Winter 2011 by Tim Walker

Volume 25 No 2 – Winter 2011

Murray cod still a goer Giant clam culture in NT Huge toll from Qld’s wild summer ‘Slush puppy’ kills oyster overcatch Planning for rising energy costs Lobster super mum delivers Effects of seawater acidification Biodiesel from microalgae

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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

Thurla Farms keeps true to the vision for Murray cod Cultured giant clams augment corals for NT ornamental supplier Fishout and smoked fish for Marysville Trout Farm

RESEARCH

8 13

F E AT U R E S

Queensland aquaculture loses more than $5 million due to floods and cyclones

Lobster super mum delivers

Stu Rowland: a heartfelt thank-you

Treating oyster overcatch and other pests with ‘slush puppy’

Prawn farmers planning for rising energy costs

Mud worm review to assist control mechanisms

Effects of seawater acidification on Sydney Rock Oysters

E D U C AT I O N

Biodiesel from microalgae: a student’s experience

Winter 2011 | Austasia Aquaculture 1

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FA R M P R O F I L E

Thurla Farms keeps true to the vision for Murray cod M

paddle wheel aerators and areotube aeration in each cage.

“With water becoming a more and more costly resource, we have to look at maximising the return we get from it. Aquaculture is the obvious way to go. Not only can the water be re-used in horticulture, but it’s nutrient enriched as well.”

Col put cod production on hold in recent years while he set up the farm to utilise the grey water project. “The project took an $8 million capital cost to establish,” says Col. “But it’s been worth it. We put almond trees in two year ago as foot high sticks and we picked a substantial crop off them this year. The harvesting contractors wouldn’t believe they were only two year old tress; they reckoned they had to be at least four year old. The trunks are 100-125mm across, which shows the value of high nutrient class C water.”

urray cod farming has come under review over the last few months and some of the criticism has been harsh. One grower who remains up beat about the future of the industry is Col Beasley of Thurla Farms. Col is a pioneer of flow-through cage culture and sees the water storage reservoirs in the Sunraysia irrigation district as an under -utilised resource.

Sewerage water Col has also negotiated to use the treated sewerage water from the district, having access to 6,000ML of Class C water a year which is used to irrigate 1,250Ha of crop, vineyard and orchard. “We estimate we can save up to $60,000 in fertilizer on our 140ha vineyard per season from the nitrogen and phosphorus in the treated water,” he says. The treated water is held in four 50ML dams that have been set up to drain harvest and aerate and Col is looking at ways to utilize this holding water for aquaculture options that will not be used for human consumption. He has been working on this for over five years now and options range from growing carp for fertilizer to producing algae for bio-fuels. At this stage Thurla Farms aquaculture operations are concentrated on Murray cod production from floating cageways in irrigation reservoirs. He has three –130ML, 100ML and 30ML. These hold four modules of eight cages each. Each cage is 50m3. Aeration is provided by water movement as the water is used for irrigation and replaced from the channel. Supplementary aeration is supplied by 4 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2011

Training Back in 2007 the resources available for Murray cod production in Sunraysia were predicted by Fisheries Victoria to be able to support a substantial industry. Asked why, despite the natural advantages of climate and an abundance of water, he felt this hadn’t happened Col says: “Finance basically. We were looking to get people involved in the project. However, the biggest deficient we had was people’s knowledge. The training of potential growers in freshwater aquaculture is very difficult. The funds just weren’t available. You can understand why people are sceptical about coming into the industry without that knowledge. It’s totally different to running sheep or cattle or anything else. It has to be in place to give growers confidence to invest in the industry. “Two of our workers are doing a Training and Assessment (TAA) course with Top End Training in Mildura. This will enable us to set up a series of basic training courses for anyone wanting to set up a farm. One of the mistakes that has been made are that people go gung-ho into it – stick some fish in the water and think they don’t have to go

near them until it’s time to harvest them. “Once the boys finish their TAA program we’ve got 13 people who want to undergo hands on training on the farm here at Thurla. We’re erecting a purpose built teaching facility over the next 12 months to provide the training in the practical side of commercial aquaculture. “We’ve been at it now for 10 years, and it’s taken us that long to get this far. If you’ve got a problem, first you have to identify it, then look at the most practical way of solving it. We’ve got diseases and parasites so we have to manage them. For instance, we take gill snips every two days and put them under the microscope. It usually gives us a fortnight’s buffer on any problems we might have. It took our mortalities practically back to zero – around 3% over the life of the fish in the cageways. “This may seem frequent, but the cages are easily accessible and it takes next to no time to take a gill snip and put it under the microscope. In times of minimal water flow through the irrigation we may have to treat them every 2-3 weeks. We use hydrogen peroxide, formalin or salt depending on what we’re treating and the seriousness of the infestation. “Because of the design of the cages, it only takes two minutes to move the fish into the central treatment tank. We just crowd the fish into the tank and then crowd them back into the cage after the bath. We don’t have to handle the fish or remove them from the water. We don’t have to save many fish to pay for the treatment. Chilodonella in the summer months has proved to be their biggest bugbear. Col says that once the fish get to 600g they seem to become more hardy and need far less management. The stocking density depends on water exchange. The irrigation season starts in

FA R M P R O F I L E Clockwise from top left: Brad Beasley sorting through hatched Murray cod Brad standing in front of the Cageway Australia 400 series production system in the Thurla farms irrigation dam Brad showing feed from the Cageways Australia Auto feeders Murray cod in cageway production system A trough full of Murray cod fry

