonates – as it comes directly from a soak), and we don’t get any parasites or other bugs (ecto-commensals).”

The marron are fed three times a week.

“I have tried a number of different Marron pellet brands but I like the Thompson & Redwood Process Supplies (Upper Swan, Swan Valley) best. I have worked with the guys there and now have a higher protein content (32% compared to 21% normal) and crude fibre 4%. All ingredients are locally sourced -Aussie fishmeal as well as vitamins and minerals. The pellets come in 40kg bags, and I have found them to be the best value with production improving as a result of this feed.”

Luckily predation isn’t high. “We have to trap and relocate some water rats, but they are creatures of habit and will always eat their catch in the same place. So it is very easy to see if a family of them have been eating from the ponds. We are also close to the Blackwood River so we get some shags coming over and occasional grey heron, night herons, crows, kookaburras and dab chicks. Looking around the farm you can see the undigested ‘mushrooms’ (gastroliths) from the marron they have eaten, so you can find where the birds are roosting. I have added a spe12 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2012

cial timer from Germany to our gas gun and this is pretty good at varying the times of the blast. That seems to keep the majority away.”

Greg is also assessing the pros and cons of bird netting. “I did net half of the ponds based on the Fisheries’ protocols. These worked OK but another grower once spoke to me and says that for the cost of the netting and the expenses in continual maintenance to ensure there are no holes, I could have put in another couple of production ponds. It has made me think … over 75% of my ponds are now not netted. I am now not replacing the netting as it wears because the maintenance requirements exceed the added benefit in my eyes.”

Greg likes to sell at no smaller that 200g per animal (except for our starter/breeding packs). “Some restaurants however do like the smaller 150g animals for their entree sized meals. From our point of view, it takes two years to get to 100g, if you add another year you gain another 100g per animals and to us this represents the most value for money for the producer.

It also helps to differentiate our product from a yabbie.”

Harvesting hides Greg has improved his harvesting strategy. “The traditional method was for the ponds to be drain harvested every year so that the different-sized marron were all

regularly size graded. And it gave the opportunity for the detritus (marron droppings and uneaten feed) to be hosed out. I tried this and only could get around 1.5tonnes a year max from the ponds – which wasn’t sufficient.

“I also think that draining a pond regularly means you lose a lot of the ‘goodness’ in the pond water that helps the marron grow and survive. So I split my ponds and tried a few different options –the traditional stocking of 3,000 1+ juveniles, use of breeding ponds or male-only ponds and providing ponds with high aeration.

“In the end we finally found that a mixture of different sized Marron is best.

However every farm is different and what is right for one will be different for another.”

Greg now drains his ponds only once every three years. “At that time we pick all the marron by hand. It’s an all family and friends affair which normally concludes with the younger children – having given cheek to the older helpers – being dunked in the mud at the finish.

We then use pumps and hoses to wash out all the mud and detritus on the bottom. We have 6” outlet pipes which are just right for the fine mud and biological material which flows into our 8m deep settlement pond.

“The overflow then flows through a reed system and on to our paddocks before re-

FA R M P R O F I L E

From left: The ‘staff’ use a nearby pond to clean up after a drain harvest, from left Tamika (daughter), Tracie (wife) and Ashton (daughter).

This 300g blue Marron is shows the brilliant ‘electric blue’ colouring.

Greg (left) and Jimmy (daughter’s fiancé) inspect a harvest from a single blue Marron pond showing the number of different size grades.

entering the creek system. We originally ran cattle on these paddocks but found that the damage that they were causing to the netting and fencing around the ponds made this too time intensive. All of the effluent treatment works are set up based on Fisheries recommendation and works well. We have no concerns over messing up the waterways.”

Like other marron growers Greg uses synthetic material hides which are made from a nylon-like material imported from China by Diamond Networks. “We have increased the number of hides per pond from the recommended 100 to 200.”

Each hide has a small plastic or Styrofoam float on them to keep them spread out through the water column but Greg says it is in the weights or sinkers that you need to be most careful. “We used to use half bricks but often the rope or wire would wear off them and they would get stuck in the mud. There were also issues with hide harvesting with this type of sinkers as the bricks would get caught on the sides of the harvesting net and cause damage. We now hand-make weights from cement. These are approximately 150mm round and 60mm thick; we insert a rope into the mould at construction time and this is used as the anchor point to tie the hide to. These have worked well and we have been using them for the last ten years with a very low failure rate.

“By attaching just the right amount of weights you can keep the hides in place and prevent them from being washed around the ponds by the currents of the paddlewheels.”

He harvests each pond several times a year, wading into the ponds himself. “I used to have a wetsuit for harvesting in winter and this did work fine however you still do get cold. Now I use Fly and Dry Waders from Tasmania (www.flyn-

drywaders.com.au). I highly recommend these as I can pull them over all my clothes and I can wade into water with no worries about water soaking in. I stay dry and comfortable with fewer restrictions in my arms.”

In this way Greg can harvest all of the hides in situ instead of dragging them by

rope into shallower water – triggering an exodus of the enclosed marron. “I harvest by lifting the hides carefully into a hand net. This has a short aluminium handle; the metal ring is round with a diameter of about 70cm and the net is made from soft mesh (also by Diamond Netmakers).

If you use the right technique you can easily catch most of the marron hiding in the hides.

“I can easily harvest 100kg in an hour and have two different sized mesh nets depending on the type of marron I am harvesting; the larger one catches only standard-sized marron whilst the smaller 10mm mesh net catches all sizes including juveniles.”

Whilst harvesting the hides Greg pulls a floating plastic crates around with him.

“By doing it this way I am able to grade and sex the animals while still in the water before taking the catch ashore.”

Before he does a drain harvest he harvests the hides for several days to reduce the numbers of marron left. Then when the drain-down occurs fifty floating crates are set up in the pond next door; the aerators are on to ensure the crates have good water flow. “This allows easy transition from drained pond to fresh water for the marron. It means that we can spend more time getting the babies out and are not in a rush to sort. It also allows the marron to be cleaned prior to arriving in our purging tanks.”

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Summer 2012 | Austasia Aquaculture 13

FA R M P R O F I L E

Management Metrics Key Management Decisions for True Blue Marron include: • Certification: none needed as yet, only ornamentals exported, so no AQIS approved premised needed • Use of advice from WA Fisheries and established growers allowed a steady start to the farm with good location and pond design.

• Experimentation over 18 years has allowed more effective techniques to be refined.

• Sales of blue Marron provide a high value diversification.

• Outside work takes the pressure off having to push the pond production every year.

• Cleaning out each pond at least once every 3 years means the sludge and debris can be removed, the pond bottoms dried and limestone added to kills any pathogens.

Key performance indicators for True Blue Marron: • Culture System utilised: earthen ponds with flow through water.

• Growth rate (from stocking to market): measured from birth to 200g sized animals.

• Survival rate: not measured in % measured in doubling of size per year.

• Annual harvest: 3 tonnes plus 1-2,000 blues

Purging Like prawns and other crustaceans, marron feed from the bottom and at harvest can have material in their digestive system which is often called the ‘back vein’. If cut or damaged this can spoil the clean meat. So the marron are purged for a week without feeding to allow the food and waste to clear. An added benefit is a cleaning of the shell to produce a betterlooking marron.

Greg is planning an upgrade to his purging shed to allow increased sales. At present he has two purging tanks – 3.0m x 1.5m x 0.9m in size – aerated by a single air pump with in-tank venturis. The cold and very clear inlet water comes straight from the lake. With the upgrade he will operate an increased number of tanks, each with their own aerator.

“We are using floating plastic crates that have floating lids that easily clip into place.

This makes them very user friendly from our point of view. The operating costs are very low except in summer when the water temperatures can increase a bit. The marron are more active in the warmer water, but the risks of losses are higher too. So I am looking at heat exchangers 14 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2012

and other options for chilling the purging tanks during the 2-3 months of high water temps.

“I don’t have 3-phase power on the farm so some of the easier options (such as milk chill tanks used in dairies) are not available.”

Table sales The farm has established a regular customer – restaurants as well as onsellers.

Depending on demand (summer being the highest demand period) most of these will provide a weeks’ notice as to quantities needed.

“We also have good demand for breeders from people who want to stock their dams with good quality marron. We have a different approach than some other growers; rather than just selling small juveniles, we sell a ‘starter pack’ which has a range of sizes. In the past we have found that the juveniles are sold too small which results in a lot of deaths. At this size there’s maximum predation pressure and a tendency to cannibalism especially when they are moulting.

“Our starter pack costs $1,000 plus delivery and consists of 6kg of larger 150-

200g ‘breeders’, 6kg of smaller 100-150g which should breed the next summer and 200-300 juveniles. We might do 10-20 such packs each year.

“We prefer to send our marron out to our customers as opposed to them coming here for pick up. It ensures that the animals are packed well and will arrive either ready to be put into their new homes or, in a restaurant, ready for preparation.

“Depending on the location of the destination we have a variety of freight options. We use the normal 10kg polystyrene boxes and gel packs (for cooling).

We put in pieces of moist cooled foam to separate layers of the Marron and can usually ensure that they will last for 2 weeks if kept out of direct sunlight and in optimum conditions. With tables we pack up to 10kg (including packaging and ice packs); the numbers will vary with size – the smallest we sell is 150g, the larger can be 600g + or more.”

Demand for blue marron Greg says that the Blues make fantastic pets. “I have a large display tank (1.8m x 0.5m x 0.4m) where I keep fifteen of the blues along with some koi carp and goldfish. They are great aquarium animals.

Unlike yabbies they don’t burrow or destroy the water plants. Blues like to have ledges, large shells or holes to back into and won’t try to eat each other or the fish. I think they are actually calmer than the browns. I encourage buyers to regularly pull their pet marron out of the tanks and give their shell a bit of a brush with a tooth brush – this provides the owner with an appreciation of the marron’s beauty.

The farm has been selling the blues to the aquarium trade for about five years.

Demand is steadily growing as the product becomes more known. “I usually get 5-6 emails per week from people in North America, Europe and Asia who have seen the website or heard about us, and they are always asking for prices and availability.”

FA R M P R O F I L E

Greg says that their five blue marron ponds are surrounded in 40cm high plastic barricades to stop normal brown marron from crawling into them. “Marron are great walkers and at night you can often see them crawling from one pond to another. Even with the barricades we still get some ‘throwbacks’ with brown Marron appearing, even the occasional pink colorant. These are removed to the brown ponds for growout for the table market.”

The blue Marron need extra care as they are more vulnerable because of their smaller sale size and must be in perfect condition. “You have to be extra careful with handling the blues as you can only sell animals which have all their legs and claws and no shell damage. Ones that have recently moulted will also have the strongest colours. They also need to be healthy for the transport time, often as much as three days to some of the export markets.

“For the blues we pack around 100 of the 80-100mm animals – these sell for around $10-15 each, depending on the size of the order. I think they retail for around $45 each in Australia, probably higher overseas (author’s note: I saw 3cm long specimens of the favoured blue yabbies in a Shanghai pet shop in September ‘12 that were selling for RMB99 [$15] whilst I was told the preferred size was 4-5cm which sold for RMB299 each [A$45]).

