Summer 2010 by Tim Walker

Volume 24 No 4 – Summer 2010

Victoria’s mussel hatchery Efficiency gains in QLD barra Goldfish hatchery bars disease Tailor Made’s hard-won expertise New life for Moama yabby farm Cautionary tale for Murray cod Shellfish Culture back on track Best practice underpins prawn

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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. 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 S

F E AT U R E S

Vic mussel hatchery finally producing the goods

Qld barra farm reaps rewards from efficiency gains

Imported disease affecting NSW goldfish hatchery Tailor Made barra leading the way

35 Best practice underpins positive outlook

Tribute to Ross Lobegeiger

RESEARCH

13 17

New inspiration fires up defunct yabby farm

Murray cod: a novice’s cautionary tale

Shellfish Culture back on track

Success in marine fish culture in ponds (2)

Phosphate, pH and pond bloom management

Future wave Energy Saver

Summer 2010 | Austasia Aquaculture 1

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Vic mussel hatchery finally producing the goods

he gamble taken by a consortium of marine farmers and Victoria’s Department of Primary Industries has paid off. The shellfish hatchery they established in 2008 is producing mussel spat at will from conditioned broodstock and mussel farmers have secured a reliable supply of quality seedstock.

The two parties signed a five-year agreement to be completed at the end of 2012 with the industry slated to build its own facility incorporating the hatchery technology. Based on the success achieved after a faltering start, the industry/government hatchery is working well. Situated on a strip of land between Swan Bay and Port Phillip Heads, the hatchery takes its water through a 700m long 200mm pipeline with the inlet set 7m down in the notorious tidal flow of The Rip. This ensures a supply of good quality highly oxygenated seawater. Incoming water is screened to 30µm and its temperature can be adjusted to suit. Outlet water goes through settlement tanks and biofilters before being returned to the Rip. Most system components are duplicated to cover any breakdown or should they require overhaul. Design John Mercer, managed the design and fit out of the hatchery. “After a few false starts we overhauled our procedures. We had made sure we had a world class facility, but every region and species have their own quirks and it took us a few goes to work out our Australian blue mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis).

Top: Fertilized blue mussel eggs Above: A range of algae cultures are kept on hand to manage the needs of the developing larvae. Right: Induced female mussels beginning to spawn

“We’re not sure what was necessary – but it works. In time we’ll eliminate out the over-engineered items and unnecessary protocols. “Our first task was to develop a reliable Summer 2010 | Austasia Aquaculture 3

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The 5,000L spat settlement tanks, on the left. The larvae are liberated in the tanks once they show signs of seeking to settle on the growing ropes provided by the marine farmers. The larger tanks are used for holding marine species for other DPI projects.

John checking the algal cultures held at the hatchery.

source of spat for the industry. If we hadn’t succeeded it would have been terribly hard on the growers that had invested in the hatchery. Our next task is to streamline the technology so we can pass on a cost-effective model for when they build their own hatchery,” he says. John has been working in shellfish hatcheries and growing algae since 1980. He was well aware of the things that could go wrong. He also knew where to get the best technical and design information to safeguard against the pitfalls. “That’s why we called in the experts. John Bayes first designed the continuous algal culture systems in the UK in the 70s. They can be used for either shellfish or finfish. Rod Grove Jones from South Australia, the Australian representative for the systems, provided the design for the algae production and pasteurization unit and helped with the commissioning. And we invited Jim Donaldson, a world authority on shellfish hatchery production to help us work on the hatchery design.” John says the system is relatively simple but the trick had been balancing all the culture systems and environmental parameters. The water for the algae room is initially screened to 30µm and then filtered to 1µm using cartridges before being raised to 65°C for 40 minutes or so to pasteurise it. It is then dropped to 21°C using a titanium heat exchanger. 4 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2010

John Mercer and Hatchery Manager Michael Williams demonstrating how the mussel spat are socked ready to go out the marine farms on Westernport and Port Phillip Bay.

John reckons the continuous algal system reduces labour costs by 60%. “The daily water replacement in the algae bags is between 20% and 30%. A similar batch system would require the algal bags to be replaced every two weeks. By using a continuous algal system with pasteurization the metabolites and bacteria are removed, any build up in the bags is flushed out and the lifecycle of the algae bags is extended to one month or more … a huge labour saving.” It took six months to design, manufacture and setup the new hatchery. A good water supply underwrites the operation

and that everything that could be backed-up was. John designed many of the items and planned much of the layout himself. “Many people have tried to design these systems over the years but they come unstuck. You have to have everything lined up. Everything has to work right. You can’t have a weak link in it anywhere and, above all, the staff have to be well trained, dedicated and very observant. Mike Williams (the industry’s hatchery manager) and his staff have these attributes and have worked very hard to make the hatchery a success.”

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Production cycle Conditioned broodstock can be held at 10°C for two months. And broodstock can be conditioned at the hatchery. But it takes 2-3 months to build up condition after spawning. So, with a reliable supply available from the farms, breeders are taken straight off the growing ropes instead, brought in from farms every month and fed with food from the algae tanks. Water temperature plays a big part in manipulation for spawning. The breeders are brought to the spawning table, dried for 20 minutes and immersed in warm water at 16-18°C. That is then reduced gradually to 15-16°C over the succeeding 1-3 hours; the temperature shock stimulates spawning. Males are separated from females to control the fertilization process and to balance the ratio of sperm to eggs. John says excess sperm encourages bacterial growth. The release of sperm and eggs is allowed to continue for up to six hours during which the eggs are examined for polar bodies. Once they are

Victorian Shellfish Hatchery spokesperson Lance Wiffen (R) tells John Mercer and Agriculture Minister Joe Helper (L) how it is.

sufficiently developed they transfer them to the incubation tanks at temperatures of 15-16°C and densities of 150m/5,000L. After 12-24 hours they start developing blastula. As John puts it: “They look like tiny balls with hair swimming near the surface.” At 24-36 hours D-shaped larvae appear and start taking small amounts of food. At this stage they are

graded across a 35µm screen. If all’s going well, survival at this stage is 90-95% Any sign of bacteria and the tank is dumped. Even then all equipment is dipped in a weak bleach solution and neutralised with thiosulphate. The larvae are moved to 400L conical larval tanks where the water is exchanged up to ten times daily. The 45-180µm banjo filters provide a small amount of

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FA R M P R O F I L E

collector ropes. Settlement is monitored over a four-week period. The water is dropped, drained and the tanks cleaned every 2nd day. A regular supply of algae is kept up to the tanks from the algal system. By the end of the cycle the spat are 1mm and each rope will hold 50-100,000 mussel spat, at which point they are sent to the farms to be hung on longlines. New Zealand Christmas tree ropes – with the greater surface area – have been trialed but John says that their size means only half the ropes can be stocked. So they need to be twice as good.

Above: The pump room at Queenscliff. Every system that can cause havoc by malfunction is duplicated. Left: The conical larvae rearing tanks at the facility.

self-grading but most is done manually during each tank change and at the end of the cycle. Densities are halved from 40/ml to 20/ml leaving 8 million per tank. Feed is manipulated through two separate larval feeding lines. The hatchery produces two flagellate and two diatom species. pH is regulated via a solenoid and pH meter using CO2. Some species (eg diatoms) use more carbon in their structure than others. Algalculture “Traditionally, once a reasonable bloom of 3-4m cells/ml is reached, around 25% is drained off and replaced with sterilized water,”John says. “You can do that for a week, maybe two, until the bacterial load becomes too high. Then you have to drop the water, clean the system and put in a new plastic bag. “Our system slowly fills, gets a bloom going and continuously at a pre-determined rate, drains off to the larval rearing and nursery tanks, which is replaced by pasteurized water on a 24/7 basis. 6 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2010

The culture bag will last 1-2 months. However, it didn’t come cheap; everything’s custom made.” Algae nutrients (F2) are made onsite and fed automatically once a day. Around 33% of the volume is harvested from each bag daily; however, it varies slightly as some species grow faster than others. The closed pasteurised seawater system is pressurized to 50 kpa. Capillaries can be adjusted to regulate the flow at predesignated settings calculated over the years by the designers. Cooling is an issue. The algal lighting system of 180 fluorescent lights uses 10-12 KW of power and generates significant heat that warms the algal bags higher than is required. John says the air conditioners get a good workout when the lights are burning.

Ten percent of the algal produced in the continuous algal culture system is used to feed larvae and the other 90% goes to the outdoor algal system used to feed the nursery tanks. This consists of 5 x 5000L tanks run on a batch basis to increase algal production to 5000L per day. This season there are eight tanks in production. At 150 ropes per tank this gives 1,200 ropes per month, estimated to boost production to over 1,000t of mussels. Once in full production – spawning between May and November – such spat production is expected to underwrite a crop of around 2,700t. The arrangement The hatchery project has a five-year life. During the first year of successful production, the original shareholders have first call on the spat produced. After that, 20% is to be made available to other Victorian license holders at commercial rates. The consortium pays operational salaries, a commercial rent of the facility as well as the outlay on consumables.

Nursery system

The DPI supplies the R&D scientists and technicians. One of the projects is to improve the strain of mussels available to industry. Dr Brett Ingram is running a genetics selection program to identify and breed desirable genetic traits such as size, growth rates and meat yields.

The larvae spend up to 25 days in the larval rearing tanks before being transferred to the 8 x 5000L outdoor nursery tanks and stocked with 150 x 5m

The idea is to fine-tune the methodology to get one species – blue mussels - going incredibly well and move on to the next one. John says flat oysters (Ostrea

FA R M P R O F I L E

angasi) and scallops (Pecton fumatus) are the next logical species to develop … maybe even clams. Advantages Investment in the program has not come without a cost to industry, nor risk. The first full season of spawning was a steep learning experience. However, the rewards in the 2nd season have justified the outlay. The cost of hatchery spat accounts for about 8% of the wholesale value of the finished product. Access to hatcheryreared seedstock eliminates the time spent collecting and handling wild spat and, most importantly, eliminates the risk involved relying on wild spat settlement. Victorian Shellfish Hatchery director, Lance Wiffen, is upbeat about the results achieved after the slow start. His company, Sea Bounty, stocked their first seeded ropes from the hatchery in May 2009 and started harvesting 12 months later. “The yields are really good; the mussels look fantastic,” he says. “With the hatchery start we were able to get them in 2-3 months earlier. This has given us a good turnaround – ex-hatchery to market in 12 months. We’ll spread the harvest over 18 months to ensure continuity in the market place.” To cover previous production gaps created by poor natural spat collection they may have to hold some for two years but, Lance says, if the spat run is as successful this year it will put the company in a very strong position. Development plan The Victorian Marine Farmers are working on a development plan with DPI Victoria to build a processing works in Melbourne with a throughput of 5,000 tonnes. Seedstock security is adding impetus to their efforts. Lance again: “We’re aiming to process mussels from Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, and NSW if they choose. If the numbers stack up it will give us economies of scale to allow us to compete on the world stage. That will be good for

the hatchery because it will open investment opportunities in the industry.” Hatchery-reared seedstock is in demand outside Victoria. “The South Australians are starting to notice declines in their own natural spat collection and realising they too might need hatchery spat to underwrite stability and growth.” The influence the hatchery has made to Victoria’s harvest is measurable. In 2000 the take was 2,000t. By 2008, with the failure of the natural spat fall, that had fallen to 500t and farmers were leaving the industry. In 2010, those who remained expect to top 1,000t. “Most farmers have shut down their farms, sold their boats and are waiting for something to happen, Lance explains. “I expect that in the future there’ll be a few bigger investors come into the industry and they will take up a lot of the water that is currently unstocked.” Apart from the unstocked water, Fisheries Victoria have over 500 unallocated hectares in marine farming zones. Lance says the current sale of fresh mussels around