Winter 2011 | Austasia Aquaculture 5

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November and runs to March. During this period, which coincides with optimum water temperature and metabolism, 50kg/m3 can be achieved. Production cycle The farm has selected 100 pairs of broodstock from its growout fish – these are now 13-21kg – and this season successfully spawned over 100,000 fry. Fish from commercial hatcheries are also brought in so as Thurla is not totally dependent on its own stock. Col sees improved seedstock as a way of increasing productivity from the growout cageways and is working with Fisheries Victoria’s Dr Brett Ingram to achieve these positive outcomes. The eggs are collected on screens from nesting boxes in the broodstock dam. The screens are placed in 5 x 1,000L tanks and incubated at 24°C. They take 7-10 days to hatch and live off their yolk sacks for another 8-10 days. Once hatched the larvae are transferred to shallow tanks. They wean them onto artemia as soon as they’re ready. When they’re feeding well the fry go out into the plankton ponds. Spawning varies with the seasons Col says. He’ll bring the 0.8-1g fingerlings in after 6-8 weeks in the ponds and stock them in RAS tanks where they are weaned onto a Gemma diet from Skrettings. Five re-circulation systems operate in the nursery. The sizes of the systems vary to allow various production options. One system has three 10,000L tanks, another has seven 2,000L tanks, two systems have six 1,200L tanks and there’s one with five 1,000L tanks. The systems are designed to operate with one pump. The water is lifted to the biofilter and this head drives the rest of the water flow. A series of syphons shift the water through the tanks. The slow rotation of the water moves solid waste material to the centre of the tank from where it is picked up by the siphon pipe. At the end of the loop the water is de-gassed, re-oxygenated and ozone treated. 6 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2011

The intention is to maintain a water temperature of 20°C in the nursery although this isn’t always economically possible. Once the water in the dams reaches 17°C they stock the cageways with the overwintered RAS fish. The timing of this varies with the years Col says. “It can be as early as late August or as late as the end of September. There’s no point stocking fish in the dams when there’s low growth rate. The year before last was a shocker. The water was 11°C in August! “The fingerlings are usually 100g when they go out but can be bigger if they are held back due to a late onset of the warmer temperatures,” Col continues. “We’ve put fish out at 200g. We’re harvesting the shooters now from last spring at 1.1kg (early April). The slower ones would be 900g. Most fish are off the farm by the end of their second winter. This gives us an 18-month turnaround overall and a 6-9 month turnaround for most of the fish from the dams. Any stragglers are certainly out of the cages after 12 months in the cageways. “We’ve also done a deal with Murray Water. They have 25ha holding dams associated with their delivery of water throughout the Sunraysia irrigation region that each have a daily turnover of 200ML during the irrigation season. We have modules in these dams. It’s on a trial basis; we have to monitor the water quality parameters every second day to measure the impact of the fish farms on the water. The trial period runs till June after which we will enter a commercial arrangement with them to stock 20 modules. “Production all depends on water quantity. If the quality is good we can do between 30 and 40 tonnes per module. If the water turnover is low, production would be lower.” The farm has backup aeration to buffer periods of low flow but, as Col says, nothing is as cost effective as good water exchange. Skrettings barramundi diet and Ridley’s marine floating pellets are used. There’s also a trial of a species-specific ration

developed by Ridleys based on data provided by the Department of Primary Industries (DPI). Col says it’s too early to tell if there’s any great difference. Marketing The farm is currently holding around 60,000 fish ranging from 200g to 2kg. “We’ve been selling flat out and getting more and more demand,” says Col. “We’ve been getting $18/kg in Melbourne and Sydney for some time but prices have gone up to $22/kg at the moment. This is for fresh chilled whole fish.” He likes to move his fish when they reach 1.2kg; however, for continuity of supply he finds he has to hold a few over. Col has his marketing in place. The ‘Murray Gold’ brand is just waiting for the fish to start coming in through the door. The Future Col is very pragmatic about progress so far. “There are a number of problems with the system, as there are with any farming, but if you can recognize your problems you can resolve them. The cages work very well when we have good water flows. Fish farming is all about water quality.” With the new training facility in place he feels at last to be heading in the right direction. “I’m a bit sceptical of people who have big ideas but aren’t prepared to apply themselves to the basic understanding of what drives aquaculture production. Committing to a thorough training program over a period of time is one indication that people will have a sporting chance of making a go of it. “The feedback we get from our customers is encouraging. I don’t believe $22/kg is sustainable. I’ve done all my figures on $12/kg at the farm gate. We’re still getting calls from overseas to supply cod. I’m reluctant to send fish until we have the numbers to keep up the continuity of supply.” The production capacity from the available water in the region is huge. Col estimates that the holding dams of the First Murray Irrigation Trust have a

FA R M P R O F I L E

Clockwise from top left: A close-up of the Cageway production system; The farm’s main production system; Thurla Farms’ 30000L quarantine system; The last of this year’s advanced stockers; Brad Beasley, Gavin Maynard, Dale Wood and Jayben Underhill checking water quality parameters.

basic production capacity of 5,000t. Apart from that, there are 51 dams over 100ML in the Sunraysia region. An informal canvas has suggested that most owners would be interested in a leasing arrangement of some sort. However, he concedes that for all this to become a commercial reality it requires investment in the service sector in areas such as competent trainers and adequate

training facilities as well as an extension service and an experienced fish veterinary service. With those sorts of volumes marketing too would have to be co-ordinated on an industry-wide basis. This would

By John Mosig

mean there would need to be a

Col Beasley can be contacted by phone on (03) 5024 3281, or by email on 5024 3281

professionally operated seafood handling facility.

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None of this has deterred Col from his vision. “We still believe that this industry is the brightest light we’ve ever seen for demand and opportunity to value add to the region’s water.”

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Winter 2011 | Austasia Aquaculture 7

FA R M P R O F I L E

Divers select only small coral colonies or pieces broken off by cyclones to ensure sufficient parent colonies remain to keep rejuvenating.