“I have to make a decision on whether to pursue selling the blues. At present I am only selling around 100/month. I know there is a considerable market for them and we are able to get much higher prices for them. For example we sell the small blues for the same as a large table marron. And turnover in the blues is quicker as we are supplying the aquarium market as we are selling smaller animals. They also require less feed, power and so on.

“However, if I was using the five ponds for the table marron, I would need to do less work and could easily get another tonne per year. I guess it will be a matter

of what time and effort I can put into marketing and shipping the blues.”

Advice for beginners “From the Fisheries scientists and other marron growers I have learned a lot. And our trials here have resulted in us developing a farming process that is better for the table browns and the ornamental blues.

“I say to anyone just starting out that they need to be able to hold onto their stock for at least five years to get up their production levels. Too many times I have seen it with friends and customers that they are selling too quickly and they are selling their faster growing animals. They need to understand that the best value comes in the third year (of life) when the Marron can double in size and if they can hold off they will get the increased production. Of course if they were going to put in 40-70 ponds then the economics might be different but that is a big investment to start out. At that size of produc-

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tion, it is also no longer viable to be done on your own. You then need to consider labour costs.

“Marron farming isn’t much different to other types of farming. You need to have the right location, good start up stock and good clean water quality and you need to have the right equipment and the right techniques to do it properly. We know we have an effective process, it works and I can pick and choose how much time I want to put in to make a certain amount of money.”

Of course, after a hard day’s work, Greg also can sit down and relax in front of his giant display tank and watch his incredible blue Marron.

By Dos O’Sullivan All photos courtesy of Greg Craig For more information contact Greg Craig, True Blue Marron, RMB 740, Nannup WA 6275.

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Summer 2012 | Austasia Aquaculture 15

Baby croc hatching out of egg in 2011.

Photo courtesy of Hartley Creek Croc Farm.

FA R M P R O F I L E

Eco-Tourism a winner at Hartley’s Creek Crocodile As far as aquaculture species go, by far the most impressive and also daunting would have to be the crocodile. When the stock can do major damage if it bites you, farming large numbers takes risk management to the extreme.

Michael Newton, farm hand, holding one of the hatchlings.

J

ust over 40 kilometres north of Cairns on the Captain Cook Highway, what

started off as a teahouse attraction with a single crocodile in 1935 has grown into an award winning ecotourism destination.

16 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2012

Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures has also been farming crocs for commercial skins since 1989.

By the early 1960s, crocodiles had been so heavily hunted throughout the tropical north that Gary Zillfeisch – the then owner of Hartley’s – had difficulty finding crocs in the wild. So, in an effort to halt this decline, he decided to create a crocodile stud and farming began at Hartley’s Creek.

Conservation of the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) is still a prime driver for the folk at Hartley’s. But when the endangered species is a large predator that is an opportunistic feeder and includes you as a menu item, it is difficult to maintain the cuteness factor.

Fortunately for the crocodile, it has both meat and skin that are commercially

valuable. Exploiting such marketability is a key tool in the conservation of the species. (See AA vol.26 no.1) Nick Stevens, from Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures says: “Farming is a conservation tool. It was introduced to protect the wild populations. It’s not a perfect tool but it has actually proven to work.”

Collecting & hatching eggs The farming process starts with collecting the eggs. In Queensland, collecting eggs from the wild has been banned since 1974 so Hartley’s have a fully closed cycle.

Broodstock is kept in large fenced and grassed enclosures which include ponds.

Fifty-two pairs of breeders are kept on the farm. The females breed once a year with 30-70 eggs laid per nest; the bigger mothers generally laying bigger clutches.

FA R M P R O F I L E

“At this point in time we don’t really know what makes good breeders; some animals breed really well and others don’t. But one on one [pairing] is best for our breeding program,� says Nick. “Competition in the lagoon does not provide as good a result.�

As well as the penned breeding pairs, there are nineteen crocodiles living in the man-made lagoon. Whilst it is artificial, Hartley’s Lagoon has been created to be as close to a natural habitat as possible and the animals and birdlife living within its environs exist as if in the wild. This includes mating, building nests and laying eggs. “As soon as the eggs are laid we go in and collect them,� says Nick. “We know the eggs are laid because the female becomes very aggressive.�

The egg collection process is a careful business ‌ quite apart from avoiding an angry female crocodile! The top of the egg is marked because if it is rolled, the embryo can die. The eggs are then transferred to the incubator room.

The incubator is kept at 32°C and at 95-100% humidity. Whilst the temperature at which eggs are kept helps determine the sex of the crocodile, it is not absolute and there will still be variations.

Only 60-70% of the cohort will be male given a constant 32°C. Whether the animal is male or female has no significance for the crop however because, for the first three to four years, the growth rates are the same and the animals are harvested within this period.

Oxygen is a key parameter in the incubation phase. The eggs are porous; humidity makes them expand and allows oxygen in so the embryo may survive. The more eggs in the incubator and the older the eggs (with the embryo increasing in size and metabolism), the more oxygen is needed, so oxygen must be adjusted continually over the eighty day hatching period.

Conditions in the hatchling room are similar to the incubator with the temperature at 32°C and high humidity. Nick says it is important to keep the temperature stable. “Crocs are hardy but the worst

Clockwise from top: Cedric the patriarch of the breeding stock.

Fully enclosed tourist boats take guided tours around Hartley’s Lagoon.

Close-up of the back skin of a tanned crocodile hide.

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Summer 2012 | Austasia Aquaculture 17

FA R M P R O F I L E

Management Metrics

Nick Stevens, farm manager, displaying a crocodile skin.

Key Management Decisions for Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures include: • Continuing R&D into farming techniques to grow better quality skins.

• Focus on farming, tourism and tourist education to promote conservation.

Yearling pens The animals are moved out into 36m2 American-designed, fibreglass yearling pens at somewhere between eight to ten months of age. For this stage the crocs need to be about 800mm long; at this size they can eat a whole chicken head. They spend about six months in these pens, growing to 1.2m to 1.3m long.

Transition to the 96m2 concrete growout pens occurs during the warmer months so there is less stress on the animals. “We avoid moving them in cooler months because the crocodiles are at their lowest ebb then,” says Nick.

The crocs are kept in these pens until they reach a length of 1.5-1.8m; usually at around 3 years old.

Animals are individual caught and their bellies inspected as any defect on the skin will downgrade it. “If there is a major defect on the skin,” says Nick, “the croc can stay in the pen for another 12 months.

Hopefully that scar will heal up.”

If they are in good condition they are electrically stunned, the fastest and most humane slaughter method.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Saltwater Crocodiles include: • Fibreglass tanks for hatchling and yearling growth periods.

• Concrete pens with water for growout.

• Growth rate (from hatch to market): 3 years to 1.6-1.7m.

• Survival rates: hatchlings 95.2%, yearlings 98%.

• Stocking rate for growout 1/m2.

• Annual harvest between 600 and 1,000.

Younger crocs in the growout pens.

thing you can do to them is to fluctuate the temperature quickly.”

The 3.2m x 1.8m fibreglass tanks into which each batch is released have three temperature zones: room temperature, cooler water temperature and a spotlight hot spot. As reptiles are poikilothermic, these three zones allow the crocs to regulate their body temperature.

Why the high humidity levels? “It helps growth rates. Being farmers, that’s what we’re 18 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2012

crocs are being fed red meat.

Hartley’s try to keep the cohorts together as the animals do get used to each other.

However, grading is necessary to keep the crocodiles healthy and mark free.

after. We probably triple growth rates compared to a wild crocodile,” says Nick.

Hatchlings are fed a mixture of minced kangaroo meat and chicken heads. This is blended with vitamins and also calcium for their bone structure. The calcium is very important as the culture conditions enable the animals to grow so much faster than their wild counterparts. It is also necessary to compensate for calcium being leached from their bones as the

Processing and marketing Marketable products include skins used for the high fashion industry, meat for the restaurant trade, heads and skulls as well as other crocodile skin products like belts and novelty items. The processing of the crocodiles is done off-site. “We hire a licenced crocodile abattoir in town,” Nick says. “They do all the meat for us and send our skins back as well as the heads and other items.”

The staff at Hartley’s salt the skins twice.

“We invite the buyers to come to the farm and grade with us so we all know where we stand.”

Grading can be a problematic process as the graded value of the skin can be

FA R M P R O F I L E

reduced by any basic defect like a bite mark or a scratch. “The hardest part about it is if the actual skin itself has a scale that comes off during the tanning process. We may argue that the bite mark or scratch is just in the scale and will not be on the skin, the buyers may argue otherwise. But the argument is moot anyway, because if they don’t want it, they won’t buy it…it can be very frustrating.”

The buyers are classing skins for purchase by the Japanese and French Haute Couture markets. Companies such as Gucci, Lois Vuitton, Yves St Laurent and Hermes are the target markets for these fine crocodile leathers. When the final merchandise is a Hermes handbag selling at $40,000 and only obtainable after being on a four year wait-list, the buyers have the final say.

All hides that come out of Hartley’s have a CITES tag (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) attached to it. CITES, an international agreement between governments, monitors sales versus numbers of tags; if they don’t add up then sales are stopped. “All crocodile products must have that traceability back to a licenced farm. It actually controls the international trade of wildlife and helps eliminate poaching,” says Nick.

The meat market is another revenue option. In addition to supplying its own on-site restaurant, Lilies, Hartley’s sells its croc meat into the local tourist restaurant trade.

When asked about overseas trade, Nick explained that whilst many overseas markets love crocodile meat, the orders were usually for such large quantities it was not possible for the farm to supply.

Diversification These days, most businesses need to diversify to stay afloat. When the culture species is a top end predator, polyculture as a means of extension might be difficult to manage. Luckily, when your organism has the majesty of physical power and the allure of a dinosaur, tourism is an obvi-

Hartley Creek crocodile farm aerial shot Photo courtesy of Hartley Creek Croc Farm.

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Summer 2012 | Austasia Aquaculture 19

FA R M P R O F I L E

Hatchling tank showing three temperature zones - room, water and spotlight at far right.

its current site of operations, the three foci of conservation, farming and tourism were obviously integral to its design.

The farm’s website states: “Every aspect of [Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures] design, construction and operations is centered on the philosophy of sustainable use and positive environmental impacts.” It shows.

The public enters through the restaurant area which incorporates a viewing platform of Hartley’s Lagoon, the manmade Melaleuca wetlands billabong Hatchling room at Hartley’s.

planted with endemic species and with weeds eradicated. There are walks, talks,

ous choice for diversification.

boat cruises and an education centre.

Tourism has always been part of the

The lagoon boat cruise is an ‘immersion

Hartley’s Creek business model; it started

exhibit’. The crocs are living as if in the

off as a halfway teahouse with a crocodile

wild; passengers are stepping into their

to look at. When the enterprise developed

playground. The billabong looks like it’s

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20 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2012

always been there with great birdlife as well as 2.5 to 5 metre reptiles basking in the sun and swimming around the boat.

The boat drivers provide an interesting and informative commentary on crocodiles and their conservation.