Australia is around 3,500t. “The industry’s capacity to oversupply that market is very strong. With the hatchery underwriting production, we could be producing several thousand tonnes in Victoria alone within a year or so. So to develop the unallocated water would be unwise unless we get the factory up and running. Based on the published 2008 production data, the three main eastern mussel producing states are South Australia (1,369t), Tasmania (746t) and Victoria (521t). Western Australia also produces 319t. This is a total of 2,636. With Victoria set to more than double production from hatchery reared seedstock this year alone, the market threshold for fresh product will soon be challenged. But Lance is confident about the future: “If our development plan with DPI and Fisheries Victoria proves feasible you can expect to see co-investment from the three main producing (eastern) states.” By John Mosig

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Qld barra farm reaps rewards from efficiency gains

The harvest net is 70m x 4m. It sets a good belly in the drag and can be rewound hydraulically ready for the next shot

When the ponds loadings are high, emergency aeration can be brought quickly to individual ponds.

oxygen – both conditions can be corrected relatively easily – and a constant 26°C (but heated to 28°C for use in the nursery).

arty Phillips is a partner in Pejo Enterprises which, in 2002, set about diversifying its Innisfail banana farm into fish farming. It took two costly and frustrating years to get an aquaculture permit. Then Cyclone Larry intervened and the shedding needed to be rebuilt. Still, those traumas are behind them now with the farm turning out more than 200 tonnes a year. And, with a farm expansion over the last 12 months, Marty’s setting his sights even higher – better than 300t is now the annual production target. Water Water is drawn from the Moresby River and there’s a bore alongside the nursery and packing shed. The Moresby is a short coastal river – the catchment in the nearby Basilisk Range can be clearly seen from the farm –reducing flooding in the wet which, in a region that receives over 3m of rainfall a year, can be quite severe. “Flooding and fish farming don’t mix,” Marty says. The bore water is soft and low in dissolved 8 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2010

The seasonal rain also affects salinity. Marty’s farm is in the tidal zone. In the dry the tide pushes back against the flow and salinity ranges up to 25-29ppt. In the wet, the water becomes fresh. The change means that Marty’s fish receive a salt bath (to remove freshwater parasites) and a freshwater bath (to remove salt water parasites) twice a year. Saltwater is trucked in to the hatchery when required; bore water is used in a semi flow-through system once the fry have been acclimatised to freshwater. Pond temperatures range from 22°C in the winter to a summer peak of 36°C. The summer average is 30°C with a mean winter temperature is 24°C. The farm There are 33 ponds on the farm covering 12.6ha. They vary in size but the more common one is 50m x 80m x 2.5m

Once the fish are brought to the harvest point, this hydraulically operated dip net is used to transfer them across to the ice slurry bin.

deep. Three large settlement ponds create a wetland environment and the farm supports three or four medium size crocs as well as thousands of waterfowl, including the endangered Burdekin duck. Aeration per 0.4ha pond is a combination of 2hp paddlewheel and 2hp aerojet giving up to 20hp/ha coverage. The property has 3-phase power throughout and Marty has 500kVa of backup diesel generating capacity. A re-circulation nursery system handles barra from day old larvae to 100mm fingerlings. This is set up in two stages: saline and freshwater. Food is kept in an open shed and 8t of chilled fish can be held in the coolroom. Production cycle The aim is to get two batches (autumn and spring) of day old larvae through a year. Kept first in the nursery tanks for 12 weeks – growing to 100mm – they are then are inoculated for Streptococcus and relocated to cages in the production

FA R M P R O F I L E

Marty at the controls.

Roberta (L) and Maxine vaccinate 12 week old barramundi fingerlings while Damien keeps the supply up to them.

ponds. After another 6-8 weeks the 200300g fish are ready to free-range in the ponds. It takes another 18-20 months to reach 3kg. Marty says the farm works to a two year cycle with a 20t harvest per pond (the equivalent of 50t/ha).

build up. Ponds close to harvest may carry twice the normal aeration.

There are two re-circulation systems: a marine system for larval rearing and a freshwater system to grow the fry onto fingerlings. The fry are swapped over to fresh water as soon as possible. Whilst the re-circulation system isn’t sophisticated, Marty says that it has evolved over time. He reasons that since he has such good quality bore water it’s cheaper to increase water exchange when the load demands it rather than spend huge amounts on ‘bells and whistles’ technology. Water exchange through the re-circ system is hourly and the water in the system, depending on the load, is replenished 4-5 times a day. Fish are graded twice during the nursery stage and the bottom 20% discarded. This culls out poor doers from the production line before they cost too much. The ponds are drained and dried at the end of each cycle and ground limestone applied at 2.5t/ha. Lime is added during the growing cycle on an as needed basis. Aeration is increased as pond loads

Pejo employs two full time permanents and two permanent casuals. Marty says he’s been lucky with the team developing into a really efficient outfit. Like most fish farms it’s an around-theclock operation. A day a week is spent packing off and the nursery takes constant monitoring and management. “On a big day they earn their keep!” Marty says. Feed Initially the larvae are reared on enriched rotifers. Enriched artemia are introduced between around day 10 and they’re weaned onto dry food at day 20. Acclimation to fresh water occurs around the same time. Fingerlings are fed a starter ration in the cages until they are 200-300mm. Fish are fed to satiation and with a floating pellet. Appetite drops off as the water cools and they feed 50% less in the depths of winter. Marty reckons they are taking 1% of their body weight daily when they are really on the tooth. Food conversion efficiency averages out at 1.4:1. Marty says they can get better figures but losses play havoc with the FCRs whenever jabirus, crocodiles or health issues take fish out of the system.

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Alternate species One option for expansion in any aquaculture industry is to embrace new species. But Marty’s cautious. “At the moment we’re concentrating on getting the barra growing as hard and as fast as possible so we can pay off some of the bills”, he says. “I can’t see mangrove jack (Lutjanus argentimaculatus) being a huge aquaculture species. They don’t have a high growth rate and are hard to reproduce. “They’re playing around with a few options (at the Northern Fisheries Centre). We probably don’t have the water quality for coral trout (lectropomus leopardus) . In any case they’re too slow to grow to market size in my opinion, so you’d need a high end price to offset the production costs.

The hatchery at Pejo

“Queensland groper (Epinephelus lanceolatus) have a high value and a high growth rate. It ticks most of the boxes but they’ve got to breed them yet. The flowery cod (E. fescogutlatus) has a low growth rate and hasn’t an overly high value. I could be wrong, but I can’t see this species going too far.”

Fingerling cages growing out barra before their release in the open pond systems. The stock from these nursery cages will be spread between more than one pond.

Both Skretting and Aquafeed products are used although the freight differential between Hobart and Brisbane can be considerable.

vulnerable to secondary diseases. There’s some mortality and the risk of it spreading to the rest of the farm. It’s a real pain in the backside.

Feed is delivered vai a purpose-built hopper on the back of a tractor which uses air to blow it blown across the ponds.

“The cost of vaccinating and the cost of dealing with an outbreak are probably very similar but we get a better result from the farm and anything that reduces the level of antibiotic use is a positive for the industry; consumers seem concerned about it.”

Streptococcus Marty inoculates against streptococcus as a precaution. “Most growers have had some experience with it”, he says. “We don’t suffer huge losses, but it just seems to pop its head up now and again. It’s the inconvenience. The fish don’t feed, we have to administer antibiotics and monitor them and they’re more 10 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2010

Marketing also suffers from a break in continuity. “We really go out of way to maintain continuity of supply. It’s a big issue, probably one of the strongest points of the farmed product versus wild caught.”

He nominates salinity during the wet as another possible problem, even with the estuarine species. In the absence of any hard and fast commercial data alternate species seem a way down the track at this stage. Harvesting Harvesting has been streamlined with a 70m x 4m knotless net used to crowd fish to the pond’s harvest point. The depth of the net allows for a good belly and the fish are not stressed when milling in front of the haul. Once congregated a 2m deep, hydraulically-operated dip net lifts the fish out of the pond and into an ice slurry. If everything goes right, 4-5t of fish can be harvested in two to three hours. EPA Marty is trialling the use of molasses in the ponds to create a bacterial floc to reduce the nitrogen levels and minimise the need for water exchange.

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He says the EPA keeps a pretty tight rein with a daily cap on how much water can be discharged and monitors for TDS, TAN and phosphorous on a regular basis. The limits are strict but the farm has no problem keeping to them. Markets Pejo sells through wholesalers in the major centres: Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane with a little bit to Canberra. “We take a long term view. We don’t jump around from agent to agent. We like to build up a relationship,” Marty says. Ice is made onsite. Whole fish are packed in 1,000L Nylex bins surrounded by crushed ice overnight and packed in 18-20kg poly boxes the next day for airfreight to the markets.

The final stage of the nursery is partially open to help acclimatise the fingerlings before they go out into the cages.

Those markets have taken a belting over the last two years. “At around $8/kg we’re not totally happy with the price. It’s down two of dollars on what it was a couple of years ago. That’s a 20% drop in price when everything else is going up. We’re barely making money at that,” he reckons. “We need a fair price to justify the risk we take and the money we’ve got invested. “The high Australian dollar is making imports cheaper and knocking the tourist industry around,” Marty continues. “It’s one of the reasons we’re pushing for country of origin labelling … especially at the food service industry point of sale. It works in the NT.

The paddlewheel aerators run 24 hours a day.

“Every consumer should have a choice, especially the tourists. Barramundi is an Australian icon and they feel rightly cheated if they’re passed off a piece of frozen Nile perch or Asian seabass. They can get that back home!” By John Mosig Marty Phillips can be contacted by phone on (07) 4063 2344, or by email on marlinka@bigpond.com.au

Summer 2010 | Austasia Aquaculture 11

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FA R M P R O F I L E These comets are in beautiful condition like the other Goldfish varieties produced by Pine Creek Fish Hatchery.

Imported disease affecting NSW goldfish hatchery Only the Pine Creek Fish Hatchery can supply goldfish to all Australian states including Tasmania. Bore water, healthy broodstock and good biosecurity protocols have allowed them to maintain a high quality and relatively pathogen-free stock. However, a number of imported diseases and parasites are limiting their sales as their fish have little or no immunity over such pathogens.

he Wood family have been breeding goldfish (Carassius auratus) in NSW for more than 80 years. Sid Wood started breeding goldfish in his small backyard in Lewisham and selling them and aquatic plants as a secondary income during depression in Sydney. In 1945 this became a full time business. In 1946 the family moved to Belmore and built what was then the largest goldfish hatchery in Australia. A second – and larger – hatchery was built at Miranda in 1952 and for ten years both hatcheries were in production.

In 1967 the Pine Creek Fish Hatchery relocated to 15km south of Coffs Harbour on NSW’s north coast and is now run by Sid’s sons Steve and John, their brotherin-law Allan and Steve’s son Greg. “We’ve been breeding up to seven species of ornamentals,” Steve explains. “Primarily we produce goldfish – mainly comets, shubunkins, red fans, moors and calicoes. However, we also produce some guppies and platys as required.” The goldfish venture takes up less than 2ha of the 185ha property; the rest is

used for cattle and a few horses. Sixty 36,000L concrete ponds (9m diameter, depth 0.6m) are fed by bore water gravity flowing from a 60,000L reservoir tank; the bore water comes out at 20°C but the ponds are operated at ambient temperature. “We have plenty of ground water and experience for future expansion if Biosecurity Australia ever becomes serious about stopping disease carrying imports,” Steve says. Given bore water clean of any pathogens Summer 2010 | Austasia Aquaculture 13

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Management Metrics Key Management Decisions for Pine Creek Fish Hatchery include: • Focus on specific fancy varieties of Goldfish for increased prices. • Early establishment of biosecurity protocols to protect the health of the fish. • Use of low cost ponds for production of fish. • Use of experienced family members overcomes requirement for paid staff. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) include: • Culture System utilised: 9m diameter concrete tanks, 0.6m deep • Growth rate (from stocking to market): <3-4 months (5-6cm) • Survival rate: >99% from hatch to sale size • Av. stocking density: 4-8,000 fish per tank • Annual harvest: 200,000 (best 400,000) • How many fish bred in not as import as how many you can sell!