Cultured giant clams augment corals for NT ornamental supplier A tropical fish and coral supply business based in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, is working with government scientists at the Darwin Aquaculture Centre to spawn and ongrow giant clams. These are to replace wild caught specimens for the aquarium trade and also replenish natural stocks with the assistance of indigenous communities.

the water. The eleven non-transferable Aquarium Fish/Display Licence holders can use a variety of barrier, cast, scoop, drag and skimmer nets as well as hand pumps, pots and hand-held instruments.

he marine sector of NT’s aquarium fishery collects a wide range of fish and benthic organisms for live sales to local, interstate and overseas aquarium markets. Hermit crabs and corals comprise most of the marine invertebrates collected; most of these corals are dead, hard specimens detached from the reef and colonised by other organisms (known in the aquarium industry as ‘live rock’). An increasingly popular variety is the mushroom anemone coral (or Corallimorph) a group of attractive ‘soft corals’ halfway between anemones and stony (hard) corals.

The small-scale fishery is restricted by weather conditions for much of the year and the majority of species collected have a wide distribution. Strictly limited quantities of coral and associated benthic species can be collected – although not from Darwin or Gove Harbours and declared protected areas such as the Coburg Peninsula Marine Park.

Using highly selective collecting methods there is very little bycatch and non-target species are immediately returned to

With the NT Seafood Council, OceanWatch Australia and the SeaNet Program the aquarium

8 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2011

fishers are developing an environmental management system (EMS). With funding from the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country program, the fishers have identified their potential environmental impacts and developed control protocols to reduce them and improve the fishery. According to the SeaNet Extension Officer NT, Lyn Lambeth, a comprehensive Aquarium Fishery Code of Practice (CoP) will be improved and implemented. “The EMS and CoP together will reduce impacts on retained and non-retained species, protected wildlife and impacts on the environment.” Lyn explains. “A high level of compliance with environmental and fisheries

FA R M P R O F I L E

legislation is being promoted and actions have been identified to address external risks to the fishery (e.g. introduced pests, water pollution, and illegal fishing/ marketing).” Diving collection Brian and Barbara Koennecke have been in the industry for more than 15 years. Their family business Arafura Aquatic Fish (AAF) is located at Nhulunbuy on the Gove Peninsula of Arnhem Land, an hour by plane north-east of Darwin (the trip by sea takes a minimum of 50 hours; by land it can take more than 12 hours). Their daughters Kathy and April assist with collecting, marketing, packaging, lab work, handling clients and setting up systems. Brian says that their main target species are soft and hard corals and live rock. “We also collect anemone and host fish, mainly the ‘Nemos’ or clownfish. We are expanding our range with cultured giant clams (Tridacna squamosa).” The wet season (usually September to March) allows the best fishing conditions especially in the east around Nhulunbuy. But Brian says they also fish to the west in the dry season when those collection areas are sheltered from the prevailing winds. “This helps with our environmental sustainability as we have virtual ‘closed seasons’ for almost half of the year in our different collection areas. Some of our sites are only 5-10 minutes by boat; others take several days travel.

“We dive to collect our catch using hookah (Wolf-air) with two outlets. With one-hour dives, we might be in the water for up to 5-6 hours a day and will dive down to 10m water depth to collect some specimens.” The family has two aluminium tenders the Gator I and Gator II, each 6.2m long and 2m wide with an open deck and centre drive consol. There is a canvass tarp roof overhead for cover. Gator I has a 150 HP Mariner outboard, Gator II has a 200HP Volvo inboard engine. Both are capable of maintaining cruise speeds of 25 knots, weather permitting.” The target species are collected by hand or with small nets and placed into a soft mesh catch bag. Back onboard they’re placed in one of the four 100L aerated tanks. The 240V air pumps are powered via an inverter from the boat battery; a number of battery-operated aquarium pumps are on-hand as back-up. Brian says sea snakes offer few problems but care is needed to avoid cone shell and stonefish. “Of course we also need to watch out for crocodiles. We frequently dive with sharks from the small reef varieties to the large tigers and hammerheads. One day one will be hungry. So to increase diver safety we now use Shark Shield Freedom 7 (the electronic pulses keep sharks away).” Most demand for hard and soft corals is for colourful aquarium-friendly species in sizes from small say golf ball size to

Clockwise from top left: Some of the beautiful Corallimorphs, a group of attractive ‘soft corals’ which are halfway between anemones and stony (hard) corals. Careful packing of these Clown Fish in oxygen filled bags which have been gooseneck tied to prevent leakages. Barbara Koennecke checking the health of the ornamental fish and invertebrates they are holding at Nhulunbuy on the Gove Peninsula of Arnhem Land. The use of the correct packing and labelling materials ensure the fish and corals survive the sometimes up to 40 hour journey to the pet shops.

large around dinner plate size. “We look for individual pieces with good colours and variations in shapes.” Tank-friendly sponges, shrimp and molluscs are also of interest. Only healthy individuals that will survive the handling and transport to the end market are selected. “We don’t take large specimens; they are left to keep rejuvenating the reef. We take smaller individuals and pieces broken off during severe weather conditions. Most would be 2-7 years old.” Winter 2011 | Austasia Aquaculture 9

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Corallimorphs

(Source: http://animal-world.com/encyclo/reef/corallimorph/corallimorph.htm) Corallimorphs or Mushroom Anemones are similar to sea anemones because they have no calcareous skeleton, but anatomically they more strongly resemble stony corals. Mushroom Corals also lack the long feeding tentacles of the both sea anemones and stony corals. These soft bodied animals have a flattened oral disc with a smooth, bumpy, or fuzzy appearance. The beautiful coral anemones are very popular inhabitants for both the reef tank and the saltwater aquarium. Due to symbiotic zooxanthellae in their tissues, Mushroom Corals can have striking colours and patterning. They come in a wide range of colours including green, blue, purple, red, gray, or brown. Corallimorphs are among the easiest corals to keep. They are not only attractive, but they are hardy and durable. The ability to tolerate changing environmental conditions makes Mushroom Corals well suited to captivity. They will reproduce quickly in well cared for systems, and are relatively inexpensive.