Every aspect of the park has conservation as a central theme but not the radically exclusive doctrine of ‘you can’t touch this’; farming has a significant position in Hartley’s conservation ethos. The farm, itself, is on offer to the tourists with two tours a day.

Hartley’s also showcases other Australian wildlife such as Cassowaries, koalas, quolls, wallabies and python.

There are opportunities to get up close and personal with many of these creatures.

Graham Webb, Chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Crocodile Specialist Group has said to make having an increased crocodile population in the wild more acceptable to people, there has to be a reason to tolerate a predator that can impact their life directly.

“This is usually achieved through economic uses, most often consumptive uses for skins and meat, or non-consumptive uses such as tourism…Diverse mechanisms…are key to ensuring crocodilians and their habitats are valued highly enough by different people to be actively conserved.” (http://portals.iucn.org/ blog/2012/07/23/ conservingcrocodilesariskybusiness/) Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures is an excellent example of this blend of economic use of a [once] endangered species and conservation. The owners have combined farming and tourism with thoughtful planning and design and have created a quintessential sustainable business.

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Summer 2012 | Austasia Aquaculture 21

FA R M P R O F I L E

Aussie links to Lombok pearl farm The Australian owned and managed Autore Group has been operating for over 20 years in the South Sea Pearl industry. Established by Rosario Autore, this vertically integrated business has interests in farms in North Western Australia and across the Indonesian archipelago centered on Lombok. Autore markets loose South Sea Pearls as well as manufacturing and selling pearl jewellery around the globe.

O

ne of the first things visitors to Lombok notice is the sellers on the streets and the beaches offering strings of pearls for sale at prices that seem too cheap to be believed. Much of it is freshwater pearl (Hyriopsis cumingii) imported from China. However there is a long tradition of pearl diving and, more recently, pearl culture of the rarer and more beautiful South Sea Pearl, mainly the Golden or Silver Lipped Pearl Pinctada maxima.

Lombok, the main island some 85 km to the east of Bali, is famous for its pearls.

Often referred to as the ‘Pearl Island’, it attracts buyers from all over the world to purchase these beautiful and precious ‘gems of the sea’.

The Autore Group, one of the world’s largest South Sea pearl companies, has operations spread across the archipelago with hatchery, growout and three pearl producing sites in Indonesia (Lombok, Sumbawa and East Java) as well as other investments in farms in North West Australia. In December 2011, Autore opened its first visitor’s centre and showroom at the Group’s pearl farm and hatchery located in the calm bay of Teluk Nara on Lombok’s West coast, near the magical Gili Islands.

General Manager, Justin Cullen, a company veteran for more than 14 years, says the hatchery and farms are isolated from each other as part of their biosecurity plan.

22 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2012

“We also chose the sites to match specific water quality parameters which differ between the life cycle stages (broodstock, larvae, juveniles and adult). For example juveniles up to about 8mm (shell length) still have a byssus (filaments which hold them onto a substrate) and will move around if conditions are not suitable.

“Demand for the South Sea Pearls dropped following the GFC so the market place has become very competitive.

Ten years ago there were 30 pearl farms in and around Lombok; now there are only seven companies operating and all of these have had to be well backed with cash injections from their owners.”

Justin says that Autore employs over 400 people in their Indonesian operations.

“Juggling the many holidays or festivals as well as other religious activities is made easier by us employing a range of Christians, Hindus and Muslims.”

In addition to pearl farming Autore is internationally renowned for its trade in pearls on the world market, retailing loose pearls and distinctive pearl jewellery worn by some of the most wealthy and glamorous people in the world.

The company’s Head Office is in the historic and elegantly appointed 125 York St, the middle of the Sydney CBD. The flagship showroom is on King St, also in Sydney’s CBD.

According to Justin, Autore Indonesian production amounts to around 200kgs of South Seas Pearls a year; it also sells South Sea Pearls from other producers in South East Asia and Australia. “South Sea pearls are the biggest pearls in the world which is what distinguishes them from Akoya and freshwater pearls.”

All hatchery stock All of the stock on the farms are hatchery-produced; the only wild collections are for some broodstock.

Justin says that the Lombok hatchery was first built in 2005. “It was originally built as a joint venture with Atlas Pearls and this continued until 2009 when Atlas built its own hatchery at Penyabangan on Bali. We often collaborate with other producers, so if we have extra eyed-larvae (stage just before settlement) and they don’t, we can send them some … and vice versa. We may also send them some to do a settlement for us, or to hold some stock for us. This helps reduce our risks.”

The hatchery and associated nursery now produce around 1 million oysters or ‘shell’ for stocking on the growout farms each year. At this stage the oysters are about 6- 12 months old and 5-10cm in length. At each farm site a floating house is anchored as a base for operations and also for the security guards.

FA R M P R O F I L E

The main work vessel is the 38m-long wooden, Phinisi-design vessel christened the KM Rukun Arta Sentosa. “This vessel is essential for our operations as our farms are so spread out. We transport up to 30,000 adult shell and hundreds of thousands of juveniles in just one movement.

We can use it for moving anchors and ropes and other farm equipment along with farm maintenance operations. We can use it for accommodation on the remote sites and are able to operate onboard for seeding and harvesting of pearls. Occasionally we rent it to help other farms.”

Longlines Culture is undertaken on longlines with all of the shell (small or large) held in 90cm by 50cm net panels that hang by 10mm ropes, some 5-15m below the surface longlines. These vary in monofilament mesh size from 3mm up to 2cm mesh.

Each 100-200m longline consists of 20-30mm polyprop rope. The lines are usually 25m apart and are held at the surface with 30cm diameter black or blue plastic floating buoys are tied every 4m along the line.

The moorings are the result of a lot of trial and error and now consist of 50kg concrete donuts. “We don’t have any hydraulic lifting equipment so the smaller weights are easier to handle. We use the round design as they can be easily rolled along the shore and jetty to the work boat by one person. We use 24mm rope to tie 20 to each end of the longline, making up a tonne of weight, sufficient for our weather conditions. We don’t really get any cyclones here. We don’t use springer buoys as the biggest tides, the kings, are

only 5m and usually we have tides of 1-1.5m only. There isn’t the huge water movement you see in the farms in Australia.”

Most of the predation problems occur with the smaller shell at the nursery. By the time they are on the growout sites the shells have reached 9-10cm; the only predator that can cause trouble at that stage is the turtle. “These will crush shells up to 15cm in length so they are a problem for even our adult stock.”

As the farms are located well away from any river mouths, waterborne rubbish and debris is not a problem. Justin says that the staff have been trained to ensure no rubbish comes from their operations. “We are able to recycle all our floats, ropes and net panels; some of the really old stuff is sent to recycling agents in Surabaya and it is transformed into plastic bags. Other non-reusable rubbish goes to the local dump.”

Apart from turtle predation, the only thing that needs to be looked out in the culture process for is fouling. “There used to be a fortnightly cleaning regime for every oyster; now we monitor the fouling and are proactive in cleaning. We use hypersaline (25 kg salt per 100L) dips for 15 seconds to kill off any soft fouling organisms and then leave the shell in the net panels to air dry for 2-3 minutes before putting them back into the sea.

“Occasionally we also get ‘red arse’ caused by the boring sponge Cliona spp.

“But the real concern is pearl thefts which we do know of from other farms.

The gangs are highly organised and wellconnected so they know where the most valuable shell are (those ready for harvest) and what security is around. Over half of our staff are involved in security. At night

we have a minimum of 20 personnel out at each farm; patrol boats also randomly keep a watch.”

Seeding The oysters undergo several grading or selection phases; when they are graded at 9-11cm they are rested for three months before entering a conditioning program prior to seeding. The conditioning program reduces food intake and forces the oyster to absorb excess gametes which hinder the seeding process.

For centuries the art of pearl seeding was a highly secretive trade, usually performed by technicians from Japan, where the technique was perfected. Since 2001 Steve Rothwell has been Technical Manager and Pearl Seeding Technician for Autore Pearls. Steve, a Kiwi, first worked with Autore at their Australian headquarters grading and value adding pearls. He later moved to Indonesia where he was trained in the delicate operation of seeding pearls by a Japanese technician.

Even though this specialised skill requires years of training and patience, Steve has trained 15 local Autore staff to seed pearls. Some of these local people also travel to Australia to assist in pearl seeding there and to further their skills and knowledge.

Seeding the pearls involves inserting the nucleus (usually a spherical bead made from American freshwater mussel Pleurobema spp.) to form the core of the pearl into the host oyster. Purchased from Imai Seikaku, a Japanese company, the size of the nuclei selected is based on the oyster condition and the size of the stomach and gonad area where it is to be implanted.

Summer 2012 | Austasia Aquaculture 23

FA R M P R O F I L E

Management Metrics Key Management Decisions for Autore Pearl include: • Work force composed of local people from different religions.

• Hatchery-based production and breeding program to reduce wild stock.

• Reclamation of pearl nuclei.

• Focus on cleaning up rubbish on farms and reuse or recycling of floats, ropes and other equipment • Training of local technicians for seeding activities.

Key performance indicators: • Culture System utilised: longlines with pearl net panels.

• Minimum size of pearls harvested: 10mm • Growth rate (from seeding to harvest): 2 years (most stock are seeded first at 2+ years) • Average mortality rate: 20% from seeding to harvest, average 2 reseeds • Annual harvest: 200kgs

Lombok visitor’s centre In December 2011, Autore opened their first visitor’s centre and showroom at their pearl farm located in the calm bay of Teluk Nara on Lombok’s west coast, near the magical Gili Islands.

Knowledgeable guides explain the intricate processes of modern cultured pearl farming – from how the oysters are seeded, the growing process, harvesting and grading the pearls, through to the end result – the stunning pearls on display in their attractive showroom.

“We are lucky as there is year round tourism here,” explained Justin. “More

A skilled technician can do up to 400 shell per day and, with over 300,000 shell being seeded in a season, Autore purchase more than 200kg of nuclei a year.

Justin says that there has been some work done in Japan on the use of antibiotic coatings on the nuclei to assist with the recovery of the host shell; however, the process remains pretty much the same as it has been for decades.

This incredibly complicated procedure (once called a ‘dark art’) starts with the selection of suitable oysters in which to grow the pearls. The oysters are practically starved for a few days to weaken their adductor muscles so they will open wide enough for the operator to work on them “You can mess up badly as it is such a fine line and the oyster can be just too weak to hold the nuclei so it rejects it or

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even dies. The technicians need to be really aware of the health of the shell they are going to seed. Selection of the sacrificial mantle tissue (called ‘Saibo’ which grafts onto the host oyster and forms the pearl sac in which the nacre is secreted onto the nuclei) and the incision and placement of the tissue and the nuclei takes a lot of skill.”

Following seeding the shell are returned to net panels and are put back into the sea in resting areas which have good food levels but no strong currents or rough water. “We don’t do the ‘tento’ which is the traditional turn schedule done in the past. They used to say this was critical to ensuring the pearl sac developed correctly.

We simply ensure that our seeded oysters are hung in a position that allows even growth of the pearls sac and good pearl retention.”