Above right: Alan (left) and Steve Wood packing fish for a shipment to a retail customer. Right: Pine Creek Fish Hatchery’s packing shed brim full of a range of Goldfish varieties.

and strict biosecurity protocols, the Woods’ stocks are free of most of the serious pathogens and pests which have been introduced into Australia. “We only have problems with a couple of flukes and parasites which we are able to control.” That’s why this farm is the only one anywhere outside Tasmania licensed to sell into that state; Tassie’s strict quarantine rules prevent goldfish ulcer disease getting onto its salmon or trout farms. In summer the goldfish are kept under shade cloth as water temperatures and pH go up with increasing sunlight. “We also have three tunnels or hot houses (20m long by 6m wide and 3m high) covering ponds (0.5m deep ponds) made from concrete bricks and plastic liners. These ponds are good to operate and cheap to make.” The Woods have tried to keep things as simple as possible. For example, there is no aeration in any of the tanks or ponds. “We can have a trickle water flow into the ponds but usually they are kept static,” Steve continues. “We exchange the water if dirty and cleanout and dry them after each batch. If anyone growing fish can’t keep drying their ponds then they won’t be successful.” 14 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2010

The farm also maintains standard numbers of fingerlings in the ponds – 4-8,000 depending on variety. “From our many years of experience we can tell right away if the oxygen is down or if the fish are not doing alright. We have been doing it long enough that many management decisions are second nature. “We also have specific biosecurity protocols to main a high level of health in our fish, both broodfish and juveniles. We won’t bring in any strange fish and put them straight into our tanks. The last time we introduced some new broodstock was some 20 years ago; even then these fish were kept in quarantine for a couple of years. “As a final challenge test we put in some

of own fish into those quarantine tanks; if they don’t die within 30 days then we feel more confident. “Now we also have PCR tests for viruses, as well as other health protocols. Fish pathologist Matt Landos also provides us with a lot of advice and assistance.” PCFH avoid using any antibiotics; the main chemical used is formaldehyde. “We use formalin treatments on our eggs and to treat any external parasites on the fish. We add about ½ litre into the ponds (36,000L) and just leave it; the treatments usually kills the pathogens in 24 hours and the formalin breaks down in a few days. All our effluent water is used to irrigate the farm so nothing goes into waterways.”

FA R M P R O F I L E

A line of the sixty 36,000L concrete ponds used to produce ornamental fish. These ponds are usually kept static, although they are gravity fed from a reservoir of bore water.

Fish Losses As a result of the introduction of the many ornamental fish viruses, diseases and parasites into Australia, PCFH has been affected both directly (flukes) and indirectly (losses of fish). Thankfully the flukes, after initial devastation, have proven manageable through sound aquacultural practices and quarantine procedures. However, Steve says he knows of other ornamental hatcheries that have closed permanently due to problems from imported diseases. The main consequence of imported disease for the Woods has been off-farm. “At peak production in the mid 1990s we were selling around 400,000 fish a year with a projected expansion program for up to 1 million fish a year. However, over the past 10-15 years we are lucky to average 200,000 a year. “With the introduction of the Goldfish Herpes Virus into Australia in the mid

Greenhouse tunnel used for culturing tropical ornamentals such as live bearers.

1990’s our goldfish have struggled to survive in retail outlets when mixed with imported ornamental fish. Because our fish are disease-free, they are more readily susceptible to imported diseases. This effectively wiped out our ability to supply all mainland retail outlets. Retail outlets were also hamstrung in

controlling the disease as the majority of their aquarium systems were interconnected. Our long standing, established customers were forced to source their goldfish stock elsewhere. “The main problem happens with our livebearers when they are mixed in the Summer 2010 | Austasia Aquaculture 15

FA R M P R O F I L E

Sidney Wood started breeding and selling Goldfish and aquatic plants in 1928 from his backyard at Lewisham, Sydney.

same tank or same water treatment system with imported fish of the same species. We know we breed clean, disease free fish and some shops will only stock our fish; these shops expect only a very small percentage of fish deaths – they can set their prices to cover these small losses. “However, whenever our fish are exposed to imported fish, they won’t last two weeks. They must be picking up something from the imported fish, especially in recirc systems (RAS) in shops that handle fish from everywhere. In 1992 we were selling 105,000 Guppies a year; in 2009 we only sold 25,000 Guppies.” Steve and his family are shattered by their problem and have been fighting state and federal government bureaucracy for years. “It’s perplexing that Pine Creek Fish Hatchery should be commercially disadvantaged for maintaining a clean and disease-free stock. The crux of all our concerns revolves around the relative

16 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2010

ease in which aquatic diseases pass through Australian quarantine and biosecurity measures. It a ‘death by 1,000 cuts!’” At present the Woods don’t want to introduce disease into the farm as suggested by some experts. “It has been suggested by some government people that we should bring imported stock into our hatchery to try to breed in some disease resistance or develop immunity in our stock lines. Another option is to kill all our existing stocks and just start anew with all imported stock. Both of these options are expensive and not without a good deal of risk. The problem is that the viruses (and other pathogens) keep mutating, so it hard to stay on top of any breeding program for resistance.” The Wood family have another option – sit tight and wait. “The Biosecurity Australia report (‘Importation of freshwater ornamental finfish: review of biosecurity

Aerial view of ponds under bird netting and shade cloth.

risks associated with Gourami iridovirus and related viruses - provisional final IRA report’) was released last July (2010). The outcomes of the consultations arising from this report could mean increased testing of imported stock. We just will have to have the willpower to continue to wait another six months or so, keeping an eye on any changes to legislation which may assist us. “If nothing happens then we will have to bite the bullet and get the diseased stock in.” By Dos O’Sullivan. For further information please contact Steve Wood, Pine Creek Fish Hatchery 606 Pine Creek Way Bonville NSW 2441 Tel: 02 6653-4224 Fax: 02 6653-4036 E: pinecreekfishhatchery@bigpond.com

FA R M P R O F I L E

Tailor Made barra leading the way ‘Technology developed by fish farmers for fish farmers’ is the catch-cry of the company which has been the major NSW producer of Barramundi and hydroponic vegetables for more than 12 years.

perating since 1998 at Bobs Farm, around 2 hours drive north of Sydney, the Tailor Made Fish Farm (TMFF) is a leader in aquaponics, the fusion of aquaculture and hydroponics. The company uses the waste water from its 50 tonne per year barramundi (Lates calcarifer) operations to grow hydroponic lettuces and other vegetables. “Our integrated hydroponic system is designed to produce 8,000 heads (lettuces, bok choy, spinach and parsley) on a monthly cycle,” says managing director Nick Arena. “We’re able to better use our waste water with any excess applied to grass paddocks resulting in a ‘zero discharge from site’ aquaculture system. By using this approach we meet all of the environmental criteria for aquaculture and value-add to our process with the vegetable crops. Our system also allows us to expand in capacity without concerns of affecting the environment.”

The original production shed (700m2) has been mothballed for the time being (it may be reused as a hatchery and nursery in the future or for trials of new species) so that the staff can focus on the new 1,440m2 production unit. Built with cool room panels for the walls and a double skin layer of clear plastic on the gable roof, it acts like a greenhouse allowing light and heat in. The fish culture system holds almost half a million litres of water of which 10% is exchanged each week. Bore water is pumped in at 17°C and, with solar panels heating the room, water temperatures are maintained at 28°C for much of the year. Even through the winter months a minimum of 24°C is mostly achievable. Nick says the system is both modular and easy to operate. “Developed from our ‘school of hard knocks’ it has allowed us to survive more than twelve

years. Yes, it has been a financial struggle but we’ve been able to take what we learned and build a streamlined facility that is very easy to manage. “Production of premium quality fish and vegetables is achieved year-round through compact and controlled production areas using much less water than conventional methods. We get two crops from a single water uptake.” Indeed it is so successful that Tailor Made offer a design and consultancy service for new sustainable aquaculture and hydroponics facilities. Or for those wanting to add hydroponics to existing setups. “Unlike many of our competitors, we successfully operate a commercial scale food production system,” Nick says. “Our expertise is proven.” The service includes everything from feasibility studies through to technology supply, project management, after sales support and backup. Summer 2010 | Austasia Aquaculture 17

FA R M P R O F I L E

Management Metrics Key Management Decisions for Tailor Made Fish Farms include: • Integrated RAS and hydroponics with self designed and manufactured components • Sell range of products, harvest weekly and year round • Establishment of a restaurant and value-adding facility to increase sales prices and profit margins. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) include: Culture System utilised: RAS with fibreglass tanks and water treatment system Growth rate (from stocking to market): <10 months (2g to 1kg) Survival rate: better than 75% from first stocking to sale size Av. stocking density: 50kg/m3 Stocking density at Finish 75kg/m3 Annual harvest: 60 tonnes barramundi, 100,000 head of lettuce Water use: 285L per kg produced per year Power use: 8kW per kg produced per year (Energy use in total cover water supply also) • FCR: 1.2:1 (number of kg of food to produce 1kg stock) • Gas used for heating per year: nil. • Pure oxygen use: nil per year

• • • • • • • •

Smaller tanks & modules The original TMFF design used round 30,000L fibreglass tanks, each with its own water treatment system. Nick and his team have significantly redesigned the system and now have production modules, each consisting of three 10,000L growing tanks (oblong shaped, each 5m long, 2m wide and 1m deep). “These tanks provide a neater layout with less space than the round tanks and deal better with removal of solids. Air supply is delivered by a series of 3.6KW side channel air blowers. We use a tank water changeover rate of once every 1.5hrs. “Other custom designed tanks are available in 2,000 or 3,000L capacities. They are the result of extensive trials to achieve the optimum design for fish grow-out.” The new unit has 12 production modules (36 tanks total). A filtration system – consisting of a 1.2m wide mesh screen filter for solids separation followed by protein skimmer for the fine particles and oils – is cleaned daily. A UV filter kills any organisms which remain. Finally there is a moving bed biofilter (containing media of TMFF’s own design) which removes the toxic nitrogenous compounds. “We use pressurised and gravity flow biofilters designed to optimise carrying capacity and fish growth. Except for the pipes, pumps, blowers, UV and Hex-Air air diffusers, all of the components used are specifically designed and built by TMFF. We have sold these manufactured systems into Europe as well as to a Victorian company based in Werribee. Despite ozone being an incredibly effective sanitiser, Nick has steered away from it in recent times due to a combination of issues relating to contact time, unspent gas and energy required to effectively introduce the ozone to the water. “The screen filters for solids removal are an essential part in any recirculating aquaculture system (RAS). They remove the majority of particles in an initial

18 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2010

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cleaning step and thereby reducing the major biological load. This allows the biofilters to work effectively and also decreases biological oxygen demand.”

The ‘Cookabarra’ restaurant and function centre has the capacity for seating and feeding 200 people. It is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The screen filters are available with wire screens of 400 or 600 µm, with options for screen widths as requested. The filters are designed to screen either 30,000 or 45,000L/hr. “We learned the hard way with metals and aquaculture,” Nick explains. “All metal components in our equipment are 316 stainless steel. Screen filters can also be built to specifications on request. Solid wastes are used as crop fertilisers, whilst the effluent water is used for the hydroponics. “Our system ensures efficient water use along with a quicker growing product that is cleaner and healthier. The need to use heavy chemicals normally associated with intensive production methods is negated. Whilst we grow barramundi (sold live or freshly chilled), our system can support almost any freshwater species.” Quarantine before stocking A quarantine area is used to hold batches of 20-30mm fingerlings sourced from hatcheries in Queensland or South Australia. Tailor Made takes 6-8 batches a year, each of 20,000 fingerlings. In 12 years of operation the barra have caused no headaches apart from an occasional poor batch of fingerlings; most problems are brought in with seed stock.

The processing equipment includes a stainless steel cutting and cleaning bench (left), salad washer (there is a spinner not seen in the photo used to dewater the lettuce), a slicer dicer for chips, mushrooms, onion, peppers etc and a double action vacuum packer with gas flushing.

Right: The new 50 tonne facility contains many improvements over the system which had been successfully run for more than 12 years. Note the custom designed and built oblong shaped 10,000L growing tanks (left) and 2-3,000 tanks (right).