Lines of cultured Giant Fluted Clams growing at the Darwin Aquaculture Centre

Holding and packing AAF’s land base is on 0.5 hectares with a house and holding facilities generally sheltered by clear PVC tarps and shade cloth. “Our yard has a variety of recirculating systems which we are trialling, some under shelter and some in the open.” Thirty-five 1,000L fibreglass/plastic holding tanks are in use, each with a mid to upper drain and an inlet manifold. “We designed the recirculation system ourselves with 413 and 415 Onga pumps to drive it,” Brian explains. “It is all pretty simple but it works with a turn over rate in the tanks of around once every hour. For the biofilter we use rolled up fish netting packed with pieces of broken coral. “Our prefilter – to take out the larger

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non-dissolved solids – is the filter media designed for air conditioners. We have no UV or ozone treatment; we truck our seawater in water cartage tanks to the yard as we need to have algae, bacteria and other organisms in the water to feed the corals and other filter feeders. If needed we will use some fertiliser and grow up an algal bloom in a tank.” Aeration is by disturbance of water flow through the circulation system; however, there is back up aeration by 240V air blowers piped to individual tanks. A 40 KVA auto start generator supplies power to the whole installation. Whilst the fish are fairly hardy, Brian says it’s important to ensure there is good water flow all through the tanks. “We have manifold inlets to ensure that no thermoclines develop. The fish are converted to commercial aquarium foods and aggressive and territorial individual species are kept separate.” The catch is allowed to recover for 2-3 days during which time the animals are monitored for health. “We are proud of our survival rates; we average less than 2% losses of our catch during collection, holding , packing and transport. The maximum time (tank to tank) is around 40 hours so we need strong healthy animals.” Brian says that at present none of their product goes to export (no doubt due to high dollar). “Everything is air freighted; most of our product goes to the capital

FA R M P R O F I L E

cities and regional centres. We ship product twice a week on the morning flights.” The hard and soft corals and live rock are packed dry in 50µm thick food grade plastic bags to retain moisture. These bags are placed in 20kg airlineapproved polystyrene boxes lined with plastic inner and an absorbent pad. The fish and crabs are packed with a layer of water to keep them immersed and the rest of the bag is filled with oxygen. The top of the bag is twisted, goose necked (turned on itself) and then held closed with a strong rubber band. These bags are carefully packed in the poly boxes like the corals. With up to three changes of planes and then road transport, the animals need to be well packed to protect them. Stickers such as ‘Fragile’, ‘Live Fish’, ‘Do Not Drop, Heat or Chill’ help; however, the fate of the stock depends on the freight consultants. “As our percentages of loss are small there appears to be care delivered by the freight companies. Communication and updates by both parties assist in the procedures and handling of the boxes being shipped around Australia.” Annual sales for aquarium industry range between $0.3-0.7 million. Brian says their business plan favours direct sales to retailers. “This has allowed us to get a better handle on what catch rate is sustainable. We have also been able to monitor which species showing stress during collection, handling and transport. So with our EMS we believe we can lift our catch rates with some species. We may then be able to sell to the larger wholesalers now.” Cultured Giant Clams Last year Barbara received an encouragement award from the Minister for Resources – Primary Industry for her contribution to environmental sustainability. “After witnessing the devastating effects of tropical cyclones on the Territory’s coast,” Barbara explains, “we began researching the impact of cyclones on

the reef environment. That led to collaboration with the Darwin Aquaculture Centre (DAC) to investigate the aquaculture of giant clams (the species currently in production is Giant Fluted Clam – Tridacna squamosa).” Broodstock– selected for colour and maturity – was collected in the sea off East Arnhem Land and then freighted by the nervous owners 1,000 kilometres via outback roads to Darwin Aquaculture Centre in Darwin; the trip took some 17 hours. Barbara is keen to avoid that stress. “Our goal is to spawn clams in their marine environment.” Currently, the broodstock clams are stocked into 500-1,000L tanks – with clean seawater filtered to 1 micron, gentle aeration and addition of an antibiotic

– and induced to spawn. After collection and separation of sperm and eggs, sperm numbers are minimised before adding to the eggs for fertilisation. Water in the larval tanks is also filtered to 1 micron. Gentle aeration is required for about 15 days and – once no larvae are found in the water column – slow flow-through is introduced at the rate of 50% day. Whilst the tanks are fed during this time with algae, care is taken to avoid a bloom (including covering the tanks with 50% shade cloth). “Water flow is increased to two changes per day whilst the clams are settling for about the next two months and become clearly visible before we start cleaning the clams and tanks,” Barbara continues. “As the clams grow density becomes

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Winter 2011 | Austasia Aquaculture 11

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Kathy and Barbara Koennecke catching clownfish for sale from their holding tanks.