With the monitoring and cleaning (between one and four weeks depending on sites) the seeded oysters are held on the lines for three months after which they are X-rayed to see if they have retained their nucleus. “Our All Things X-Ray machine can do about 5,000 shell in a day with our special conveyor belt.

Our retention rate varies with the technicians; however we average around 75%.”

According to Justin there’s only a couple of mortalities on a line holding 2,000

and more people, both westerners and rich Jakartans are avoiding Bali and coming here for conferences and business, as well as the beaches, the diving and the local culture, and we also give them an experience in pearls they won’t forget. Once they know how much work and effort goes into making a pearl, then the customers are happier to pay for them.”

Since the grand opening in October ’11, over 3,000 people have visited the Centre. To fully discover the magic of creating Lombok pearls the tour takes around 1-1.5 hr and includes the hatchery as well as farming, seeding and harvesting demonstration area.

Finally there is a pearl appreciation lesson in the showrooms, a well-appointed local style house located on the end of a well-built jetty. In the showroom, precious loose pearls and striking jewellery are displayed for sale in illuminated cases. Some are set in white, yellow or rose gold, while contemporary designs combine the precious pearls with gems such as pink tourmaline, topaz, amethyst and other gems.

All are crafted in Australia and feature the distinctive and unique designs for which Autore is famous.

FA R M P R O F I L E

shell per clean. “Most of mortality occurs post-operational and it can range from five percent up to a problem 30%; post X-ray we might have 1-5% mortality.

“At 18 months after seeding we do another X-ray to see which shell are ready for harvest. We want to have a minimum of around 10mm pearl size; this from a 4-5mm nuclei. That’s a ‘growth’ of around 2-3mm every 6 months or so dependent on food and other conditions. Shell with small pearls are returned to the growout farms for another 6-12 months.

“Once the pearl has been harvested, we can reseed with a nuclei of the same size; this is called a ‘double op’. With some shell we have been able to harvest 3-4 pearls. However, the percentage of the shell drops a lot with each re-op.”

Operation

Age in years

% of total

First

2

100

Double

4

60-65%

Second double

6

10-20%

Third double

8

3-10%

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The raw pearls are rinsed and then sent by security courier to Sydney for first grading. Any failed pearls which can’t be sold are sent back to the nuclei factory for regrinding and then reuse by the company. With the heavy demand on the wild pig toe mussels for new nuclei, this is considered a vital step for Autore.

The next grading is more demanding and requires specialists. Rosario Autore developed and launched the Five S’s for South Sea Cultured Pearl Classification Guide in 2007. A world first, this calssification is recognised by Gubelin Gem Laboratories and plays an important role both as an industry standard and to underpin consumer confidence in South Seas Pearls. The 5 S’s are Shine, Surface, Shape, Shade and Size and are described on the website http://www.pearlautore. com.au/five-s-s-classification.htm

By Dos O’Sullivan.

Summer 2012 | Austasia Aquaculture 25

FA R M P R O F I L E

One of the plastic lined raceways used at Pacific Reef Fisheries for the trials on Ulva culture in the effluent water.

Seaweed further enhances Aussie prawn farmsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; global environmental lead For more than 20 years the Australian prawn farming has been at the global forefront of environmental performance, with progressive advances in farm management and the strictest regulations in the world. New technology is lifting the performance bar even higher with one farm growing high quality edible seaweed as an integral component of an innovative environmental management system. The state of the art management system is enabling the farm to optimise their production of high quality seafood with no adverse impacts on the adjacent marine ecosystem.

N

orth Queensland prawn farmer Pacific Reef Fisheries (Australia) Pty Ltd (PRF) has featured in several editions of AA over the past decade, particularly with regard to their excellent environmental performance (the last was the Spring â&#x20AC;&#x2122;10 issue, Vol 24.3). Now they have partnered with MBD Energy Ltd (MDB) and James Cook University (JCU) to develop another world-first technology that allows the effluent water to be processed and reused on the farm.

Since 1998 PRF has been growing premium quality Black Tiger Prawns (Penaeus monodon) at Ayr (approx. 90km SE of Townsville). The $30 million farm and processing plant is owned by the Mitris family and the 98 ha of ponds are capable 26 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2012

of growing up to 900 tonnes per annum.

According to Alistair Dick, PRF General Manager, they joined forces with biotechnology company MBD and JCU a couple of years ago to test the growing of seaweeds in the waste water ponds on their prawn farm.

MBD, under the auspices of the Advanced Manufacturing Co-operative Research Centre (AMCRC), has developed a unique R&D facility with JCU in Townsville, where a range of bio-manufacturing solutions using both micro- and macroalgae are being explored. This ranges from bioremediation solutions for water borne and gaseous pollutants, such as excess nutrients, carbon dioxide or heavy metals, to the refinement of the algae they

grow into products as diverse as nutraceuticals, specialty chemicals, aquaculture feed supplements and biofuels.

In addition to the Ayr prawn project, MBD are working with Stanwell Corporation at Tarong Power Station in south-east Queensland to use flue gas to grow algae biomass and clean up their coal ash dam water at the same time. The bioremediation technology is also being explored in relation to the municipal wastewater treatment, mining and intensive agriculture industries with projects emerging in Australia and overseas, including Thailand and South Africa.

The target species in Ayr is Ulva sp., a green seaweed which is commonly known as sea lettuce. This species is native to

FA R M P R O F I L E

Australia and can be grown and processed into a popular Japanese condiment called ‘aosa’. MBD are using technology jointly developed with JCU which has been trialed on the farm over the last year in eight raceway ponds (3m by 25m at a depth of around 60cm) that used to be part of the prawn nursery system.

The mineral-rich aosa is popular with the Japanese and is typically sprinkled to add flavour to a variety of dishes, including soups and salads.

“Initial feedback from Japanese customers on our trial product has been positive and we are currently working with them to refine issues relating to taste and texture,” explains JCU’s Dr. Nicholas Paul.

“Production is now expanding to bring the total area under seaweed production to around 5ha which will be sufficient to meet zero net discharge requirements for N (nitrogen) and P (phosphorus), in addition to meeting the initial commercial order quantities of the aosa product. With the warm water temperatures and long days, the seaweeds can grow quickly and

Gentle agitation ensures the leafy Ulva seaweeds are in contact with sunlight for photosynthesis and growth.

we are able to harvest approximately every

ciencies and to achieve scaled engineer-

two weeks during the dry season.”

ing of the solution.”

Another key outcome of the project is taking the basic technologies and adapting them to Greenfield sites. Dr Paul con-

Strict effluent requirements Like the other prawn farms in north-

tinues: “With MBD we are now examin-

ern Queensland, PRF’s Ayr site is located

ing the markets to determine more

adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef Marine

accurately how much product they can

Park. Thus the quality of its effluent

take. MBD are also optimising our pro-

waters has to be compliant to the

duction techniques to look for cost effi-

extremely strict requirements of the

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Summer 2012 | Austasia Aquaculture 27

FA R M P R O F I L E

Management Metrics Key Management Decisions for Pacific Reef Fisheries include: • Certification: HACCP, AQIS (Export) • Integrated production system from hatchery, through growout and onto processing.

• Significant investments in effluent treatment to develop state-of-the-art systems.

• Use of seaweeds to soak up nutrients in the effluent waters allows another consumer product for sale.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) include: taken from 2010 story, any changes needed?

• Culture System utilised: 1 ha earthen ponds with aerators • Growth rate (from stocking to market): <8 months (0.1g to 35g+) • Survival rate: 70% from first stocking to sale size • Av. stocking density: at harvest around 0.7 kg/m3 • Annual harvest: 680 tonnes • Production rate: 10 tonne/ha/yr and increasing • Water use: 3,000L per kg produced • Power use: 3.4 kW per kg produced • FCR: 1.65 (number of kg of food to produce 1kg stock) • Productivity: 14 tonnes or per Effective Fulltime Unit (240 days, 48wk x 40hr)

Federal (Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts [DEWHA] and State Government agencies (Department of Environment & Resource Management [DERM]).

Consequently, the site’s water treatment incorporates much of world best practice.

Over 50ha of water treatment ponds have been built; one-third of all of the farm ponded areas. Water quality coming in and going out is routinely monitored and check against the Government requirements.

“We pump in seawater (20-35ppt) from Burstalls Creek, which can have a variable water quality with high sediment loads during rainfall events,” Alistair explains.

“We have four sampling points which we monitor for DERM (ex EPA) – these are at the outfalls of our three settlement ponds, as well as at the outfall from our constructed wetland, or primary discharge point W1.

“Algae polishing ponds are one solution being investigated as part of our fully integrated effluent management system. The mantra of achieving a net zero discharge (which in the view of industry is unnecessary) may also involve the purchasing of environmental offsets where necessary.

Treating aquaculture effluent, which by 28 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2012

waste water standards is relatively dilute, operates under the premise of diminishing returns, i.e. the first bit comes easy and the last traces are more difficult and costly to recover.”

PRF has three stages of water treatment.

The total time for water to move from the prawn ponds through the treatment system is around five days. The first stage is 25ha of settlement ponds where the water flow is reduced to allow any larger suspended solids to drop out of the water column (primary treatment).

Next comes a sand filter to remove finer particulate matter and also for some denitrification to breakdown the toxic ammonia or nitrite waste products. This secondary treatment also aids the conversion of particulate nitrogen into dissolved nitrogen. “We have two 0.2ha ponds with 20cm layer of sand through which we have a network of geotextile drainage pipes to filter out most of the suspended solids.

“The water then flows into our area of ‘polishing ponds’ (tertiary treatment) which are filled with the seaweeds to soak up the nutrients taken from the settlement ponds. After that the water flows through a constructed mangrove wetland

which covers almost 20ha before release into Little Alva Creek, a mangrove lined waterway.”

Alistair said that they had been monitoring suspended solids, total nitrogen and total phosphorous levels at the sampling points for more than 13years, with results from independent monitoring through the company’s Integrated Environmental Management System (IEMS) showing healthy ecosystems within and around the farm on the back of years of compliant farming activity.

“Like other prawn farms in Queensland, PRF spends a lot of effort on effluent management,” Alistair continues. “All the prawn farmers are united in our belief that we are acting responsibility and within our permit requirements. We often improve the water quality with the levels of nutrients and suspended solids in our effluent being lower than in the intake water. This comes at a cost in terms of capital for building treatment ponds and manpower for monitoring and analysis of the results.

“Prawns are in fact quite sensitive animals and one of the reasons we can be so successful at farming them in Australia is due to our high water quality. PRF is looking at the whole water quality picture, with treatment of the intake water (under a new load based approach) also now taking shape, with the first new modular Ulva sp. system being introduced in the intake settlement system in the past few days.”

Scientific evidence Alistair says that their claims are supported by Government research. “The CSIRO, AIMS and the University of Queensland have completed a number of studies which have found no adverse or lasting effects on the environment from aquaculture projects which employ world best practice as required.”

With more than 20 years of applied research on prawn farming, Dr Nigel Preston (CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Science) knows well the prawn farmers’ environmental credentials. “The development of prawn farming as an economically

FA R M P R O F I L E

successful industry in coastal regions of Queensland over the past two decades has resulted in the world’s most comprehensive, multi-disciplinary study of intensive prawn pond ecosystems, their ecological impacts on downstream environments and the development of cost-effective effluent treatment systems.”