“We once tried some Murray Cod (Maccullochella peeli) which introduced white spot (Ichthyophthirius multifilis) to

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FA R M P R O F I L E

Overlooking the hydroponic area with the NFT Channels to the restaurant (right) and processing plant (left).

our old system,”Nick recalls. “It cost us a lot of money in salt and learning when was the best time to dose to ensure we killed the eggs. But we survived the white spot with very little losses; antibiotics are hardly used at all; we find that with most things a simple salt baths can fix many potential issues.” Regular grading of the fingerlings is undertaken until they reach about 150mm (3-4 months). The farm does this manually with dip nets and grading boxes with bars. Fish are fed Skretting floating barra diets – Nova or Classic – from crumbles through to 11mm pellets. Above: What a Barramundi feast! – steamed dish (left), deep-fried (middle) and baked (right). Left: Solids being removed from the culture water by the Tailor Made Fish Farm designed and manufactured screen filter.

Before harvest, the fish are “cleaned up” to remove any off flavours before harvest. “We have our own process that has taken a long time to get right.” Dip nets are used to harvest the fish which are transferred into live transport containers or an ice bath for a quick chill-kill. “We focus on the live market and can harvest up to a tonne at a time.

20 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2010

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But we do sell chilled product (whole or fillets) too,” says Nick. “We have never had trouble selling our fish, there are good markets for quality.” Hydroponics Whilst his may not be the largest barramundi farm in NSW, Nick reckons it to be the most efficient. And with a small environmental footprint and several crops to market. “We normally produce over 100,000 heads (of vegetables) a year; however our hydroponics manager has been very sick so we are down around to a third of that.” (The farm is currently looking for horticulturist to take on that role.) Unlike many other aquaponics operations, Nick says no water is returned from the hydroponics back into the fish culture systems. “Commercial vegetable growers all must use some chemicals, whether they are pesticides, fungicides; usually sprays are used for pests and fungus problems. We don’t want to introduce those chemicals into our clean fish culture systems.” Another difference is in the water pH. “For barramundi a pH in the high 7s is preferred; however, most vegetables require water pHs in the mid to low 6s. The plants also require nutrient-rich water, not wanted in fish systems. Given all of that, it is not practicable to return the water to the fish.” Nick believes the ideal system is to correctly size the vegetable production area with waste water output. “Knowing which crop your are growing and the water demand required for that particular crop is essential.” Next to the barra greenhouse are outdoor racks or tables fitted with NFT Channels used for hydroponics around the world. “We are located near the coast so we don’t get any frosts. The NFTs are simple to use – you insert the seedling roots into the holes and the water runs underneath. To harvest it is simply a matter of lifting out the ‘head’ and cutting off the roots and cleaning up the lower leaves.”

The growth of the vegetables varies with the weather. “In winter it might take the seedling 6-8 weeks to reach market size; in summer this is down to 3-4 weeks. Summer is also the time of biggest demand for our hydroponic vegetables.”

lunch and dinner. The favourite is the cookabarra – beer-battered Barramundi fillets, chips and salads. The only ingredient we don’t grow yet are the potatoes. We use local macadamias, olives and avocadoes for other amazing dishes.”

Vegetables are very thirsty. “A kilo of hydroponic tomatoes uptakes 20 litres of water; in the field they probably need three times that due to losses to seepage and evaporation. Hydroponic lettuces use 7-8 litres of water per head. There are about three heads per kg of lettuce heads so the total water consumed is around 21 litres per kg.”

Portion size is very important for obtaining the best prices for barramundi and veggies alike. “Our fish are served at plate size (450-500g) or two fillets (180g each, served singly) are taken from an 800g fish. Both meals cost $27.

Value-adding Nick and his partners have spent over $3 million in the past few years on capital works. First came upgrading and refinement of the fish production facility. A value-adding centre – for washing, cutting, packing and storage of fish and vegetables – followed. At 500m2 it’s large enough to not only handle on-site produce but also that brought in from other local farmers and wild caught fisheries. Finally, a 200 seat restaurant was built for functions, corporate events and education and training sessions. “We have a lot of schools who do a farm tour,” Nick says. The ‘Cookabarra’ restaurant value-add the farm’s harvest supplemented with other regional produce such as oysters and prawns. “We are open for breakfast,

It takes around seven months to get fish through to 500g although some shooters will get there much quicker. Another two months takes fish above 800g. “Our Barramundi are grown and finished under a Quality Assurance Program prior to sale to ensure a clean, consistent and premium quality product, tailored to suit individual customer requirements,” Nick continues. “We supply both the finest local restaurants and live fish wholesalers that service the Sydney market.” By Dos O’Sullivan. For more information contact Nick Arena, Tailor Made Fish Farms, 476c Marsh Road, Bobs Farm, NSW 2316 Tel: 02 4982-6600 Mob: 0418 459-226 Email: info@tailormadefishfarms.com.au

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FA R M P R O F I L E

New inspiration fires up defunct yabby farm I

n a real life ‘man bites dog story’, John Lawrence came down to Moama on the Murray River from Bundaberg because his wife Christene liked the climate. John brought with him 20 years experience as a licensed crabber (mud crabs, spanner crabs & blue swimmers) and ten years of growing redclaw, so it was only natural that he took on yabby farming. The old Yabby Farms Australia (AA 15-6) site was available so they bought it.

The mulcher used to break up the hay to enhance detritus production.

There are 60 x 0.4Ha bottom draining ponds and a 4Ha settlement reservoir on the farm (just seven ponds are being farmed right now). Each pond slopes from 700mm to 1.2m deep and measures 80m x 50m. Water comes from a 35ML allocation plus another 20ML they’ve purchased and temporary water bought on an ‘as needed’ basis. The layout is superbly planned. The farm is fully reticulated and there’s 3-phase power to each pond. The Lawrence’s have put in a smaller – less costly to operate – 100mm pump while they’re running the place on a semi-intensive model, to suit that management style. The facilities include a hatchery, coolroom and purging/holding/grading room.

Note the clean belly plates of the farmed yabbies that moult often.

Airlift aerators at work. Note the turbid water that offers the yabbies some protection from cormorant attack.

Production cycle Although the farm came with a hatchery, John is using his redclaw experience and collecting juveniles from onion bags suspended in the water to stock new ponds.

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Purged and ready for the market.

This way he has some control over the biomass of the ponds. It keeps him busy trapping but is cost effective and, at this stage of the farm’s redevelopment, keeps overall operational costs manageable. When the yabbies start to move around in late winter as the water warms, juveniles and yabbies too small for market are trapped and graded into size cohorts. Stocking is at 50kg per pond, their progress is monitored and, as they reach market size, they’re harvested. This continues as long as it’s economically feasible to do so. Feasibility is governed by the effort involved in harvesting and the value of the yabbies in the market. There’s usually a six month cashflow period, although this year the farm trapped right through the winter. “You have to be aggressive with your harvesting,” John says “and roll over those size cohorts in three to six months. You really need to dry those ponds out. I’ve noticed with the redclaw how much better they go after ponds have been dried out and limed. You could say it’s compulsory to do this after each harvesting cycle. “Trace elements in the soil have a lot to do with it. There’s a need for lime for the calcium and the water hardness, but I look for specific minerals that may be lacking. I’ve just completed a course in bio-farming and it makes a lot of sense.

Juvenile yabbies collected from the onion bag ‘traps’ that John learnt to use when he was redclaw farming.

If my yabbies have all the micronutrients they need they’ll be healthy and be able to utilize the feed better. My plan is to have fewer inputs and work with the animal more. The yields might be less but the overall return is more and the farm runs smoother.”

poly pipe running the length of the pond. Droppers go down to within 100mm of the bottom; they’re injected 100mm from the surface and the air driven down 500mm inside the dropper before it rises to the surface, bringing with it stale water to the surface for re-oxygenation.

Predator control had been by providing tyre cover in the ponds. John got rid of those. For a start, they’re so heavy, complicating pond maintenance. And given concerns about heavy metal leakage, there’s been discussions too by local and state governments about banning them from food production.

One Siemens blower will do 50 airlifts. There are eight lifters per pond.

The aeration line for the airlift is 25mm

Feed Feed has always been a problem in the yabby sector, especially since the industry has been in the doldrums. To get a manufactured feed the farm needs a four tonne order. With no one to share it with this is far too much.

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Harvesting John isn’t used to the southern ways. He was told to trap harvest until it became uneconomic and then drain harvest with a bag over the outlet. It all sounded like hard work to a Bananabender. “That sounded a bit scary to me”, he says. “I come from flow trap country. I want to give it a go. You have to drop the water a bit to give them a bit of hurry up but I can use an underwater flow trap without having to drop the ponds to dangerous levels to selectively harvest during the production cycle and get a 100% harvest when it’s time to drain and dry the pond. “The previous owners have suggested to me that this semi-intensive scheme will net me 250-350kg per pond per year of >50g animals. Working a six week rotation – trapping a pond for a week and leaving it for five – I need to get somewhere around 30-40kg per trapping week from each pond (for 40 weeks).”

Clockwise from top left: The blower driving the airlift aeration system. The feed mix – clockwise: lupins, wheat, oats and barley. Feeding is easy with John’s farm built feed blower.

So a mixture of nutritional sources ranging from detritus, grains and fish waste are used. Hay – mulched to provide a greater surface area for colonising bacteria – is spread at the rate of two round bales per pond before flooding. It’s first covered to 200mm to ensure total waterlogging and allow bacteria time to fire up before they fill the pond. “Setting the pond up coming out of

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winter has the first of the crop ready to go out the gate by Christmas,” John says. “The smallest of the yabbies that go in at a 25g average will be 50-60g and the shooters over 100g from that 3-4 month period. “I don’t have a water quality problem as long as I only use vegetable matter or meat that once grew in water. Tim Dawes of Aquafarms (AA 14-4) put us onto that and it works a treat. “We steer clear of abattoir waste. I get 20-25 boxes of fish frames from the market each week and put a flathead frame on each feed tray. As soon as they start to get knocked around I up the feed rate. I try to feed 1-2% of biomass per day. With the wet feed like flathead I double that. I alternate between fish and grain, but only feed to 0.5% biomass on grain days. I use lupins, wheat, oats and barley for variety.”

Markets The markets look strong. If the Victorian yabby industry was left reeling from the joint impacts of PrimeSafe and Cost Recovery, the drought that followed on its heels did the rest. Prices are firm again and interest is keen. John sells live down at the Melbourne Wholesale Fish Market. Prices of $20/kg for >50g yabbies are being achieved at the wholesale level and buyers just don’t seem to be able to get enough. The current flood waters moving down the Murray and Darling systems are sure to bring some wild product onto the market. But for the moment, newcomers like the Lawrences and some of the old industry diehards are in a position to glean a just reward for their investment. By John Mosig John & Christene Lawrence can be contacted by phone on (03) 5480 9983, or by email on chris.lawrence@gvhealth.org.au

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Murray cod: a novice’s cautionary tale

Clockwise from top left: Each treatment section holds 3,000L. It is easy to move the fish into the treatment area and give them a bath. The stress levels on the fish are minimal. Airlift aerators at work Bonyaricall farm does 40,000 trays of avocados a year.

attending a few field days and meeting with Departmental people down in Melbourne he thought he’d done his due diligence and decided to put his 800ML of secured water through a fish farm before irrigating his trees and vines.

urray cod have been touted as the ‘next big’ thing since the early 1990s and considerable market and technical research has gone into the species. Plus a wallet-full of government and private capital. The results have been mixed. Some brilliant successes have been reported. Food conversions well under 1:1, commercial stocking densities up to 250kg/m3 and farm gate values at a healthy premium to other warmwater species. Yet nearly twenty years later not all growers are rolling in clover. 26 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2010

Barry Avery is the son of a soldier settler who has farmed in the Robinvale district on Victoria’s lower Murray for the last 30 years. He diversified from dried fruit and citrus into avocados and wine and table grapes 25 years ago and is among the leading avocado producers in northwestern Victoria’s Sunraysia District. Just over three of years ago he was attracted to aquaculture after reading a Draft Report complied by the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) on the viability of Murray cod farming in raceways floating in irrigation water. After