Tridacna Clams (Source: adapted from www.aquacon.com/clams.html) Tridacna clams are some of the most intriguing of all reef aquarium species; they actually provide a range of benefits well beyond their beauty and novelty. Clams are filter feeders, meaning that they help marine aquariums maintain high water quality by absorbing nitrates, ammonia and other organics that are harmful to sensitive reef tank inhabitants even in very low concentrations. Besides that, few if any reef aquarium species have the wide range of vibrant colours from the symbiotic zooxanthellae in their outer mantle tissues. Keeping giant clams healthy and growing in a reef aquarium requires a similar system of care to that of hard corals. Bright lighting such as that provided by metal halide aquarium lights is an absolute necessity, in that most clams generate energy by photosynthesis as well as by filter feeding. Moderate to high water flow will ensure that clams receive an ample supply of water to continually feed on. High levels of calcium provided by calcium reactors or daily dosing, will help clams to develop thick and healthy shells and to grow rapidly. Clams are relatively slow growing reef aquarium inhabitants, a trait that is actually considered a positive feature by most advanced reef tank hobbyists. Clams do not encroach on other reef tank species in the way that often corals do, and offer peace of mind as well as beauty for their keepers.

12 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2011

A fine collection of corals ready for packing for shipment.

DAC’s Evan Needham vacuuming juvenile giant clams before washing and grading them for restocking in a clean tank.

another issue and requires separating the clams into other tanks.”

will maintain an ecologically sustainable environment.”

Arafura Aquatic Fish continues working with the DAC to ensure clams can be successfully spawned and substitute the export of wild caught animals with farm-raised animals grown out for the aquarium trade. “We also want to replenish natural clam stocks in collaboration with fisheries and most importantly Indigenous communities.”

Brian and Barbara are confident of the success of the clam culture and are looking at the potential for other species to be cultured. “The future looks bright,” Brian says, “firstly in the aquarium trade within Australia and then, as stocks build, for export.

Part of this process is working with Vocational Education and Training in developing applicable training courses to be delivered for remote regions. “I see an opportunity to extend the NT Aquarium Industry while at the same time providing business opportunities to remote indigenous communities that

“Over the horizon are possibilities in food and entry into the seafood arena.” By Dos O’Sullivan. For more information contact Brian and Barbara Koennecke, Arafura Aquatic Fish Pty Ltd, PO Box 230, Nhulunbuy, NT 0881. Tel: 08 8987-2524, email: arafish@bigpond.com.au, web: arafuraaquaticfish.com.au

FA R M P R O F I L E A heart-breaking picture immediately after the fires raced through the property â&#x20AC;&#x201C; blackened trees, destroyed buildings and tonnes of dead or dying fish.

Fishout and smoked fish for Marysville Trout Farm Despite fish losses and property damage from the devastating Victorian bush fires in 2009, the Marysville Trout and Salmon Ponds are back in business. Regular visitors come to try their luck in the fish out ponds or sharpen their skills in the fly fishing lake. Fresh and hot smoked trout are also sold.

he Marysville Trout and Salmon Ponds opened in the early 1980s as a fishout facility. It lay dormant for many years until it was reopened to the public in December 2003 by the Dovaston family. Spring water from the surrounding mountain forests gravity flows through a series of aqueducts into twelve ponds covering almost four hectares. The water from the catchment is usually pure and crystal clear with no farm or fertilizer runoff or other types of human contamination.

That all changed dramatically in the Black Saturday fires in February 2009. The farm was significantly impacted with 19 buildings either destroyed or badly damaged and parts of the vegetation in the 24 hectare property either burnt or scorched. The deep (up to 15m) ponds initially saved some of the fish. However, due to roadblocks preventing vital fuel supplies coming in to run their emergency water pumps, the Dovastons lost a lot of fish from low dissolved oxygen levels.

Mirroring a disturbingly common story in the region, the damage went much further than physical losses; the initial shock and trauma was quickly overtaken by frustrations and other problems which have caused many people to leave the area. Les and Jenny had originally joined in their son Glenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dream of running their own bush-based business moving onto the farm for a better lifestyle. Now Glen has moved his family to Western Australia to make another life. Winter 2011 | Austasia Aquaculture 13

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Les and Jenny’s daughter Leanne assisted in the re-establishment of the farm; however, she lost her home and belongings in the fires and is currently residing in bus converted to a motor home which the use of was donated as part of the bushfire relief. Leanne has now taken Glen’s place running and managing the fishout; she has also taken on the responsibility of keeping the books and managing most of the finances. Since the fires Les, Jenny and Leanne have put in an amazing amount of hard work to get the property back in working order and the fish stocks up to working farm densities.

All photos courtesy of Marysville Trout

One of the fish out ponds two years after the fires.

Restocking one of the ponds with Atlantic Salmon from Rubicon Salmon Farm.

The Dovastons have many stories of the kindness and assistance they received from friends and total strangers. However, they shudder at the poor treatment they suffered from some police and other government employees immediately after the fires. “We were made to feel like criminals,” Les explained. “All we wanted to do was to get some pumping systems going so we could save our fish with extra aeration. But unfortunately we were prevented from bringing in fuel for our pumps.” The fish losses within a day or two of the fires were significant. “We lost probably 10-12 tonnes of our best Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar); many were 6-7kg and these five year old fish were each probably worth $150 each on the Chinese market. We also lost around two tonnes of Brown Trout (Salmo trutta) and 5 tonnes of Rainbows (Oncorhynchus mykiss) which were getting close to market (1kg +). We had wall-to-wall dead fish. You could almost walk across the ponds the dead fish were that thick. We were devastated and yet we couldn’t get anyone in to help us. “We rang the EPA for help and instead of helping they listed us as a potential major polluter. In the end we had to build an EPA-authorised compost pit for the fish. We probably buried close to $300,000 worth of fish.”

From drought to fire to snow in a matter of months, the Yarra Valley region is prone to climatic extremes. Some of the damaged buildings and trees at Marysville Trout.

Les Dovaston supervising the storage of their Skretting Salmon pellets in the feed container. These feeds also assist the variety of natural feeds in the ponds to give the flesh an attractive pink colour.