Nigel says that the results of the research have been published in more than 50 referreed scientific publications, including a synthesis of the dominant ecological processes in prawn ponds and adjacent coastal environments. “The research also resulted in the introduction of settlement ponds at all farms, providing the industry the means to recapture nutrients using natural biological filters. The combined efforts of the industry and research partnership have enabled the industry to operate adjacent to the World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef for more than 20 years, producing high quality seafood, with no adverse environmental impacts.

“The latest, highly innovative environmental management system co-developed

by MDB Energy Ltd and PRF further demonstrates the commitment of the industry to remain at the global forefront of the environmental management of prawn farming.”

“The production of algae in the settlement ponds is enabling the farmers to generate additional income whilst still adhering to the strictest prawn nutrient discharge limits and discharge management strategies in the world.”

Seaweed products Alistair, his team at PRF and several other prawn farmers are very excited about the success of this biological approach to water remediation. “The Ulva remove the final traces of nitrogen and phosphorus in the water. The water is now clean enough for us to pump it back and reuse it if we need to. The best thing about the approach offered by MBD is that it reduces the costs of conventional waste water treatment for us by offering a ‘managed service’, which also gives them

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a product they can sell to offset costs. It’s great for us as it means what was previously an environmental problem can become something that creates real value.”

Scott Grierson, Chief Technology Manager – R&D at MBD Energy says that the project is at the stage where they now understand the scientific fundamentals and are able to move into commercial production. “We have developed a waste management model to help the guys at Ayr and this can be applied to any aquaculture facility. The beauty of the solution is we can put a tick in the box for the need to solve their effluent discharge problems and at the same time we can sell the edible seaweed biomass to a downstream consumer market. We have a number of other algae species and products we can look at for other sites.”

Scott says there is generally no need to add nutrients, carbon dioxide or other inputs to maintain the Ulva stock density in the PRF system. “At certain times of the year we may need some further filtration of the water, as the loads of the nutrients and TSS (total suspended solids) do vary with season, the weather and prawn farming activity. The situation is not static but we’re learning to manage the cycles.”

MBD is examining various suspension methods to mix the seaweed culture, allowing maximum exposure to sunlight.

The smaller raceways will be used to grow inoculum for the larger ponds (roughly 60m by 60m, with an operating depth usually around 50-60cm). Likewise options for harvesting are being considered. “We are looking at fish pumps, nets, cages and other methods to find the most Summer 2012 | Austasia Aquaculture 29

FA R M P R O F I L E

appropriate and efficient way to harvest the seaweed out of the ponds.”

MBD are also working with PRF on options for their planned second farm at a site adjacent to the Elliot River, near their Guthalungra hatchery; since 2002 PRF has been seeking approvals to build a further 259 hectares of prawn ponds there.

“If we are able to progress this expansion,” explains Alistair, “this would make PRF the largest single prawn farm in Australia. Our production of Black Tiger Prawns could exceed 2,500 tonnes within a couple of years. This would add another 50% to the current annual production in Australia and it would be the first new prawn farm project in Queensland in more than 13years.”

MBD are calculating the rolling monthly averages of nutrient loads for PRF’s Ayr site. “We have a mostly complete data set for the past 10 years or so and hence we are able to determine the average tonnages coming in with the inlet water and the amount flowing out,” Scott says.

“Based on this we are able to model the amount of seaweed cultivation necessary to offset the different loads. Thus PRF has an auditable trail to prove how much seaweed biomass they need to take out and are we are able to support them in making a watertight case to the regulator regarding nutrient management.

“We calculate that with the initial 5ha and depending on weather, that between 175 and 350 tonnes of processed aosa can

be produced per annum. At $23 per tonne CO2 under the Federal Government’s carbon tax regime, the financial returns for greenhouse gas abatement at this scale aren’t big, but we now have a modular approach where we can specify the amount of hectares needed to enable zero net discharge of nutrients over an annual period and this is the key driver for this project.

“We provide a managed service approach for the farmer, backed up by one of the most renowned global research institutions in marine and tropical biology in JCU. We negotiate to leverage infrastructure on the farm and charge a service fee.

MBD then handle the harvesting and processing of the seaweeds which we ideally co-locate with other prawn or fish farms, or other industrial operations, to take advantage of ‘free’ resources such as process heat and to leverage efficiencies in transport. We are engineering the processes to dry and mill the seaweeds to produce the set particle size and moisture content required by the Japanese and will then pack and ship it to the market place.”

Powerful association MDB Energy managing director Andrew Lawson believes this is the first time this nature and type of water remediation technology has been used on such a scale in the Australian aquaculture industry.

With the possible expansion of the ponds on site to 16ha, they predict they will be

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30 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2012

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able to employ up to 10 people in the harvesting and processing facility.

Andrew says that their product is popular with the Japanese customers due to its powerful association with the Great Barrier Reef. “The competition comes from seaweeds grown in China and Korea who don’t have such an association with one of the natural wonders of the world.”

As President of the Australian Prawn farmers Association, Alistair continually promotes the environmental credentials of their industry. “Our industry is so overregulated that investment interest has dried up, with no new investment in this state for more than 13 years. As we have shown with our Elliot River project, it can take over 13 years for a new prawn farm in Queensland to get through all the regulations and red tape; compare that to the 2-4 months it takes in Thailand (one of the major exporter of farmed prawns to Australia).

Alistair says they must keep highlighting the key facts again and again.

“Australian prawn farmers have the best environmental performance on the back of the strictest regulations in the world.

With developments like the seaweed farming, we continue take our water quality issues in relation to the Great Barrier Reef extremely seriously.”

By Dos O’Sullivan.

For more information contact: Alistair Dick, General Manager, Pacific Reef Fisheries (Australia) Pty Ltd, Lot 1 Trent Road, Ayr, Queensland 4807 T: +61 7 4783 6068 F: +61 7 4783 6069 M: +61 428 588 665 E: Alistair@pacificreef.com.au W: www.pacificreef.com.au Scott GriersonChief Technology Manager – R&D, MBD Energy M: 0400 023-521 E: scott.grierson@mbdenergy.com W: www.mbdenergy.com Dr Nigel Preston, Theme Leader Breed Engineering 1021, CSIRO Food Futures Flagship, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Brisbane QLD E: Nigel.Preston@csiro.au

Summer 2012 | Austasia Aquaculture 31

FA R M P R O F I L E

Using solar and wind technology for automated feed program

Huon achieves prestigious global G.A.P. accreditation Huon Aquaculture became the first salmon producer in Australia to achieve the internationally recognised Global G.A.P. accreditation in November, capping a stunning six months for the family-owned business.

T

he accreditation comes off the back of the company’s ‘Tasmanian Exporter of the Year’ award last month and also retaining an ‘A’ rating by the prestigious British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) Global Standard for Food Safety for the third year in a row – the nation’s only salmon processor to achieve it.

Frances Bender, joint owner and Director of Huon is thrilled. “We believe we produce the world’s most loved salmon and this accreditation is an endorsement of our world-leading salmon farming practices.

“The Global G.A.P. and BRC accreditation gives consumers added confidence that our salmon is produced using world’s best practice and is completely traceable 32 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2012

– from egg to plate,” she says.

The BRC Global Standards specify requirements to be met for the production, packaging, storage and distribution of safe food and consumer products.

Originally developed in response to the needs of UK members of the British Retail Consortium, the Standards have gained usage world-wide and are specified by growing numbers of retailers and branded manufacturers in the EU, North America and further afield.

The GlobalG.A.P. Integrated Farm Assurance Standard – Aquaculture Version 4 - is a pre-farm gate standard that covers the whole production process of the certified product from the hatchery until

the point of harvest and packing.

The Global G.A.P standard not only audits Huon’s operations but also those of companies supplying to them – a rigorous and thorough understanding of the entire process of farming and growing salmon.

Independent auditor Paul MacIntyre – from Food Certification International – flew in from the UK in early November, assessing each of Huon’s six Tasmanian sites against 249 compliance criteria.

Paul was particularly impressed by the professionally-produced Veterinary Health Plan. “And the expertly managed harvest operations are an indication too that Huon Aquaculture gives fish health

FA R M P R O F I L E

and welfare top priority.”

Extensive research is conducted on all aspects of farm operations

Frances believes it is the company’s ‘Huon Method’ that can be directly attributed to the successful achievement of both the Global G.A.P standard and the ongoing A Rating from BRC. “We wanted to reduce the need for our retailers and manufacturers to carry out their own audits with a Standard they know and trust. This is especially important in our key export markets.

“Our motto is simple: we don’t want to be the biggest, we want to be the best.

To do that, we’ve developed what we call the ‘Huon Method’ and it is this simple philosophy that guides everything we do.”

The ‘Huon Method’ is based on four pillars focussing on the welfare of the fish: 1. Stress Free 2. Well Nourished 3. Kept Clean and Healthy

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Huon employees play an important role and are the best in their field.” Frances says.

“We invest in our people through extensive education and training programs.

Over 90% of our farm workers have certified vocational or tertiary qualifications and more than 90% of our workforce are permanent employees that live and raise their families in our local communities.”

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Summer 2012 | Austasia Aquaculture 33

F E AT U R E

Aussie industry swings into action following devastating Pacific Oyster disease

Dr Ika Paul-Pont placing experimental oysters with Len Drake on the Georges River in October 2011.

Photo courtesy of Prof Richard Whittington

A disease which has caused widespread mortalities in Pacific Oyster (Crassostrea gigas) populations in France (2008) and in New Zealand (2010) was confirmed in the Georges River NSW in early 2011. The disease, referred to in Australia as Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome Oyster (POMS), is associated with the presence of the OsHV1 µvar virus. Fortunately there are no risks to human health from the disease and despite wide surveillance POMS has not been detected in any other NSW estuary. Researchers and farmers around the country have been working together to manage the impact of POMS and many actions are well underway.

I

n late November 2010 NSW oyster farmers in Georges River detected significant mortalities of farmed Pacific oysters in Woolooware Bay (part of Botany Bay).

Large numbers of wild Pacific oyster also appeared to be affected.

NSW authorities immediately responded by collecting samples of oysters and water to investigate the cause of the mortality event. After extensive water quality tests

by NSW’s Environment Protection Authority failed to find a culprit pollutant, efforts swung to identifying a possible pathogen. NSW DPI scientists at the Elizabeth Macarthur Agriculture Institute (EMAI) worked quickly and with scientists from Geelong’s Aquatic Animal 34 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2012

Health Laboratory confirmed the presence of Ostried Herpes Virus -1 micro variant (OsHV-1µvar) virus in the affected Pacifics. Shortly after detection in Georges River, mortalities of wild Pacifics in Sydney Harbour also occurred; these were likewise later attributed to POMS. But active disease surveillance has found Sydney Rock Oysters and other molluscs to be unaffected by POMS. (see box insert) Government authorities quickly took charge. NSW Health confirmed that the virus only affected molluscs and could not be transmitted to humans. The general public was also assured that commercial shellfish were all grown under a strict food safety program administered by the

NSW Food Authority and that human consumption of shellfish bought from licenced NSW fish suppliers was safe.

Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome, or POMS, was the name used in all media and website advisory information to avoid potential impact on the oyster industry at its busiest time of year (Christmas). This name was applied following advice from New Zealand where reference to herpes virus in oysters had resulted in significant downturn in consumer spending on oysters.

Movement controls were quickly put in place by NSW DPI to prevent movements of oysters and oyster farming infrastructure and equipment from the Georges River to any other NSW estuary –existing

F E AT U R E

regulations already banned the harvesting of oysters from the Georges River, Botany Bay and Port Jackson by recreational fishers. This was backed up by the release of educational material to help recreational boaters and fishers, mooring contractors, researchers and others active in the area to better understand the risks of boat and infrastructure movement, translocation of fouling organisms and bilge water from Botany Bay and Port Jackson to other waterways.

NSW DPI, as part of a National Surveillance Plan for POMS in all Pacific oyster growing jurisdictions, then undertook a surveillance program to test oysters in all other NSW estuaries producing Pacifics plus those with resident feral populations. Thankfully, these investigations have drawn a blank.

Given identification of the problem virus, and knowledge of its impact overseas, a national program of biosecurity measures, surveillance and concerted research and diagnostic test development has followed over the past two years.

Recent work The industry banded together to manage the impacts of POMS with an FRDCsponsored workshop was held in Cairns in July 2011 to prioritise activities. FRDC’s Aquatic Animal Health Sub Program brought together experts from France, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Taiwan and strong contingent from Australia (the full workshop report is available from the FRDC website). At the top of the list of recommended control measures was the breeding Pacific oysters for resistance to the virus.

In April 2011 the industry’s own, selective breeding company (Australian Seafood Industries - ASI) began collaborating with NSW DPI and CSIRO on trials to assess the potential to breed for POMS resistance. Twenty of the ASI’s breeding lines were exposed to the disease in the Georges River. Although mortality was limited, possibly due to the oysters being older and larger, differences were found between the families in the viral load they harboured.

From left: Look of disappointment on the face of NZ farmer Callum McCallum (Clevedon Oysters) says it all as he inspects his empty settling sticks at Clevedon Coast (Near Auckland).

A couple of high quality Pacific Oysters which survived the summer of 2010 POMS incident in New Zealand.

No spat to be seen at all on the settling sticks of NZ farmer Jason at Clevedon Coast.

It should be smiles for Andrew Thompson at Orongo Bay (near Russell, north island) however the vast majority of Kororareka Oysters near harvest size crop is dead from POMS. Racks and racks of dead Pacific Oysters at Orongo, on New Zealand’s north island following the summer 2010 POMS incident.

Photos courtesy of Ian Duthie

Funding from the Seafood CRC allowed a second round of field challenges to be conducted in the Georges River during a POMS outbreak in April 2012. In this trial, young oysters from 43 families were tested for survival after 14 days. Results were again encouraging. This time, marked differences in survival were observed between families that suggested there would be a strong response to selection.

Although breeding offers an opportunity to deal with OsHV, field testing has its limitations. ASI, NSW DPI and CSIRO are now working towards the develop-

Summer 2012 | Austasia Aquaculture 35

F E AT U R E

Key recommendations from the 2011 French study tour Research priorities

Industry actions

1. Increase selective breeding focus on developing virus resistant family lines that maintain the economic value already realised.

2. Establish a trial in the Georges River NSW to test the effect of growing height and oyster density on mortalities (possibly 3 heights, 3 densities, 3 replicates = 27 baskets).

3. Establish a series of trials in the Georges River (NSW) to test the effectiveness of other growing systems including adjustable longline systems and the floating basket system in use in the NSW oyster industry.

4. Adapt the French infectivity models as published by IFREMER in an Australian biosecure facility as the basis for direct research into different aspects of the virus.

5. Standardised protocol for PCR testing for the virus within Australia to provide confidence in result comparison between testing agencies.

6. Run a temperature “stress” trial to establish if increasing the culture temperature by about 1°C per day to above 17°C will elicit disease in subclinically infected oysters (if successful, this would be used as a fast and cheap test for the presence of virus in oysters).

7. Research the ability of other bivalve species to act as translocation and/or disease vectors.

8. Determine whether vertical transmission of the virus occurs.

9. Establish if virus has spread (e.g. north and south of Sydney Harbour).

1. Develop and implement plan for discussing tour findings with industry, researchers and regulators in SA, NSW and TAS. 2. Undertake an immediate risk assessment on likely vectors of transferring the virus within a state and between states.

3. Investigate the use of sentinel populations in high risk areas of potential viral infection. This may involve a mixture of cultivated and feral oyster populations.

4. Develop national capacity and capability to report and monitor nonharvest stock movements between states and within each state.

5. Develop a plan (or plans) for preparing an OsHv1 µvar-focussed, industry -owned and coordinated emergency response plan in each of SA, NSW and TAS. This plan (or plans) should include details of agreed a) technical response options, including contingency planning and learning how to live with the disease and knowing what the options are for maintaining commercial production in an infected area b) regulatory response options c) financial options available at the individual farm level and at an industry level, including sources of assistance during the recovery phase d) social and other sources of support for producers coping with this sort of problem.

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36 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2012

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Bio Filtration

ment of a lab-based infectivity model to accelerate progress.

The Cairns workshop also identified a need for new husbandry practices to allow Australian oyster farmers to grow Pacifics in the presence of the virus.

The latest issue of Shellfish Culture Newsletter Autumn 2012 included an update on the most recent R&D activity.

Three further POMS outbreaks were detected in the last 12 months – in November 2011, February 2012 and April 2012. The outbreaks were sudden and highly clustered, not only within Woolooware Bay but also within each site.

This patchy distribution pattern is thought to suggest an environmental trigger for the release of POMS virus as well as a biological vector for POMS transmission in the water. Analysis of environmental parameters (biotic and abiotic) is currently underway to validate such hypotheses.

An epidemiological study was conducted in Woolooware Bay during summer 2011/2012 by researchers from the University of Sydney (headed up by Professor Richard Whittington, Dr Ika Paul-Pont and Dr Navneet Dhand). This FRDC Project 2011/053 (“POMS – environmental and husbandry factors to reduce economic losses”) involved high frequency monitoring of oysters (spat and adult), pathogens and environmental parameters at three different sites in Woolooware Bay in order to identify major risk factors responsible for disease emergence and spread.

This work included a trial of different husbandry techniques, including lifting oysters to a higher height (+ 300 mm) in order to assess whether a shorter immersion time –ie a lower exposure to the virus – may prevent mortality. To date signifi-

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F E AT U R E

cantly better survival of adult Pacific Oysters was demonstrated in higher height trays – 60% vs. 30% survival at high and low height respectively.

Additional future trials are being designed to confirm the present findings and evaluate other cultivation systems (http://www.oysterhealthsydney.org/).

French study tour Following the mortalities in New Zealand and NSW associated with the OsHV1 µvar virus, the Australian industry, FRDC and NSW DPI supported a study tour to France to gain firsthand information on how the French industry – growers, researchers and regulators – had responded to the threat there.

Lead by project manager Tom Lewis (Oysters Tasmania), the study tour team comprised growers Bruce Zippell (SA), Rob Moxham (NSW) and James Calvert (Tas) with epidemiological expertise, cultural attaché, translation and tour logistics provided by Angus Cameron and Cate Mackenzie (AusVet Animal Health Services, www.ausvet.com.au). James Calvert’s participation was funded by Tas Prime Oysters.

All others were supported combination of FRDC, Tas, SA and NSW oyster industry research council contributions.

In early November 2011, the study team travelled from Paris to Normandy, around the French coast to the Mediterranean and back to Paris, meeting with growers, processors, industry representatives, researchers and government agencies (a daily “blog” for this trip www.oystertour.wordpress.com remains online).

A number of recommendations for R&D as well as industry initiatives were tabled in the FRDC Report “Understanding and planning for the potential impacts of OsHV1 µvar on the Australian Pacific Oyster industry (FRDC 2011/043)” (see box insert).

According to Ian Duthie, TORC (Tasmanian Oyster Research Council) has adopted annual testing for POMS as part of their Tasmanian Pacific Oyster Health

Bruce Alford selects numbers from a hat to randomly chose oyster baskets for the control site, Hawkesbury River, September 2011.

Photo courtesy of Prof Richard Whittington

Update on Kiwi outbreaks Ian Duthie has provided a recent update on the effects of POMS on the Kiwis. “Its pretty grim stuff with 80-90% losses,” he says, “And having been mostly a wild catch industry, there is no natural catch to speak off. Adding to the problem is the fact that the initial hatchery stock had been selected for fast growth before the virus hit, and it was decimated. Government, the Cawthron Institute and industry have now invested in a new selective breeding program to address disease resistance. Cawthron Institute has been running the only ‘commercial’

Surveillance Program (TPOHSP) and this will continue into the future. Ian has just returned from a FRDC-funded Nuffield Scholarship which took him across the US, Canada, France, Guernsey, England and Scotland. Before he left he also undertook a CRC-sponsored study tour of New Zealand to assess the effects of POMS there. Ian’s report on that visit plus his recommendations for a strategic plan for the Australian Pacific Oyster industry to deal with POMS are available from him (0409 411 322, Email: ian-duthie@bigpond.com).

By Dos O’Sullivan.

For more information contact: Bruce Zippel, SA Oyster Growers Association, E: bruce.zippel@bigpond.com

hatchery in NZ, with limited

Shellfish Culture Newsletter Autumn 2012.

production (approx. 10 million).

French industry tour report http://oysterstasmania.org/news/frdcpoms-project-study-tour-tofrance-final-report

“Callum McCallum is the NZ Oyster Growers’ President. His business Clevedon Coast has faced a reduction in production from around 250-300,000 dozen oysters to 30,000 dozen. In addition, Sanfords has shut its farms laying off >100 staff. The expectation is that the $30 million industry has been slashed to a $5 million one.”

French tour blog: http://oystertour.wordpress.com/ Professor Richard Whittington, Chair Farm Animal Health, Sydney Uni, E: richard.whittington@sydney.edu.au FRDC POMS project blog: www.oysterhealthsydney.org Oysters Australia’s brand new state of the art Industry Blog web site http://oystersaustraliablog.org.au/ Summer 2012 | Austasia Aquaculture 37

FA R M P R O F I L E

Indonesia is now a major producer of grouper fingerlings, particularly the tiger grouper, known in Australia as ‘flowery cod’ (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus), shown here.

Photo: M Rimmer

Aussie funded Grouper projects see expanded production Although grouper production is not widespread in Australia, our researchers and technicians have been assisting the expansion of grouper culture in Indonesia and other nearby countries.

M

arine finfish aquaculture is developing rapidly in the Asia–Pacific region and is providing a livelihood for thousands of small-scale farmers. One reason for this expansion is the high prices paid for live reef food fish, particularly groupers, in markets in Hong Kong and China; depending on species, prices average between A$20-70/kg and can be as high as A$125/kg. Consequently, demand for grouper juveniles for growout in sea cages is increasing.