He started off with a small floating raceway system “to put a toe in the water”. It consisted of four by 15m x 2m x 2m floating raceways complete with walkways, fish treatment bay, anti-bird netting, automatic feeders and aeration system. By the time he had it operational and stocked Barry says it had it cost him close to $200,000. The raceway structure was floated at the out-take end of a 65ML holding dam – the farm’s reservoir for the 800ML of secured irrigation water. Water is pumped daily during the irrigation season – from August to May - via a 60hp high volume, low pressure pump. The production model was to stock the system with three intakes of advanced

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stockers (100-200g) in October, December and February, each 60m3 raceway to be seeded with 5,000 fingerlings. The fish were to be constantly graded and harvesting of the fastest growers was theoretically to start in October the following year to make room for the next intake of fingerlings. Each intake was to be off the farm at a minimum size of a kilo within 18 months. Barry purchased 6,000 seedstock and stocked three of his four floating raceways with 2,000 x 100g advanced stockers in October 2008. Another 2,000 were delivered a month later. Even to his untrained eye there seemed something radically wrong with the second delivery. “The fish were off their feed and gasping at the surface. Within 24 hours we’d lost 60 fish. I called on the back-up service and was told it was just transport shock and they’d grow through it. The next morning there were another 80 dead fish. “I was left to flounder on my own and we lost the lot to Chilodonella and white spot (Ichthyophthirius multifilis). It was a total disaster”, he says. “We were given 5,000 replacement stock at half price but they weren’t much better. “We lost a few, sold a few at well under what we had been led to believe were market expectations and we’ve still got the stragglers. They’re just now reaching 500-600g after 21 months. Hardly a good advertisement for an industry at the ‘commercial ready’ stage as the Department’s final Report describes it.” In November of 2009 Barry sourced > 100g fingerlings from a NSW hatchery. “They were magnificent fish. We stocked them in November when the water reached 21-22°C. Again, unfortunately, we were slow to detect Chilodonella , which led to white spot, which led to red spot. We again lost all our fish.” He feels very let down. “Two of the of the reasons I was attracted to the idea in the first place was the multiple use of water and that it was sold as being compatible with other types of farming.

Top: Looking down the holding reservoir from the floating raceways. Water is pumped for the 20ha of avocados and 72ha of grapes daily during the irrigation season. Above: Feed is delivered automatically at pre-set rates.

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Summer 2010 | Austasia Aquaculture 27

FA R M P R O F I L E

“I now know that aquaculture is stand alone 24/7. It’s worse than dairy farming. If anything’s going to go wrong it will go wrong on a Friday night.

Barry admits that the overall concept had been developed with the best of intentions and a good deal of thought.

“You’ve got a very small time to identify problems. If you haven’t got on top of some of them in 24 hours you’ve got a serious problem on your hands.

”The design and the engineering of the raceways was good. The farm sat steady in the water and it was simple to operate. Handling the fish was easy; there was just too much of it.”

“With the last lot of fish I realized you’ve got to monitor these things daily. All this takes time. Before you know it you’re spending blocks of time down around the fish that had been allocated to other farm activities. This is not the way the concept was put to farmers.”

He says lack of extension support was probably the single most key item missing from the scheme. “The DPI people were enthusiastic about the project at the field days but when it came to practical support and training, there was nothing there.

Fish can be graded and moved from one raceway to another in the central ‘drafting’ tank.

“Once I discovered the wider aquaculture industry I started learning very quickly. One vet I called to the farm was appalled at the situation. He looked at the infrastructure and the stocking rates, and says there was no way the outcomes we were looking at were achievable. “Other industry leaders we contacted were of the same view. They all said it’s impossible to control a disease outbreak with the wild fish in the holding water. In actual fact it was like dipping half the sheep in a paddock and putting them back with the untreated, lousy other half. It’s not long before they’re all lousy again.” For aquaculture as a whole, it’s not a good look. “I’ve had at least 20 potential investors visit our place, farmers who had been influenced by DPI field days and had their money in their hand ready to invest. All of them had second thoughts when they heard of my experience. “In fact, the main reason I wanted to do this story is warn potential investors of the hazards that are there. What with the Murray Darling Basin Report threatening rural communities along the river, we can ill afford to be burning capital on poorly-developed adventures such as this.” By John Mosig

Some of the sad remnants of three years work and over $200,000 worth of investment.

Barry is no stranger to innovative technology. He was a pioneer in producing avocados in inland Australia using fans such as this to ‘blow’ away plant damaging frosts.

28 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2010

The blower driving the airlift aeration system along with some of the harvest nets.

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FA R M P R O F I L E Shellfish Culture’s new bottle nursery system being inspected by (from left) Scott Parkinson (SCL), Gary Zippel (Zippel Enterprises of Smoky Bay and an ASI board member), and ASI’s Matt Cunningham and Ben Finn.

Shellfish Culture back on track Shellfish Culture is Australia’s longest established shellfish hatchery and at many times has been the largest producer of oysters, mussel and scallop seed. The hatchery has been operating at Bicheno, east coast of Tasmania, since 1979. The company has recovered from its problems of 2009 and its 2010 production runs are on track to meet year end production targets thanks to some major system changes. “We don’t aim for industry standards – We create Shellfish Culture standards.” That is the mission statement for Shellfish Culture Ltd (SCL), a public company with shareholders comprising a mix of aquaculture producers and private investors. “We operate land and sea-based hatchery and nursery facilities at a number of sites in Tasmania,” explains General Manager Kerry Wells. “Our unique combination of technical expertise and natural resources allows us to produce shellfish seed that are superb in every respect. “We are the only commercial supplier of spawnless seed in the Australasian region. We refer to this product as ‘Spawnless 30 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2010

oyster seed – formerly triploid’. We also sell ‘Standard oyster seed – formerly diploid’ and ‘Thoroughbred oysters,’ from the ASI breeding program lines.” The Bicheno hatchery was established in 1979 by a group of oyster farmers, many of whose families are still shareholders in the business. Originally producing several million Pacific Oyster (Crassostrea gigas) seed, the company grew in the 1990s and 2000s to keep pace with a rapidly expanding market to produce several hundred million seed from a range of species, including the Commercial Scallop (Pecten fumatus) and the Blue Mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis).

“In the past few years we have refocussed on Pacific Oysters,” says Breeding Manager Scott Parkinson. “Demand for Pacific Oysters is growing in Tasmania, New South Wales and South Australia. In our newsletter (Winter 2009) Bruce Zippel, Chairman of the Shellfish Industry Council of Australia was quoted as saying that Australians are eating more oysters than ever before. Bruce described them as ‘an affordable luxury’.” Production Problems Hatcheries are notoriously complicated to run efficiently; the combination of super-charged growing conditions can mean that ‘crashes’ occur in either the

FA R M P R O F I L E

algal feed cultures or in the larval rearing systems or in both. The loss of a batch or two is a common occurrence in hatcheries; the remedy simply is to clean out the old batch, start another batch and keep the systems going. Added to the SCL situation is the fact that spawnless oysters are more difficult to produce than standard batches. Scott says that they experienced major challenges last production season (2009). “We started to have bacterial outbreaks intermittently throughout the season which resulted in production being down by 30% of normal levels. The problem was exacerbated with an abnormal season, the wettest weather on record which resulted in toxic algae in our hatchery and nursery areas. “Also we had a boat sink in the Gulch (a narrow strip of water between the hatchery and Governor Island at Bicheno) and lose all its diesel fuel as well as another incident that led to anti-fouling leaking into the water; both adversely affected our incoming water quality for many months.” Luckily for the SCL customers a number of industry people came forward with assistance in larval production and nursery production. Kerry is very complimentary about the great assistance they received. “We would like to thank NSW Fisheries, Geoff Diemar, Southern Cross Shellfish and Spring Bay Seafoods for their support in meeting our customers’ needs in 2009 and 2010.” A multi-faceted improvement program has meant that the problems have been identified and actions undertaken to prevent the same problems occurring again. “We consulted with past employees and a wide number of highly regarded hatchery technicians and specialists including Greg Coates (USA), Wayne and Steve O’Connor (NSW Fisheries), Professor Mark Tamplin (Uni Tasmania and Seafood CRC), Mark Gluis (SARDI) and Dan Roden (Southern Cross Shellfish).” According to Scott outbreaks of larval Vibrosis were identified as one of the causes of the production losses. Vibrio is caused by a naturally occurring bacterium

These selected Pacific Oyster broodstock are fed algal rich water which runs up through an upwellers that sits in a fibreglass tank.

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FA R M P R O F I L E

SCL have effective hatchery protocols in place that maintain strict sterilisation and biosecurity techniques, including dryouts of equipment and piping as well as the maintenance of water treatment systems. They understand that managing the bacterial populations is critical to the success of each batch of oysters. Scott said that one of the major management decisions has been to have a well defined production season. “We are using a seasonal production cycle which starts in June and ends in January with all the seed transferred into the nurseries. We have also refined our diets and food production systems which are recognised by visitors as world class.”

Standard Pacific Oyster spat in Shellfish Culture’s new bottle nursery system.

which comes in dozens of different species, some of which are pathogenic to shellfish larvae. “We examined all our internal systems including diet, algal production, water filtration, larval culture and monitoring of diseases. Larval systems are very dynamic and cultures move along quickly. Our Hatchery Manager Tom Spykers toured the US industry for a month looking at their problems with Vibrio that had impacted

substantially on seed production for over two years. He also attended two important gatherings on infection control and genetics.” Scott said that all this work meant they now have a better grounding in understanding how to best operate their hatchery. “We are working through a list of recommendations which have meant that we have had a good start to a production season,” Scott said.

Production advantages of spawnless oysters Spawnless oysters are reproductively sterile and do not produce significant amounts of gametes nor do they spawn out. Standard oysters will spawn out during the summer months resulting in the farmer being unable to market oysters until meat condition returns some months later. Spawnless have the advantage of retaining year round meat condition, faster growth, larger meat yields and will not produce feral populations outside farming areas. SCL has been producing spawnless Pacific Oysters since 1988. Initially spawnless were produced by chemical induction, however, results were highly variable. Spawnless can now be 32 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2010

reliably produced by naturally mating standard oysters with tetraploid oysters”. The tetraploid technology is a patented process. SCL has formed a partnership with 4Cs Breeding Technologies Inc., based in the USA, who has the exclusive worldwide rights to market and sub-license the tetraploid technology. SCL now has the exclusive Australasian licence for natural spawnless production from tetraploids. On the back of this, SCL has established a tetraploid broodstock breeding program to guarantee our customers a steady supply of quality spawnless Pacific Oysters.

Another reason for the success was staff training. “We exposed all of our management and staff, right down the production line to the consultants and experts. Everyone is involved in the development of the new culture systems and protocols. New staff are trained by their direct supervisors as well as senior managers.” Spawning Process Broodstock are selected from a variety of sources, according to a strict criterion of characteristics, to ensure an end product of premium oyster seed. The broodstock batches are conditioned in closely monitored conditioning systems to ensure that optimum gonad development is achieved at the times specified in the spawning schedule. When the broodstock have full gonads the oysters are spawned and the eggs are fertilised by sperm which hatch into swimming larvae within 18 hours. Held in large 10,000L tanks the larvae are fed a specifically tailored, rich diet of algae. The algae are grown in bulk bags with pasteurised water and nutrients. The main species utilised include Chaetoceros mulleri, C. calcitrans and Isochrysis galbana. In a carefully controlled environment, the larvae are cultured in tanks for three weeks, where they grow from 70µm up to 350µm (0.35mm). Regular water changes and a strict grading regime encourage the larvae to grow vigorously.