Jenny Dovaston proudly displaying two of their delicious hot-smoked trout.

On a positive note, some of the tougher Rainbows survived the low dissolved oxygen and high sediments loads. “We recently had a fisher catch an 8kg Rainbow. We reckon there are over 50 larger fish which survived and are now growing again.” Les says that some members of fly fishing clubs came along and helped them to clean out the ponds, compost the dead fish and remove rubbish. Their contribution was a welcome change from the stone walling bureaucracy. Reopening The farm was reopened to the public on Melbourne Cup Day, November ’09, less than 10 months after the fires. “On that day we had great numbers of visitors, however, overall numbers of visitors since then are down 50% on what we would normally have. Those people who do come have a great time – they come for the fishing, or simply to eat fresh trout BBQ’ed in a lovely bush setting. “We have tall peppermints, stringy barks and messmates (all eucalypts) all over our property. The majestic tree ferns are

14 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2011

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recovering their former glory and we have wattles and native grasses, all attracting a lot of wildlife.” Building up fish stocks and having fish for cash flow was an early problem. “We had a bit of trouble getting stocker fish and we needed some product to sell to get some money coming in. Mitch (Buxton Trout) didn’t have any spares after their losses, so luckily we were able to get salmon from Rubicon (Mark Fox). These fish were males ranging from 1-1.5kg; we filleted and smoked them for some welcome sales.” Ben Hardman, Member for Seymour and Parliamentary Secretary to the Victorian Minister for Agriculture, organised for 50,000 Brown and Rainbow Trout eggs to be provided by Snobs Creek Fish hatchery (run by Department of Primary Industries). Unfortunately these all died before they reached 3-4mm due to poor water quality. Then some 5,000 Rainbow Trout advanced fingerlings (200-250g) were provided by Snobs to the Dovastons and other farms that had suffered fish losses during and after the fires.

“These fish helped us get back in production. I thought many may have died over the last summer as the water quality in Wilkes Creek still wasn’t great (due to ash and sediment loads); however, we only lost about 1%.”

“After a further 3 months they fish are moved to the growing ponds for a year or so before being stocked into the fishing ponds at a minimum size of 400g. Most fish grow to this minimum catchable size within 18months.

Les reckons his fish stocks and sizes are getting close to back to where they should be. “We have around 40,000 Rainbows (most are 300-780g), possible a couple of Browns and around 3.5 tonnes of Atlantic Salmon (a range of sizes).”

“We also have a few production ponds for growing fish for sale or for stocking the fly fishing ponds. We have 2kW paddlewheels in most ponds which are switched on before sunrise for a couple of hours. We have a few ponds that are less than a metre deep in some parts. Most, however, are deeper than 3m so mixing the water keeps the temperatures down.”

The Dovastons are now back to breeding their own fingerlings. “We have a small shed (6m by 12m) with flowing water diverted from the main race, egg trays and 20L plastic drums. We spawn in August and September. The water temperature determines how long it takes for the eggs to hatch and grow large enough so we can stock them in our nursery pond. We have bird netting over this to protect the fingerlings from predators. They stay here for three months then they are moved to larger holding tanks secured in a free flowing channel with the water sourced directly from the creek.

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Key Management Decisions for Marysville Trout & Salmon Ponds include: • Several products are offered to ensure consistent cash flow year round – smoked & fresh fish, BBQ, tours, fishing, relaxing, bush walking, etc. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) include: • Culture or Holding System utilised: earthen flow through ponds • Growth rate (from stocking to market): <24months (1g to 1kg) • Water use: Diversion licence of 4-5ML/year.

Fish out for the biggest fish Tourism, the fishout and retail sales, is the mainstay of the business. “The fish out ponds are each stocked with different-sized fish so that people can select which fish size they want to catch. As the fish get larger they’re harder to catch. We feed the fish out ponds about once a week in summer using a high protein salmon diet from Skretting. This gives the fish a nice colour. “Some fly fishers come here regularly and do a catch and release in the larger pond. They pay $30 for two hours and can spend hours catching the big fish only to release them. The biggest ones there are around 5kg. These guys know what they are doing so there is no damage to the fish.” The majority of visitors are Asian families from Melbourne who come up for a day out with three generations (grand parents,

parent and kids) all looking for some fun. Jenny says they really enjoy the thrill their visitors get from catching their ‘first fish’ or just relaxing in the bush setting. “We put advertisements in Chinese papers and have a good word of mouth communication going, especially as we have free admission,” she explains. “These city people just love it and the kids have a wonderful time. We have a touch tank stocked with fingerlings and people can look through our small hatchery shed. “We spend a lot of time fixing rods and reels, but it is very rewarding to see the people coming back. During Easter or Christmas holidays we can have over 200 people on the property. We can employ up to nine people to cope with all the work. We have plans for more attractions.” Les says that they clean the fish their visitors catch and help them BBQ it or pack the fish on ice for transport back home.

He says that the market for the smoked fish is growing well. “We do hot smoked Trout and Salmon, either fillets or whole fish. The fish are left in brine overnight before being washed in fresh water to take out the excess salt. They are then dried for an hour before being transferred into the smoker. “I use Mountain Ash wood as it burns very hot for a long time. The temperature needs to be at least 80°C for a minimum of 30 minutes; the fish are usually left in the smoker for 90 minutes. In each batch we can do 25 whole fish, or up to 30 fillets depending on size. The smoked trout are sold in a vacuum packed sleeve with attractive gold backing.” By Dos O’Sullivan. For more information contact Les, Jenny and Leanne Dovaston, Marysville Trout and Salmon Ponds, 261 Marysville Rd, Marysville, Vic 3779. Tel: (03) 5963-3558, Mobile: 0409 147-256, Email: fish@marysvilletroutfarm.com.au

Stop Press After this story was completed, Leanne Dovaston tragically died in a ride-on mower accident at the farm. Condolences of AA management, staff and all our readers go out to Jenny and Les Dovaston.