Groupers are widespread throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific region including Australia and the entire Indonesian archipelago. They are carnivores – feeding on small fish and crustaceans – and are protogynous hermaphrodites, maturing first as females then changing into males as they grow older. Initially, demand for live groupers was met primarily by capture fisheries, but overfishing (particularly of the vulnerable spawning aggregations) 38 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2012

and habitat destruction has limited the wild catch. In response, aquaculture has increasingly become a major source of supply to the live reef food fish trade.

Research undertaken by scientists in Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines has been instrumental in improving the technology to produce marine finfish seed stock in hatcheries and ongrow them in nurseries before stocking in growout cages.

The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) has also contributed significantly to this outcome by funding collaborative research between institutions in the Asia–Pacific region.

These research findings have now been adopted by commercial hatcheries and nurseries, particularly in Indonesia. In Australia, there has been limited aquaculture of groupers in Queensland with seedstock produced by the Northern Fisheries Centre Cairns and one commercial hatchery.

The results of ACIAR research on grouper fingerling production have been transferred to many countries in the AsiaPacific region through the annual Grouper Hatchery Production Training Courses held in Indonesia and Thailand and coordinated by the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA). Between 2002 – when the first such course was held – and 2010 more than 100 trainees from 22 countries graduated from the grouper hatchery training course. Many have gone on to become trainers in their own countries.

Indonesia is now a major producer of grouper seedstock, with hatcheries in northern Bali producing 200,000– 1,000,000 Tiger Grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) per month plus smaller numbers of Mouse Grouper (Cromileptes altivelis) and Coral Trout (Plectropomus leopardus).

Sales are not limited to the domestic market; there’s also exports to neighbouring

RESEARCH

countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. This developing industry makes an important contribution to farmers’ incomes, job opportunities and export earnings.

Tiger Grouper has become a popular candidate for aquaculture due to its rapid growth, large size (up to 120cmTL), hardy nature in culture and good market price (average A$32/kg, see table).

The hatcheries generally grow fingerlings to around 2–3cmTL although seacage farms that grow the fish to market size require larger fingerlings, usually in the range 5–10 cm TL. To fill the size gap in between, a specialised grouper nursing subsector has developed to grow 2–3 cm fingerlings to 5–10 cm or larger for seacage growout.

The technology for producing groupers has been strengthened by the release of two new ACIAR publications which add to the growing literature on grouper aquaculture. Previous publications from ACIAR-funded research projects include: • ‘Advances in Grouper Aquaculture’ – a summary of results from ACIAR-funded research in Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

• ‘A Guide to Small-scale Marine Finfish Hatchery Technology’ – outlining the requirements and procedures to construct and operate a small-scale marine finfish hatchery for grouper or other species.

• ‘A Practical Guide to Feeds and Feed Management for Cultured Groupers’ – a guide to using commercial feeds, moist pellets, and fresh (‘trash’) fish for culturing groupers.

(Note: these publications can be downloaded from the ACIAR (www.aciar.gov.au) or NACA (www.enaca.org) web sites.)

The first of the new manuals is titled “Hatchery management of tiger grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus): a best-practice manual”. It outlines best-practice methods for broodstock maintenance, spawning, egg incubation and rearing of larvae through to 2–3 cm, fully metamorphosed

Collaborative research funded by ACIAR has contributed to the development of hatchery techniques for high-value marine finfish, such as these coral trout (Plectropomus leopardus) reared at the Northern Fisheries Centre in Cairns, Queensland. Photo: R Knuckey

Staff of the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture (RGCA) grouper hatchery in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India, feeding tiger grouper on a frozen diet comprising fresh fish, squid and vitamin and mineral supplements. The new ACIAR tiger grouper hatchery manual includes detailed instructions for broodstock management, incorporating aspects of best practice.

Photo: M Rimmer

A small-scale or ‘backyard’ grouper hatchery in Indonesia. Despite the basic facilities, small-scale hatcheries produce millions of grouper seedstock each month, supporting grow-out industries through Southeast Asia. Photo: M Rimmer

Summer 2012 | Austasia Aquaculture 39

RESEARCH

In Indonesia, groupers are cultured in a specialised nursery phase in brackishwater earthen ponds. Here a farmer in Aceh is grading juvenile tiger grouper to reduce losses from cannibalism. Photo: M Rimmer

A major cause of mortality amongst juvenile groupers is cannibalism. Tiger grouper (shown here) can ingest fish half their own length, although this often results in the death of both prey and predator. Photo: R Knuckey

juveniles.

The second, “Nursery management of grouper: a best-practice manual”, provides practical guidelines for those engaged in the nursery culture of groupers in Indonesia as well as elsewhere in the tropics. The manual provides information on husbandry of groupers in the nursery phase so as to reduce losses due to disease and cannibalism and thus to increase

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the profitability of grouper nursing.

Even though Indonesia produces large numbers of grouper fingerlings, farms consistently report that fingerling quality remains an issue. Based on this feedback, the new manuals have a strong emphasis on describing aspects of ‘best practice’ in order to provide a basis for producing better quality fingerlings. Both manuals are currently undergoing translation to Indonesian, with the Indonesian language version to be distributed to hatchery operators, farmers, researchers and extension staff throughout Indonesia.

Hatchery guidelines Grouper hatchery technology has been pioneered by the Research Institute for Mariculture (RIM) at Gondol, Bali, Indonesia, and since 1998 continual improvements in grouper hatchery techniques, and the extension of the technology to industry have provided a substantial boost to development of the Indonesian marine finfish aquaculture industry. The seed production techniques developed by RIM Gondol have been widely adopted by farmers in northern Bali’s Buleleng regency, East Java (Situbondo) and South Sumatra (Lampung).

Although these hatcheries produce small numbers of Mouse Grouper/ Barramundi Cod (Cromileptes altivelis) and Coral Trout (Plectropomus leopardus), the

main production is of Tiger Grouper, for which there is strong demand from farmers throughout Indonesia and overseas.

The Manual contains recommendations and guidelines to assist the operators maintain the health and quality of their stock through establishing a critical biosecurity program. Key features of biosecurity for hatcheries include: • Separation of various functional areas (broodstock, live food production, larval rearing etc.) with footbaths and hand washes at access points.

• Access to hatchery limited to essential personnel only.

• Disinfection and thorough rinsing of all equipment, including water-quality monitoring equipment, nets, basins etc. before use and when moving between areas.

• Quarantine of new fish (broodstock, larvae or fingerlings) for a period of 1-4 weeks.

• ‘Batch’ production of larvae, with disinfection and dry-out of hatchery between batches.

• Training of staff in biosecurity and health management.

• Strict isolation of batches of fish showing disease and correct disposal of mortalities, including disinfection of diseased fish using chlorine.

• Routine monitoring for pathogens and disease, and prompt diagnosis of any disease events.

• Optimisation of water quality and nutrition to improve the overall health and resistance of the larvae.

Best practice for grouper larval rearing includes:+ • Maintain low densities of larvae, i.e. around 10 larvae/L. • Supplement live food organisms with an enrichment product high in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

• Maintain optimal water quality.

• Regularly check and maintain food densities in the tanks.

• Regularly examine larvae under the microscope for full stomachs and signs of disease.

RESEARCH

• Store artificial diets and enrichment products in a refrigerator or cold-room.

• Keep good records of feeding, water quality and other aspects of hatchery management.

Based on experiences at RIM Gondol, by 45 DAH (days after hatch), almost all tiger grouper larvae have metamorphosed into juveniles ranging from 2.0 to 2.8 cm TL. The survival rates of tiger grouper at 45 DAH range from 5 to 40% and in most cases are between 15 and 25% when the initial stocking density of newly hatched larvae is about 10 larvae/L. For a 10 m3 larval-rearing tank, initially stocked at 10 larvae/L, the hatchery can expect to harvest around 20,000 fingerlings.

The Manual recommends that marine finfish hatcheries operate on a ‘batch’ basis; that is, each batch of larvae is treated as a separate production cycle and the hatchery is shut down between each production cycle. During this period, hatchery equipment should be disinfected (information on appropriate disinfection techniques is provided) and cleaned to reduce the chances of disease outbreaks in subsequent production cycles.

Nursery guidelines Juveniles harvested from larval-rearing tanks are still too small and not strong enough to be introduced directly into sea cages. Instead, the juvenile grouper are cultured in the nursery, either in shorebased tanks (tank culture) or in cages in coastal brackish-water ponds (pond culture). Generally, juvenile grouper that have been nursed in ponds are darker in colour than those nursed in tanks.

However, pond-cultured grouper juveniles tend to have a better tolerance to variable environmental parameters (such as salinity) and are preferred for growout in sea cages because they are already adapted to living in cages to some extent.

Groupers found in estuarine environments – such as the Green Grouper (Epinephelus coioides) and the Giant Grouper (Epinephelus lanceolatus) – are suitable for nursing in brackish-water

ponds. Tiger Grouper are also nursed in brackish-water ponds, but ponds used for them should have reasonably high

•

salinities (>20 ppt). Species of grouper more usually found in coral reef environ-

•

ments (such as Coral Trout and Mouse Grouper) should be nursed only in tank

•

systems with provision of good-quality sea water of high salinity.

•

Best practice for feed includes:

•

• Provide good-quality, fresh feed.

proof room, with the feed elevated off the floor.

Use feed within 2 weeks (basic storage) or 3 months (ideal storage).

Supplement, if necessary, with a vitamin and mineral mix.

Begin feeding at dawn each day, and continue until sunset.

Feed juvenile groupers frequently, at least 4–6 times daily.

Keep a record of feed used and feeding behaviour.

• Store feed in a cool, dry and verminTable 1. Wholesale prices for live groupers in Hong Kong in October 2012.

Data: Hong Kong Fish Marketing Organisation (http://www.fmo.org.hk/index/ lang_en/page_price-sea/) Species

Wholesale price (AUD) High $

Low $

Average $

Epinephelus coioides

35

11

20

Epinephelus areolatus

43

19

28

Epinephelus polyphekadion

40

24

30

Epinephelus fuscoguttatus

59

20

32

Epinephelus akaara

125

27

76

Plectropomus leopardus

102

48

70

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RESEARCH

Best practice in water-quality monitoring includes: • Purchase good-quality equipment.

• Maintain meters and equipment in line with manufacturers’ recommendations.

• Maintain stocks of consumable items (e.g. dissolved oxygen (DO) probe membranes, calibration standards) and essential spare parts.

• File original manuals and provide photocopies to staff.

• Calibrate meters daily or weekly, according to the manufacturers’ instructions.

• Ensure that staff are adequately trained in equipment calibration, use and maintenance.

• Monitor and record water quality regularly.

Best practice in health management includes: • Maintain good water quality.

• Regularly clean and disinfect tanks, nets and equipment.

42 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2012

• Monitor fish behaviour and feeding, and keep records.

• Bathe the fish regularly in fresh water to dislodge external parasites • If disease breaks out, isolate affected fish.