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In 2009 SCL extended the existing R&D hatchery at their Head Office site at Pipeclay Lagoon, a half hour drive from Hobart and 2 ½ hours south of the Bicheno Hatchery. The closure of the South Australian hatchery/nursery in 2008, due to site limitations, has meant that the Pipe Clay Lagoon site is currently being assessed for possible expansion into the Company’s backup fully commercial hatchery. An integral component of the Pipe Clay facility is the 600m2 greenhouse that can consistently produce premium algae year round. In conjunction with that the recent installation of a purpose-designed and built 120 bottle spat growing system completes the upgrade of the Pipe Clay land based nursery facilities. The spat bottle system is an aluminium frame that holds up to 120 x 500ml plastic bottles that hold high density batches of spat.

spat are grown in upwellers at the Little Swanport nursery before being transferred into trays and deployment at sea based nurseries. These use a longline system which can be adjusted for height on wooden posts. The juvenile oysters are housed in trays as they grow from 2.8 to 4mm, and then move into the SEAPA baskets until they reach 5mm. During the nursery phase the stock are handled at least every month. According to Kerry the purchase of an SED (shellquip.com.au) designed seed water grader with venturi capabilities has proven an excellent investment. “The grader provides us a great many benefits including no heavy lifting, one man operation, less trauma for the spat, more

consistent grading accuracy and the ability to handle larger quantities of spat. “Our numerous production sites give us the advantage of always having stock on hand so that you can get the oysters you want, when you want them,” he continued. “Our range includes standard, spawnless and ‘thoroughbred’ Pacific Oysters. On average around 50% of our sales are for spawnless. While NSW and export sales are 95% spawnless, largely due to legal requirements, demand for spawnless from Tasmania and South Australia is very strong and continues to grow. We currently export to Singapore, Taiwan, Cook Islands and New Caledonia; however we are increasingly receiving enquiries from countries further afield.”

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As the larvae approach the end of their planktonic life they develop an eye spot, a foot and gills. The pediveligers commence a settlement phase where they search for a suitable substrate to attach to. On successful completion of the settlement phase they are called spat. The spat are raised in the hatchery up to a size of 350µm.

L RA

M AD E IAN

The inlet water has been filtered to 10µm with algal culture added to provide food to the spat as they grow from 350µm to 1.8mm. During this period of development the spat are graded on a weekly basis. The SCL continuous algal culture systems have been adapted from the well known “Bayes system” using pasteurised seawater which is dosed with nutrient media and carbon dioxide. “We use the 500L upright bags as well as 1 tonne lay flat bags for the culture of algae,” Scott says. “We are able to maintain cell densities of around 2.8million cells/ml and produce some 25 tonnes of algae per day at Pipeclay.”

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Sea-based nurseries are located at Pipe Clay Lagoon and Little Swanport, midway between Bicheno and Pipeclay Lagoon. From 1.8mm to 2.8mm the Summer 2010 | Austasia Aquaculture 33

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Algae in 500L upright bags in the background and part of the bottle nursery system overflow in the foreground. The shade cloth above is to cut back the severity of the direct sunlight while maintaining the warmth from the sun.

NSW Fisheries have issued permits to more aquaculture bays and rivers within the State that will allow them to grow sterile (spawnless) Pacific oysters, with standard Pacifics only approved in a few rivers. Strict translocation protocols are in place so that SCL can sell oyster seed to NSW as well as South Australia. “This is to prevent the introduction of exotic marine species (such as Northern Pacific seastars, Asterias amurensis) in these other states, Scott says. “Seed (up to 10mm) has to be dipped in freshwater for 12 hours and then held in sterilised seawater for another 12 hours before shipment to SA. For NSW we can only sell seed that has been help on land in seawater filtered down to 20 µm; this usually means the maximum size of these seed is 2.2mm.” Family Lines A high priority for SCL is continuing R&D into selectively bred oysters in collaboration with Australian Seafood 34 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2010

Industries (ASI). ASI are selecting for traits such as fast growth, shell shape, shell colour and condition. There’s work too with CSIRO and University of Tasmania examining the genetic diversity of SCLs tetraploids to ensure a sustainable population. “We are keeping an eye on the problems being experienced in the hatcheries in US (caused by Vibrios and climate change) and Europe (herpes virus); however, our growing areas are pretty clear of pathogens which could cause mass mortalities. “We are cautiously optimistic that we have taken real progress towards recovery,” said Kerry. By Dos O’Sullivan. For more information contact Kerry Wells, Shellfish Culture Limited, 290 Bicheno St, Sandford, Tas 7020 Tel: (03) 6248 9441 Fax: (03) 6248 9441 Email: info@shellfishculture.com.au

F E AT U R E

Best practice underpins positive outlook After more than 25 years of development the prawn farming industry is maturing with a number of growers achieving some of their best harvests ever. A raft of R&D projects and industry initiatives has resulted in major production improvements. Many of the techniques used on the farms would be considered world’s best practice. A recent conference celebrated many of the successes, confirmed the overall positive outlook for prawn farming and increased the confidence of the farmers to continue to invest in applied R&D.

he annual Australian Prawn Farmers Association (APFA) conference held on the Gold Coast in early August featured two days of presentations and reports that showed that the industry was continuing to benefit from a more than a decade of applied research projects.

Dr Patrick Hone, head of Fisheries Research & Development Corporation, told farmers that annual seafood consumption had increased from 14kg/person to over 18 kg/person and congratulated them on their progress towards the 7,000 tonnes/yr target set by the National Aquaculture Council five years ago. “The increase in production is a great indication of excellent RD&E (research, development and extension) at work,” he said. APFA board member John Moloney (Coral Sea Farms) said that after several years of harvests flat-lining at 3,000 tonnes, the past two production seasons saw significant increases to 5,300 tonnes. Production value grew 30% in 2009/10 to over $65m despite farm gate prices falling from $17.50/kg in 2001/02 to just over $12/kg. In a major review canvassing feedback from prawn farmers around the country, John named domestication, use of broodstock from the Northern Territory, improved stock and pond management and favourable weather as main factors contributing to the bumper harvest. “Weather is something we can’t change and we were lucky to have good or very good conditions in all four growing areas,” he said. “In the Far North (Ingham to Cairns) there was moderate pre-Christmas weather and the wet season was relatively mild. However, extended overcast periods

Ian Lyall, Manager Aquaculture, NSW Industry & Investment and Tim Graham, Sales & Marketing Manager, Cleanseas Tuna, South Australia, inspecting prawns at Sydney Royal Show Fine Foods competition in 2010. The Champion Prawn Exhibit was 16/20 cooked Black Tiger Prawns from Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture, Woongoolba. Photo courtesy of Sydney Royal Fine Foods.

Summer 2010 | Austasia Aquaculture 35

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Selectively bred Black Tiger Prawns. Photo courtesy of Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture.

flooding. Moderate temperatures meant that the pond water was not too hot (good for dissolved oxygen) and not too cold (good for growth).” “Overall the farmers said that they had a second good growing season/year in a row.”

there will be a lag of at least 3-4 years for the rest of industry to achieve similar performance figures.” Nevertheless,” he concluded, “domestication and selective breeding are certainly vital to the future of prawn farming in Australia.”

Domestication

Final grading and quality control of Crystal Bay Prawns. Photo courtesy of Seafarm Ltd.

and wet weather still caused some problems with blooms and pond management during the wet season.” “There was a very mild wet in the North (Mackay to Townsville) with moderate weather conditions to give a very good growing season. In the Central region (Bundaberg to Mackay) there was a reasonably heavy wet. The extended overcast periods and heavy rain meant some lowering of production. In the Southern region (Gold Coast and Northern Rivers) there was a very mild season. There was some rain; however, there was no heavy 36 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2010

Approximately 80% of the production improvements came from two farms – Seafarms (Far North) and Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture (GMCA, Southern Region) – both showed the benefits of long-term domestication programs. GMCA had a phenomenal year, harvesting in excess of 17 tonnes/ha of Black Tiger prawns (Penaeus monodon). “The selectively bred PLs showed excellent production results with 20% faster growth (even with high densities), no disease outbreaks (in fact close to 100% survival through to market), a low FCR and an overall consistency in performance across all ponds. “However, these excellent results were from 8th generation breeding lines,” John noted. “With other selective breeding programs at earlier stages, it is likely

Broodstock Linked to the breeding programs has been the use of broodstock sourced from the Northern Territory. “This strain of monodon has been shown to give 20-30% faster growth than the strains caught in eastern Queensland waters. The progeny of these animals also show better health and higher pond yields (10-15T/ha). On the negative side, broodstock from the NT are not as easy to get. “Hatcheries need to engage fishing vessels to fish specifically for the monodon broodstock and this can be expensive and risky. In addition transporting the broodstock from the boats to hatchery is far more difficult. Strict biosecurity and quarantine measures are also required with the movement of animals from one region to another.”

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Improved Management John reported that the farmers were ensuring that the source of their PLs was best suited to their growing conditions; likewise with the timing of stocking to ensure that crops were ready to harvest close to peak market periods. Farmers also higher stocking densities used (increased from an average 25-35 PLs/ m2 ten years ago up to 50-60 PLs/m2) and were also more careful with handling the PLs during transfer to the ponds (so that survival rates were higher). Likewise, monitoring of the prawns and the ponds is now far more intensive. “Farmers are using better equipment and measuring more parameters. However, the big change is that the data is being used in far more sophisticated ways … farmers have a greater understanding of the pond dynamics.” In the past, water exchange was the farmer’s main tool to control the algal bloom. In these more enlightened times, molasses (organic carbon), lime (CaCO3, hydrated lime, gypsum, acid buff, sodium bicarbonate), various fertilisers (especially with silica to promote diatoms), probiotic formulas and dyes are all part of the toolkit. More sophisticated again are the algal flocs pioneered by Matt West (Australian Prawn Farms Pty Ltd) and Dr David Smith (CSIRO Food Futures Flagship). “These have directly resulted in faster growth rates, lower FCRs, less water exchange and overall stability in the water conditions. Whilst requiring additional labour for the intensive monitoring, analysis and resultant pond activities, they are profitable for the farmers. Northern Territory prawn and Barramundi farmer Adam Body has trialed Phoslock® for managing water quality and algal blooms. “The CSIROdeveloped phoslock contains bentonite clay and the rare earth mineral Lanthanum which binds with free phosphate,” he explained. “It has no effect on pH and vice versa, and it provides a stable bond even with changing redox in the sediments.

Some of the ponds at Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture. Photo courtesy of Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture.

PREMIUM OYSTER BUSINESS BUSINESS AND/OR ASSETS FOR SALE

AQA Oysters Limited (Receivers and Managers Appointed) (Administrators Appointed) (“AOL”) is Australia’s largest producer of the Pacific Oyster, operating five farms in the prime coastal waters of Ceduna, Coffin Bay and Cowell in South Australia, and Pitt Water and St Helens in Tasmania. Sam Davies and Rob Kirman, as Joint and Several Receivers and Managers of AOL, seek urgent expressions of interest in the business and/or assets of this commercial oyster farm operator and processor, comprising: + marine mollusc aquaculture licences and lease sites that provide for circa 180Ha of intertidal oyster aquaculture (subject to third party consent); + significant in–sea infrastructure; + land bases at each farm (some subject to third party consent); + significant on farm plant and equipment including vehicles, tractors, vessels and grading equipment; + head office and modern processing and storage facility in Wingfield, South Australia (subject to lessor consent); + significant oyster stock (various sizing including spat); and + established domestic and international customer relationships. Interested parties may obtain further information, subject to execution of a Confidentiality Agreement, by contacting Mark Knight at McGrathNicol: t: +61 8 8468 3731 f: +61 8 8468 3799 e: mknight@mcgrathnicol.com

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Summer 2010 | Austasia Aquaculture 37

F E AT U R E

A big harvest of prawns from Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture. Photo courtesy of Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture.