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F E AT U R E Coastal erosion and damage to vegetation along the fore shore near Innisfail showing the force of the huge waves.

Queensland aquaculture loses more than $5 million due to floods and cyclones The recent trends for increases in prawn and barramundi harvests have taken a nosedive due to the effects of the Queensland floods and cyclones. The direct and indirect costs on the farms are detailed, tentatively estimated to be well over $5 million. These include shortages of salt, fuel and feed from road closures, and increased costs of transport of harvested product. Indusgtry and government are now working together to repair the damage and prepare for the next cyclone season.

Cyclone Yasi off the coast of north Qld.

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for more than three weeks. According to Anne, aquaculture feed companies took advantage of an offer from an international container ship to send barramundi and prawn feed to Townsville. “Farms were forced to ration feed for some weeks because supplies couldn’t get through. Farmers had to bear the extra – 4x higher – freight cost. But the resumption of road transport (in mid January) prevented major losses to the industry. The majority of farms replenished their supplies before Cyclone Yasi.” Cyclone Anthony caused short periods of power outages in the Bowen region but no stock losses or infrastructure damage was reported.

he January ‘11 floods wreaked havoc in central and south Queensland and two cyclones (including the record breaking Yasi) and a mini ‘tornado’ have pounded the tropical north areas. The timing couldn’t have been worse as most aquaculture farms were busy with their major harvests.

In late February, Fisheries Queensland’s regional manager, Anne Clarke (from Cairns’ Northern Fisheries Centre) estimated stock losses in barramundi aquaculture to be $2.89 million with additional infrastructure losses still being determined. “The disasters have so far cost prawn farms about $2.12 million,” Anne said at the time. “These figures will rise as damage and losses continue to be assessed. “Flooding has also resulted in stock losses and infrastructure damage at native fish farms in the Wide Bay/Burnett and Fitzroy regions.” From top: Sam Sciacca’s work shed was totally destroyed – note the upside down cement footing for a metal post The roofing on the nursery at Great Barrier Reef Barramundi was blown away whilst the whole structure collapsed onto the tanks. Wind blown roofing sheets wrapped around sign post near Sam Sciacca’s farm.

18 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2011

The flooding’s biggest impact for farms north of Rockhampton was difficulties in obtaining supplies of salt, feeds and diesel. Between Christmas and January 15th the Bruce Hwy (the main northsouth road) was cut due to flooding so that transport trucks couldn’t get through. And rail services by QRail and QRX (a door to door delivery service) were cut

Anne says infrastructure damage and stock losses from Cyclone Yasi were mostly felt between Ingham and Innisfail. “Infrastructure damage comprised damage to sheds, shade structures, power poles, generators and to sea cages and associated moorings. Power outages were felt from Ayr to Mossman and back-up generators were damaged. Farms had to source extra generators to ensure aerators and pumps could operate to maintain stock.” Helen Jenkins, EO of the Australian Prawn Farmers Association (APFA) reported that the southern prawn farms in the Logan River area were not flooded and were only lightly affected. “Low salinity caused a few problems down that way by reducing pond salinities, resulting in lower growth rates. However, no stock mortalities were reported.” Mackay Mini Tornado Dave ‘Bulldog’ Symons and wife Jean have been running the Campwin Beach Prawn Farm near Mackay for over ten years. Their Eimeo Farm at Mackay has been operating even longer (21 years). At the Campwin Beach farm there are nine production ponds covering 13 ha. “We normally harvest around 70-100 tonnes per summer season,” he says. “Last year we did 115 tonnes. However, this year we will be down by more than 20-30%. We cook all our prawns and

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truck most of them to Sydney Fish Market for sale fresh-chilled on the auction floor.” The Mackay region was hit by what was called a “mini tornado” in late January ’11. In what started as a water spout off the coast, the tornado tore a 200m wide strip through houses, garden sheds, powerlines, trees, fences, road works and other infrastructure. Winds topped 100k/hr and a record dump of rain quickly caused local flooding. “In all my life I have never been so terrified,” Bulldog recalls. “We had 150mm of rain in just one hour. Debris was flying past the house. That only went for 20 minutes, but it was very noisy until it passed by. I can’t see how the guys up north were able to survive the larger and longer cyclones. If a cyclone of any size was heading my way, I would be the first on a plane. It was all so scary. I used to be a sceptic but now I am thinking twice about global warming.” He estimates the damage bill at hundreds of thousands of dollars to his house, processing and feed storage sheds and electrical switchboxes. Thirty tonne of feeds were lost to water damage. “The insurance will pay part of the feeds and most of the house but I guess our broker didn’t really ensure we have sufficient coverage for the rest of our property.” The whole region was without power and it was in late February (3 weeks after the mini tornado) that full supplies were restored. “Luckily we have a 300kVA generator which can run our whole farm. I have been caught before by floods so we had plenty of fuel on standby. We were without power for three days until we got the switchboxes repaired so we were able to run the ponds as normal until the power around the ponds was restored on 26th February 2011.”