Grouper nursing is popular with smallscale farmers because it brings in regular income; the fish are harvested after 30–50 days. The Manual quotes key figures from an economic evaluation of grouper nursing in Aceh published in 2010 found that a single cage stocked with 300–1,000 fish, and with 75% survival to harvest, can produce a profit of Indonesian rupiah (Rp) 280,000–900,000 (≈$30–90) with a production cycle of 1 to 1½ months. This is regarded as a very good income by the standards of Indonesian pond farmers.

Following the success of these earlier projects, ACIAR is continuing to invest in research and development for tropical marine finfish aquaculture. New projects will focus on reducing disease-related losses in grow-out farms and on improv-

ing the quality of hatchery-reared fingerlings. In Indonesia, this research and development will be undertaken in cooperation with the national industry association – the Indonesian Mariculture Association – to ensure that research outcomes are industry-focussed and to facilitate widespread uptake of new technologies by grouper farmers.

By Dos O’Sullivan.

Thanks to Dr Mike Rimmer for his valuable input.

Copies of the new manuals can be ordered through the ACIAR web site (www.aciar.gov.au), or downloaded: Hatchery management of tiger grouper: http://aciar.gov.au/publication/MN149 Nursery management of grouper: http://aciar.gov.au/publication/MN150 For more information contact: Alexandra Bagnara, Science Communicator, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Email: Alexandra.Bagnara@aciar.gov.au

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Prawnfresh Plus prevents black spot in prawns Increasing numbers of Australian prawn farmers and processors are switching to Prawnfresh Plus as a safer and more efficient alternative to sodium metabisulphite as a treatment to control melanosis blackening or black spot in prawns.

U

K company Xyrex manufacture Prawnfresh which is used to treat melanosis or black spot in prawns.

Traditionally crustacean farmers and seafood processors have used 0.5 to 2.5% sodium metabisulphite solution to prevent melanosis in a variety of species of warm and coldwater prawns. However, there are a number of disadvantages with this treatment if it is not carefully controlled; most notably the sulphur dioxide fumes released can be detrimental to the health of aquaculture and processing workers. It is also corrosive and can cause serious and expensive damage to equipment in processing factories.

Xyrex are currently developing the growth of Prawnfresh Plus as an alternative, more effective and safer treatment to sodium metabisulphite for prawn and shrimp farmers in the Asia Pacific region looking to export fresh produce into the European and other export markets.

Prawnfresh Plus is now being successfully used by increasing numbers of Australian prawn farmers and is being assessed by a number of fresh catch fleets in northern and southern Australia Melanosis, commonly called black spot, is a natural process caused by enzyme oxidation in the recently harvested prawns that leads to unsightly dark markings on the shell. Although melanosis is harmless, it does obviously affect the appearance of the prawns which in turn can make selling the product difficult and increases the reject rate.

The active ingredient in Prawnfresh Plus is E586, which is safe to use and is also approved for use by the EU and in the Nordic Economic zone. In the Asia Pacific region, Prawnfresh Plus has also gained

the approval of a number of food regulatory authorities, including Food Standards Australia & New Zealand (FSANZ) as well as Thailand and China. In the USA, it has GRAS status (generally recognised as safe) and is used, for example, by fishermen in Louisiana and Florida shrimp fleets.

It works by inhibiting the enzyme polyphenal oxidase that causes melanotic blackening. The application of the treatment is very straightforward and involves dipping the prawns into a tank containing saltwater with Prawnfresh added at a ratio of 1:1,000.

This alternative liquid solution treatment, results in prawns that have a longer

shelf life before melanosis sets in. This increase in shelf life and better overall appearance should in turn result in buyers paying higher prices and a reduction in their rejection rate.

Research in UK Independent testing by the UK Sea Fish Industry Authority (SFIA) supports the fact that there are other more effective alternatives to sodium metabisulphite. Its study in 2005 (see http://www.seafish.org/ whatsnew/detail.asp?id=1239&p=ca for more details) found that prawns (Nephrops norvegicus) treated with metabisulphite lose some visual qualities through bleach-

MARKET LEADING MELANOSIS SOLUTION SEASONS GREETINGS

IMPROVES QUALITY & SHELF LIFE FOR INCREASED CATCH VALUE VË ?Á jÍˬÁ Üj ËÄÖ ¬ Íj wÁjj Ë ¬Á?Ý ËÍÁj?Í j ͱ

FOR THE BEST SHELF LIFE THE BEST QUALITY AND THE BEST TASTING PRODUCT

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Hampidjan NZ Ltd. Phone (+643) 5487942 E: paul@hampidjan.co.nz mpidjan. djan.co.n nz W: www.hampidjan.co. mpidjan.co mp o.nz

www.xyrex.co om

Summer 2012 | Austasia Aquaculture 43

TECHNOLOGY

Albalat and Professor Douglas Neil) are shown here, comparing dipped prawns with undipped prawns seven days after harvest. You can also view a short timelapse video comparing treated and untreated prawns at: http://www.xyrex.

com/products/prawn-fresh/

Top: Prawns (Nephrops norvegicus) seven days post-harvest after being treated by Prawnfresh. Source, University of Glasgow Langoustine Laboratory (Dr Amaya Albalat and Professor Douglas Neil, the Langoustine Lab, University of Glasgow)

Aussie Use Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture in SE Queensland has been using Prawnfresh Plus since 2010. Deb Herbst says: “We use it on our raw prawns and we are very impressed by the shelf life it gives them.

Prawnfresh is simple to apply, safe to use and helps make Gold Coast Tiger Prawns a high quality product.”

Another company enjoying success with Prawnfresh Plus is Seafarm in northern Queensland, which uses the treatment on banana prawns (Fenneropenaeus merguiensis) at its Crystal Bay Prawns brand operation.

Gary Davis, senior farm manager of Seafarm, says: “This alternative treatment allows the sweet natural flavour of Crystal Bay Prawns to come through. Prawnfresh is a natural fit with our sulphite free Crystal Bay prawns grown in the pristine waters of Australia.

“It overcomes the problem we find with metabisulphite, which results in erosion of the shell, which in turn affects the overall quality of the product. It also provides for a better working environment for our processing staff”.

Bottom: Prawns not treated with Prawnfresh after seven days, showing melanotic blackening ((Dr Amaya Albalat and Professor Douglas Neil, the Langoustine Lab, University of Glasgow)

By Dos O’Sullivan.

ing and attain high sulphite residues,

melanosis. SFIA also reported that prawns

often above the permitted residue limit.

treated with Prawnfresh also rated best

Furthermore, prawns treated with high

with regards to appearance and eating

concentration sodium metabisulphite

qualities.

were found to have poor flavour.

SFIA tested a number of other alterna-

Other research in 2008 by the Langoustine Laboratory at the University

tive treatments (see table) to compare their

of Glasgow in Scotland found that

performance with sodium metabisulphite.

Prawnfresh Plus retained its anti-melan-

The study found that Prawnfresh Plus

otic properties on prawns that were fro-

delivered the best results in terms of shelf

zen and then thawed. Photographs from

life, with a maximum of nine days from

the research (which was carried out by

harvest and treatment before the onset of

Ms Chonchanok Theethakaew, Dr Amaya

44 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2012

For more information, please contact the Australian and New Zealand distributor of Prawnfresh Plus: Paul Freeman, Marketing & Operations Manager.

Hampidjan NZ Ltd, 82 Vickerman street PO Box 5087, Port Nelson, 7043 Phone (+643) 548 7942 Fax (+643) 548 0561 Mobile +64 21 548795 Skype: dynexnz Email: paul@hampidjan.co.nz web: www.hampidjan.co.nz More information on Xyrex and Prawnfresh Plus at www.xyrex.com

AQU A C U LT U R E PR O PE R T Y F O R SA LE Located in Karuah, NSW, (1km to hwy) 50km north of Newcastle and 1.5 hours drive north of Sydney.

• • •

Land readily lends itself to further development.

•

Reluctant sale due to owner’s age and health.

Priced to sell at $575,000.

•

For more information please contact Alan Greig: T: 02 46580501 E: greigap@aapt.net.au

• • • •

AQUACULTURE SERVICES AUSTRALIA Get the ‘right’ information by purchasing copies of The Australian Yabby Farmer @ $47.50 and The Australian Fish Farmer @ $97.50 (prices include GST & postage)

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Property Description: Area 100acres (40Ha) Licensed for 17 different species of fish and crustaceans.

Colourbond shed (12.5m x 9m) and large caravan.

11 ponds (8 netted) / Stocked with Yabbies & CSIRO Super Yabbies.

Large water storage dam / Access to salt water (Frontage to tidal creek) 3 phase power & telephone line.

Equipment including tractor, (slasher, blade, auger) pumps, pipes, nets, windmill, water tanks, large tubs & misc. equipment included in the price.

Market Place PARADISE AQUAFARM BARRAMUNDI HATCHERY > Healthy robust fingerlings available all year > 1 and 2 day old larvae in commercial quantities > Modern hygienic hatchery facility > Spawning from quality hand selected broodstock > Shipping Australia wide > Export orders welcome > 40 minutes from Cairns international airport

T: 07 4056 2100 • E: dave@pahatchery.com.au

¾ Providing high quality larvae and fingerlings ¾ NODA free tested broodstock ¾ Large scale system capable of providing commercial quantities ¾ Barramundi market fish 400g to 2kg+ Larvae and Fingerling Sales Christopher Tomlinson Hatchery and Nursery Manager Mobile: 0447199917 nurserymanager@gfbfisheries.com

Market Size Sales Ken Mackenroth Sales and Marketing Manager Mobile: 0417 599 568 ken.mackenroth@gfbfisheries.com

AQUACULTURE CONSULTANCY SERVICES Fast Disease Diagnosis & Control • Independent Lab Confidentiality • Microbe & Parasite ID’s • Water Quality & Biofilter Taming • Depuration Monitoring & Control • Disease Risk Assessments •

• All Hours, All Species, Every Day • Larval Mortality Control • Specialty Vaccines Prepared • Designs for Disease Minimization • Serious Biofilter Microbes • Antibiotic Selection

Contact: Dr Steven Nearhos aquacult@baseline.com.au Unit 6 No 8 Shannon Place, Virginia Qld 4014 Phone (07) 335 66 111 Fax (07) 335 66 833

Baseline

OzBugZz © Biofilter Starter 1-2-3 Fast starts can be routine. Pure fresh-cultured OzBugZz© microbes nitrify & denitrify waste in marine & fresh water recirc. & purge systems. Quality + O.Night Del + Tech Support.

Dr Steven Nearhos Baseline (07) 335 66 111.

AQUACULTURE, ACCOMMODATION, TOURISM Repton/Coffs Harbour Deceased estate: 6 rented cottages (3 x 3br & 3 x 2br) + rented shed, large homestead, (market rental $100,000pa), 6 ponds for prawns & fish. Two titles – 48 acres. Aquaculture approved for 3.7ha, currently 1.2ha developed. Consider the advances in production of prawns, fish and tourism fish out options.

For details – licences, approvals, operations contact Jim Auld: 02 6652 9616 or 0428 500 845 For sale by expressions of interest price guide $1.37- $1.52M

www.coast2country.com.au jim@coast2country.com.au

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