“The ability to remove free phosphate provides managers with more options in managing the N:P ratios in their ponds. This may be useful for controlling cyanobacteria and off flavour. Low phosphate slows down algae blooms and in turn this reduces the daily changes in dissolved oxygen or pH. Electric power consumption has fallen by as much as 25% in ponds where we are holding phosphate levels down.” Adam’s figures show that 30kg Phoslock removes 1kg of Phosphate. “As the concentration of free phosphate in the pond

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38 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2010

water changes over time, it is important to target peaks when adding Phoslock to ensure that the maximum benefit.” More to come John said that the net affect of vastly improved management was increases in prawn pond yields and lower production costs per kilogram. But there was still more to come. “Whilst farmers are becoming more and more intensive in their methods we are still a long way from the super-intensive farms in Thailand for example where harvests of up to 225MT/ha/yr are being achieved. This is being done in small indoor concrete ponds with huge capital costs and high cost of production. However, it is likely that intensive operations will be an important part of future prawn production.” A final area of improvement is feeding. “Most farms are reporting improved FCRs, with averages as low as 1:1.5 being achieved. This is due to better

management (focus on pond conditions, weather and DO) and the efficiencies that come with higher yields. Also there has been recent improvement in diets; Richard Smullen from Ridley Aquafeed has been instrumental in keeping this moving forward.” Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture’s Bambang Julianto described the feed regime they used which resulted in lower FCRs and less pond wastes during their record monodon harvests. “We reduced the feeding frequency to four times per day with six hour gaps between feeds (5am, 11am, 5pm, and 11pm). This meant we started earlier and finished later than other prawn farms. The small regular feeds are easier for the prawns to utilise due to their small stomachs and rapid digestion and provides time for the prawns to rest before returning to the feeding cycle. “We use feeding trays to assess the feeding levels. The rule is to increase feed amount as needed for appetite, then decrease by

F E AT U R E

A fine batch of cooked Black Tiger Prawns. Photo courtesy of Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture.

a large amount when the prawns stop eating, before increasing the feed amount rapidly over the next few feeds when the prawns start to eating again.” Key Issues Another sign of the maturing of the industry is the way the farmers work through their R&D subcommittee to determine the key issues that need to be addressed. “High on the list is marketing,” John reported. “Saturation of high value end of the market (i.e. larger prawns) has resulted in lower prices for those products, so some farmers will likely refocus on the medium prawn markets. “Most farms have a large amount of frozen inventory which results in cash flow issues. Farms are now focusing more on harvests to be linked to the peak market periods of Christmas and Easter. Strategies include earlier stocking and the use of the faster growing PLs from NT broodstock or domesticated parents.” All of the farmers reported that whilst

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F E AT U R E

And the consumer’s rationale is not necessarily a simple one. Dr Nick Danenberg from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science (UniSA) said that consumers thought of quality in the context of the best prawn they could afford to buy, not necessarily the highest priced. Part of Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture’s processing plant with packed product ready for shipment. Photo courtesy of Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture.

market prices were falling, their costs were increasing (especially energy, labour and feed). So farmers must maximise productivity from each pond to maintain a profit margin and those that do not move forward will find it very difficult to remain in operation. In the past the Australian farmed product was able to differentiate itself from the imported product due to its vastly superior quality. However many of the exporting countries, especially Thailand and Vietnam, have introduced measures to lift prawn quality, notably during processing. So John stressed that this was no time for the industry to be complacent. “For the market to pay a premium it is critical that a premium product is being supplied. Overall the main issue is the inconsistency of quality, both within farms and across the industry. Consistency across the industry for the ‘Australian’ branding of farmed prawns is vital.”

Dr John Mayze, a DEEDI scientist, noted the evolution from selling cooked prawns in 10kg foam packs to smaller 5kg and 1kg ready-to-go packs. Prawn colour during storage was a particular concern. “Around 50% of our farmed production goes is chilled with a storage life of 8-9 days; the rest is frozen. Recent research has shown that colour loss during freezer storage can be slowed down with organic plant extracts (e.g. lemon myrtle, oregano, olive leaves, Eucalyptus) which have antimicrobobial, antioxidants, anti browning properties.” But getting Australians to eat more local prawns is at the heart of the marketing conundrum. So Queensland’s prawn campaign funded jointly by the state’s farmed and wild sectors is a welcome initiative. And there’s talk of a promotional levy across the whole Australian prawn industry. John Moloney reported that farmers are well aware that they are part of a world market. “They know the global prawn market is increasing, particularly through rising domestic demand in developing

counties (especially with the expanding affluent classes in India and China) as well the recovering world economy. “Disease issues (e.g. IMNV in Brazil, Indonesia and possibly China), the Gulf of Mexico oil spill crisis and other events may limit prawn production (in many parts of the world) and this should impact on prices. With falling domestic prices and increasing world demand it is also likely that farms will be renewing a focus on export markets, particularly high value niche markets. Red tape a hindrance Whilst harvests have jumped in recent years, that trend is jeopardised by Federal Government regulations blocking new farms or expansion of existing ones. It’s hoped that the industry initiatives reducing effluent nutrients and other environmental protocols will lead in future to more appropriate licence conditions. Without them the industry cannot expand. “Overall the outlook in the short term for the Australian prawn farmers is okay although it is unlikely we will achieve the 25%+ gains in the value of production of the past two years,” John concluded, “especially if there is a stabilisation or continued fall in domestic market prices. “However, in the medium to long term, production increases will likely be achieved. At the same time improvements in niche marketing and product quality should result in increased profitability.” By Dos O’Sullivan. For more information contact: John Moloney: johnmoloney@coralseafarms.com.au Adam Body: adambody@flickingfresh.com

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Bambang Julianto: jbambang@bigpond.net.au Dr John Mayze: john.mayze@deedi.qld.gov.au Dr Nick Danenberg: nick.danenberg@marketingscience.info Dr Patrick Hone: patrick.hone@frdc.com.au

FA R M P R O F I L E

Tribute to Ross Lobegeiger I

t is with enormous sorrow that we inform the aquaculture industry that our dear friend and colleague Ross Lobegeiger tragically passed away on Saturday the 9th of October. Ross had been a Supervising Aquaculture Extension Officer with Fisheries Queensland for almost 20 years and was widely recognised by both industry and government for his pivotal role in developing and supporting the Queensland aquaculture industry, particularly the prawn farming sector. Ross was born in Harrisville on the 1st of November 1946. He had strong agricultural links from the start of his life, growing up on a dairy farm and attending Gatton Agricultural College as a teen, followed by completion of his Agricultural Science Degree at the University of Queensland, where he majored in Economics. In 1970, Ross commenced work as an economist with the Department of Primary Industries in Brisbane. The following year he was transferred to Rockhampton, where he continued work as an economist, and in various other roles, including that as a regional extension officer. He travelled widely in the Central Queensland area with his job, and enjoyed interaction with producers in many and varied industries, such as beef, cotton and sorghum. Ross always preferred spending time with people to being in the office behind a desk. Also in 1970 Ross married Carol Winning and they started their married life in Rockhampton. Both of Ross and Carol’s children were born in Rockhampton – Phillip in 1979 and Julianne in 1980. During his time in Rockhampton Ross developed a passion for fishing and the water. It was this passion that resulted in

Ross transitioning to aquaculture. In 1990 he and his family relocated to Bribie Island with Ross starting work at the newly constructed Bribie Island Aquaculture Research Centre. When he commenced his work as an aquaculture extension officer he initially knew very little about aquaculture but quickly busied himself with reading all the published information that he could find on prawn farming. Even more importantly, Ross regularly went out to the farms to learn directly from the farmers exactly how they operated. It is from this base that he developed a somewhat encyclopedic knowledge of the prawn farming industry. Over the years Ross undertook various roles at the Bribie Island Research Centre (as Station Manager and in developing the adjoining Joondobourri Conference Centre) but it was the interactive nature of extension work that he really enjoyed. Ross made the decision several years ago to pass up potential promotions and managerial roles so that he could remain on Bribie Island and contribute to the industry through his outstanding extension and industry development work. Although Ross’ knowledge of the aquaculture industry was enormous and his contributions to the industry were too numerous to list, it was his good humour, friendly nature and innate people skills that were even more exceptional. Ross’ passion for, and dedication to, the aquaculture industry was well demonstrated through the fact that he insisted on attending the last Ridley Aquafeed Prawn and Barramundi Farming Conference that was held on the Gold Coast in early August. For many aquaculture people this would have been the last occasion that you saw Ross. At this time Ross was already unwell, with severe

back pain and unexplained weight loss. He had been on sick leave for most of the proceeding two months (though he kept coming in to the office to keep in touch with recent developments) but he still insisted on attending the conference. Unfortunately after the conference Ross’ condition still did not improve and he was eventually diagnosed with a severe bacterial infection that had, by that stage, spread throughout his body. After diagnosis Ross was immediately hospitalised and began an intensive intravenous antibiotic treatment. Throughout his illness and hospitalisation Ross remained in good spirits and he even appeared to be recovering. Tragically the recovery did not eventuate. In hospital, with his loving wife Carol by his side, Ross suffered a massive brain-stem haemorrhage and then quickly passed away. Ross was such a well known and enormously liked individual that his loss will be felt deeply by a great many people from all facets of Ross’ extensive social and professional network, including the aquaculture industry. Our thoughts and sympathies are with Ross’ family at this most difficult of times. Summer 2010 | Austasia Aquaculture 41

RESEARCH

Cobia eggs showing oil spot and very early larvae. All photos courtesy of DEEDI, Qld

Success in marine fish culture in ponds (2) The use of prawn or other coastal ponds for the culture of a range of marine finfish species is being undertaken along the NSW and Queensland coastlines. In this, the second of two instalments, the growout of Cobia and Goldspotted Rockcod in prawn ponds is examined.

ncreased competition from imported prawns has caused a decrease in the value of prawn production in NSW and similar pressures on profit margins are being experienced by other prawn farmers in Queensland and Northern Territory. This has caused a number of prawn farmers to look for alternative crops. Already a few have been culturing Barramundi (Lates calcarifer). Other fish showing potential include Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus), Cobia (Rachycentron canadum) and several Grouper species (Epinephelus spp). In addition to providing a diversification option, growing a crop of finfish can provide biosecurity benefits to break the cycle of some pathogens in the prawn ponds. The opportunity for an offseason crop provides a third benefit. 42 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2010

Cobia Hatchery Cobiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s desirable biological traits for culture and rapid growth rates (6 kg in the first year, post-hatch), coupled with their high market appeal, make it an ideal candidate for aquaculture. World aquaculture production is mostly undertaken in inshore sea cages and annual harvests are in excess of 30,000 tonnes worth over US$60 million. In 2007 scientists at Bribie Island Research Centre (BIRC, part of the Department of Employment, Economic Development & Innovation, DEEDI)) started a research program with CSIRO, Ridley Aquafeeds and Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture. As part of this collaborative effort, BIRC was tasked with developing spawning and larval rearing protocols using existing hatchery

facilities and techniques. GCMA were to be supplied with juvenile cobia to facilitate commercial evaluation of grow out techniques in prawn ponds (typically shallow - 2m and with a large surface area â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1ha) and market appraisal for the species. CSIRO and Ridley were to investigate aspects of diet and nutrition. Concurrently Good Fortune Bay Fisheries Ltd, a Barramundi hatchery and grow out company located at Bowen, were pursuing Cobia production independently. They now have hatchery and growout operations for Cobia as well as Barramundi Cod (Completes actively) and Giant Grouper. Broodfish are caught on lines in the outer reaches of Moreton Bay and transferred in flow through tanks for transport to BIRC where they are placed in a

FA R M P R O F I L E

Luke Dutney (L) and Steve Nicholson (R) inside broodstock tank holding a Cobia broodstock at BIRC.

40,000L tank. The broodfish tank is supplied with flow-through seawater and maintained under ambient environmental conditions to avoid interrupting their natural developmental cycle. Regular feedings with pilchards, squid and prawns assist in the maturation process. They are monitored monthly to assess their general health, weight gain and gonad development before induction with GnRHa. While high fecundity ensures high numbers of eggs (up to 6 million in a single spawning), with good hatch rates (>80%) production at BIRC is strongly seasonal, with spawning restricted to summer. The installation of a recirculation system

for full photo-thermal control in broodstock tanks in 2010 aims to extend the spawning season and to enable research into improved spawning control and quality. Green water techniques have been adapted for larval rearing over a 12-day period. Fish are then transferred to fertilised ponds. Pond productivity is supplemented with Artemia if required and weaning begins in ponds at around day 14. The fish tend to have exhausted pond resources and are reliant almost entirely on manufactured diet by day 24. Peter Lee, a BIRC scientist, says that they have experienced two minor health problems. “The first is Nephrocalcinosis which has been reported elsewhere for

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cobia (cause unknown) and occasional bacterial infections; these infections are usually associated with low water temps and have been recorded elsewhere for Cobia.” Cobia Growout Large quantities of weaned juveniles have been made available for the past three years for farm growout as part of a collaborative research program run by DEEDI. Farms that are currently undertaking ‘commercial’ production include Barramundi farmer Good Fortune Bay and the prawn farms Pacific Reef Fisheries (PRF) and Coral Sea Farms with some very promising results.

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Summer 2010 | Austasia Aquaculture 43

RESEARCH

According to PRF General Manager Alistair Dick, the farm stocked two 1ha ponds last year and currently has another two 1ha ponds stocked. “Last year we harvested around 15t/ha; this year we have double stocked and estimate we will get at least 30t/ha. The fish are freeranging in the ponds and a seine is used to harvest them straight into ice baths. We stock 40-80mm fish and within 12 months they average 6kg. The females tend to shoot up faster than the males.”

Cobia larvae in culture at Bribie Island Research Centre.

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Alistair says that there’s been few health issues except for some gill parasites (Trichodina) and minor dietary issues due to the lack of a low-fat diet. “We have FCRs around 2 to 2.1 with the Ridley floating pellets; we feed once a day in winter and twice in summer. The survival rates in our first harvest were around 90%; with the higher stocking densities this year the survival rates might drop to 80%.” Whilst the fish can grow to a large size quickly, Alistair says the preferred minimum size is just over 2kg. “There is no value in growing fish as large as possible; the bigger fish are just too hard to handle so we are working on what is the most cost-effective size to produce. This year we will start harvesting when fish reach 2kg.” PRF has sold fish to local restaurants and outlets as well as some customers in Melbourne. “They really like the fish which we send whole chilled in 50-60kg fish ‘coffins’. We’re not being to be too smart with our post harvest; we are just concentrating on building demand up. At present we are getting around $8.50/ kg but I believe we’ll need at least $9.50kg to consistently make a profit.” Fingerlings for Tropical Species Over the past two and a half decades there have been numerous stories in AA on the fish hatchery and nursery R&D undertaken by scientists at the Northern Fisheries Centre (NFC) in Cairns, first on Barramundi, and more recently on a number of tropical fish species, mostly tropical Rockcods, Groupers and Lutjanidae Snappers. The aim of this excellent work has been to provide high quality competent (weaned) fingerlings

RESEARCH

A beautiful Cobia from an ongrowing pond at Pacific Reef Fisheries.

to industry for growout trials. The scientists have also been working with the fish and prawn farmers on growout techniques and improving the quality of the end product. Principal Scientist – Aquaculture and leader of the marine fish program is Dr Richard Knuckey. “Each year we have distributed over 40,000 2-3 month old fingerlings (100mm TL, 20g) to prawn or Barramundi farms. Flowery Rockcod (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) was provided until 2008 but we now don’t keep any broodfish at NFC. Instead the main species is now Goldspotted Rockcod (E. coioides) which is known to survive well in brackishwater ponds. Next season we will also be doing the Queensland Grouper (E. lanceolatus) as it grows bigger and faster. I guess we will supply both species

according to demand.” As these juvenile fish are very cannibalistic until the reach around 80mm, the nursery culture stage is very important to ensure the fish are ongrown to the best size for stocking. “In the past we used to grade up to twice a week,” Richard explains. “However, the stress involved with this handling probably led to secondary infections and other problems. Now we provide lots of food (through belt feeders as well as at least five hand feeds) over a long period each day. “We have found that if are well graded when they enter the nursery and are kept well fed then we only need to grade every second week or less. The weaned fish are first fed formulated feeds made by Inve while Skretting and GroBest pellets are used for the larger fingerlings.” Most of the growout is undertaken in

floating cages (usually 4m long by 3m wide by 2m deep) connected to the pond banks by floating walkways for access for feeding and grading. “One farmer has released the fish to free range in his ponds; however the caged fish are easier to manage and harvest. “Another farmer has larger Barramundi free ranging in his pond with the floating cages of marine fish. The farmers are still working out the most appropriate crop rotations but the ponds are usually drained and dried out before the next crop of fish or prawns.” In the cages the initial stocking density is 20kg/m3. Ponds are aerated and water quality managed to maintain algal blooms and stabilise growing conditions. According to Richard the fish can handle salinities down to 5ppt; most however are kept in salinities above 10ppt to encourage Summer 2010 | Austasia Aquaculture 45

RESEARCH

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for marine fish grown in prawn ponds Mulloway

Cobia

Groupers

Preferred temperature (oC)

18-30

15-30

26+

Preferred salinity (ppt)

25-35

10-40

1-35

Preferred dissolved oxygen (ppm)

FCR

1.5

1.8-2.6

1.2+

Survival stocking to sale (%)

80-90

Very high

Growth rate to market (months)

(1g to 2.2kg)

(5g to 6kg)

(8g to 700g)

Harvest (t/ha/crop)

10-12

Health issues

Fat deposits from high energy diets; minor monogenean & bacterial infections

Lack of low energy/fat diet; some Trichodina infestations

Marine leeches

Farm gate price ($/kg)

8-9 chilled whole

8.50-9.50 chilled whole

16 live, 12-13 chilled

Feeding Cobia in pond at Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture

resulted in excellent FCRs – down to 1:1.2 with Skretting or GroBest grouper or barra pellets which are lower in fat. Richard says the only health issue has been some winter mortalities in the bottom-dwelling free-range fish from marine leeches infecting them from the sedimentary muds. He advises farmers to consult with their fish vet for advice on how best to treat these parasites. Despite this problem, very high survival rates are expected and production yields over 20t/ha/yr (30t/ha/crop) have been predicted.

active feeding. Water temperatures between 25 and 32°C are best for growth. Growout Trials Trial crops of Goldspotted Rockcods are being grown at Ponderosa Prawn Farm (near Port Douglas) and PRF (near Ayr). Initial reports suggests that it takes around 18 months to reach 700g+, the minimum market size. The fish have been found to be quite inactive compared to the Mulloway and Cobia, spending most of the time sitting on the 46 Austasia Aquaculture | Summer 2010

pond bottom (free range) or in the lower sections of floating cages. According to PRF’s John Moloney the Rockcod cope well with very high densities in the cages and seem to feed better in crowds. He suggests it might take another six months for the free-range fish to grow to market size due to their inactivity and has noticed that low feeding activity is associated with very stable pond conditions with only slow blooms. Despite the slow growth rates, the high survival rates and overall inactivity has

Initial sales of fish have also been promising with limited numbers of live obtaining $20+/kg, whilst whole fresh chilled averaged $13.50/kg. By Dos O’Sullivan. For more information contact: Cobia – Peter lee BIARC Peter.Lee@deedi.qld.gov.au Alistair Dick alistair.dick@pacificreef.com.au Rockcods – Dr Richard Knuckey, NFC richard.knuckey@deedi.qld.gov.au John Moloney johnmoloney@coralseafarms.com.au

RESEARCH

Phosphate, pH and pond bloom management

loom management is a major preoccupation for fish and prawn farmers. Over the past year we have been investigating the effects of limited available phosphate (PO4) on pond blooms on our farm near Darwin. We have been using Phoslock TM to remove PO4 from our saltwater barramundi ponds, and have been measuring a range of parameters to assess whether or not PO4 limitation is useful and economical. When we first started applying Phoslock we had erratic results. Sometimes we achieved very good PO4 reduction; at other times there was little change. A series of bench trials was undertaken. It became apparent that, in seawater, pH had a major impact of on Phoslock’s effectiveness. To achieve a positive outcome in seawater pH had to be under 7.7 when applying the product. Having discovered this, we now needed to figure out how to bring our pH levels down from the usual 8.3 and above. Previous work had taught us that

application of molasses will cause pH to drop, as molasses stimulates CO2producing heterotrophs. As we progressed with our study we found that lowering pH was a lot more expensive that simply holding pH within a 7.3-7.7 range. In order to ‘turn a pond around’ a large amount of molasses was often required. But if a pond was already in the desired range then small well timed applications were all that was needed to hold the pond there. The question still remained of how to get pH down in the first place. Molasses will do this in most blooms but the results can be variable and costly depending on the dominant algae and stage of the bloom cycle. The optimum course of action is, in all likelihood, to hold pH down from Day 1 by monitoring it daily and applying of molasses as soon as it’s required. We will be initiating a trial to test this in November 2010. For ponds that are already operational, the bloom will generally undergo a

change at some time which will result in a drop in pH. This change may involve, for example, a rotifer bloom or a change in the dominant algae. If the period when the pH drops under 7.7 can be accurately identified then judicious application of molasses will allow management to maintain the desired pH level. Once pH is under 7.7, PO4 control using Phoslock is simple and effective. For every kilogram of PO4 in the water about 30-40kg of Phoslock is required to remove it. In some bloom conditions, for example a rotifer bloom, the PO4 will increase as it is released by the activity of the rotifers chewing up algae and bacteria. Another way that PO4 can be liberated is through the action of natural phosphatase enzymes – our measurements show that such enzyme activity is substantial. In these cases additional Phoslock applications are required to mop up the extra PO4. This investigation was undertaken to determine whether or not PO4 limitation Summer 2010 | Austasia Aquaculture 47

RESEARCH

adds value. On our farm a number of outcomes suggest that PO4 limitation is very useful indeed. One of these relates to harmful algae. It was a very costly confrontation with the highly dangerous alga Prymnesium parvum that got us interested in PO4 control back in 2009. At that time, Gustaaf Hallegraeff (a world renown expert in toxic algae from the University of Tasmania) suggested that we investigate the N:P relationships in our ponds. This led us to Phoslock. Since running our ponds at at low pH-very low PO4, there have been no significant numbers of Prymnesium. Other nuisance algae associated in the past with chronic problems with our barramundi are also in very low insignificant numbers. Our fish moralities have fallen. Cyanobacterial blooms also are a thing of the past. The dominant bloom is a ‘nanochlorella’ plus some less dominant very small (less than 5 micron) flagellates and diatoms. Once the blooms are locked into this low pH-low PO4 environment they are very stable and consistant. The key is to keep a close eye on both pH

and PO4 and take appropriate action if either begin to rise The following points have emerged from our ongoing investigations: • limitation of PO4 alone in aquaculture ponds has less impact on blooms than anticipated; • limiting PO4 alone does not provide a consistent level of control over the ponds; • alkaline phosphatase plays a significant role in PO4 limited ponds; • when pH and PO4 are controlled together, then blooms are stable and consistent; • there is very little occurrence if any of potentially harmful or nuisance algae or cyanobacteria when pH and PO4 are controlled, and • pH control needs to be done diligently and judiciously so outcomes are cost effective. In summary, our experience on our farm is that without pH control, phosphate minimisation using Phoslock can be erratic and costly and so has limited effectiveness. Phosphate control plus pH control does have very real outcomes and on our farm we have altered all our pond management

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protocols to achieve these ends. Although it is early days and work is ongoing, the results are so profound that the prediction we have made is that with these dual controls, management of pond blooms will be both practical and economical and will result in higher survival and improved returns. By Adam Body For more information contact Adam at: Email: adambody@flickingfresh.com; Phone: (08) 8988 6861 Web: www.flickingfresh.com

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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.

FOR O S SALE

Bowman River Native Fish Hatchery Modern 4 BDR home Unlimited Water License 20 acres 14 Ponds Bowman River frontage Sheds & breeding facility Extensive Inventory

Coming soon ...your copy of the 2011 Austasia Aquaculture Trade Directory.

Gloucester: 02 6558 1205 www.goochagencies.com.au

WORLD AQUACULTURE 2011

Aquaculture l ffor a Changing h i World ld

Gold Sponsors

Gold Sponsor

SESSION SPONSORS Alltech Biotechnology Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health BIOMIN

For More Information Contact:

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