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Nevertheless Bulldog estimates fuel costs over this period to be over $10,000. “It took us and helpful neighbours over ten days to clear all the tree branches, parts of houses and other rubbish out of our ponds.” Winter 2011 | Austasia Aquaculture 19

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Recommendations from industry members for reducing risks from cyclone and floods • Build and plan for disasters! • Check the farm and take precautionary measures well in advance of the event – there is now plenty of advance warning (many days). Prioritise which ponds, cages or tanks to save. • As electricity can be out for an extended time farms may need to consider electricity generating capacity required for water exchange as well as oxygenation. • Generators need to be well above high water levels and tied down on pads to prevent turnover or wash out. • Generators need to be well maintained with good fuel quality and sufficient quantity (supply for at least two weeks) – check they are working in the lead up to a forecast event. • Waterproof electrical outlets and connections and cover all exhausts to keep rain water out of generators. • Key farm access roads need to be built to a reasonable standard just to get fuel and feed in. • With roads and railways likely to be cut, consider storing more feed on the farm (assess the potential for bulk stores in north Qld). • Who looks after the farm when the staff are at home looking after their families and properties? Staff will need some support and direct communication about getting back to work. • The government provision of a single point of contact for problems and liaison is effective as they can help sort out issues with agencies like police, road access, etc. • Disposing of dead fish may be a problem. DERM was helpful with Bluewater Barramundi. But this has been an issue in the past. • Maintaining discharge water quality to licence is not always possible with major flood events due to the greatly increased nutrient levels at the intake. Industry needs to work with the regulators to make this realistic.

Damage to Great Barrier Reef Barramundi’s workshop and feed shed. Refrigeration panel damaged under feed shed making all the feed wet. All electrical workshop equipment water damaged. Shed is total write-off.

All of this came on top of severe delays in feed supply. ”We purchase feeds from Ridleys, Grobest and Proaqua, all of them from the Brisbane region. One delivery was booked for delivery December 15th. The flooding pushed that and other deliveries out to late January and early February.” The there were the problems with getting product to market. “If we could find the airline space, it often cost more than four times as much as usual. We had to pay in excess of $3/kg; to that you also have to add the additional packaging costs due to the airline’s higher standards for airfreight. “Often we had a booking only to be told to go home; sometimes I was back and forth to the airport more than six times a day between 4am and 6pm. If our shipment was rejected we had to put the product back into the cold rooms, as we had no freezer capacity.” In a normal week, Bulldog would ship 1.6-1.8 tonnes per weekday; during the floods he often only shipped 300kg, and the most was one tonne a day. “This meant we were shipping less than one-third of our normal harvests and we had prawns backing up in the ponds ready for harvest.” The lack of feeds meant he had to try and hold some harvests back. But quality suffered. “I have never seen anything like it before. We found some of our prawns with chewed tails and short antennae showing there wasn’t enough pelleted food for them.” In a weird twist of fate, the inconsistency of supply of farmed prawns from the north somehow caused prices to fall in some of the southern markets. “I was selling some boxes at less than $13/kg; with the increased packaging and freight costs I was losing money. However, I had to keep moving stock out of my ponds as the prawns were growing and I had no feed for them.” Bulldog says that with the restored power, supplies of feeds and resumption of transport south, things are almost back to normal. “We have been selling

20 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2011

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some prawns back at $20/kg on the market floor, so that is great.” Cardwell hit hard The Cardwell area is Australia’s largest producer of farmed prawns; estimates suggest some 38% of the 5,000 tonnes harvested in 2009/10 came from this area. Like everyone else in Cyclone Yasi’s path, the prawn farms were hit hard when it crossed the coastline on February 4. Power outages compounded the problem. Farmers were initially told that power would not be available for up to two months; luckily, however, it was restored in less than three weeks.

drained ponds there was a black slimy sludge on the bottoms; we’ll have to scrape it out before restocking the ponds. “The dead or weak prawns were eaten by birds or other prawns. We were really back to the old days of no aeration where the most you could expect to harvest from the ponds was 800-1,000kg/ha.” Some ponds could be harvested and most of that product was shipped by air. A few shipments made it by road transport

It was five days before Trevor was able to get power onsite thanks to DEEDI staff and the Qld Government’s Emergency Response Team who organised nine 180-600kVA generators to run the aeration, pumps and processing plant. “DEEDI’s Kerrod Beattie and his disaster management response group were able to facilitate this assistance, along with Jim Turner, the Assistant Secretary. We had plenty of fuel on site, and the roads were open enough to get sufficient replacement fuel through later on. But we also hired some 4,000L fuel tanks just to be sure. “The public response was also amazing with Richmond Shire donating another generator free of charge for three weeks.” Around 150 tonnes of prawns were lost, including three ponds outright. Most were killed by the lack of oxygen, aggravated by the ponds’ much higher biological oxygen demand due to huge quantities of rotting leaf litter. “All the surrounding trees were stripped of their leaves and small branches. When we

Some of Seafarm’s back-up generators were still not back in operation by mid March. So Trevor and his board are now examining the option of an onsite LPG power station. “We believe this may be about the same cost as reinvesting in new generators and cyclone proof switch

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the aerators as they wouldn’t be needed during a night of cyclonic winds. Next morning we came out and found that we had water damage in our electrical distribution boxes and the main Ergon Energy power lines were down. So we had no mains power, nor any back-up supply. In addition we had 22 aerotubes and six paddlewheels sink.”

One in three houses were destroyed in Cardwell.

In order to survive, the boys and their staff got stuck straight into getting machinery and power fixed. “We had a sparkie working almost 24 hours getting everything back in order.” the main north-south arterial route. “The highway gets closed dozens of time each summer (wet season). It can be very frustrating with transport of supplies and even staff (at the time of the interview he had a farm manager stuck south of the Seymour River near Ingham for over a week). We now store sufficient fuels, feeds and other consumables (e.g. salt) for our farm and processing plant for 4-5 weeks supply.”

Ripped pond lining sucked up by the relentless wind at Coral Sea Farms. Courtesy of Francoise Naude

boxes. Our annual energy bill is around $2.5 million a year (around 15% of that is for diesel and LPG); we use more power than the Cardwell township. Thus self-generation may be a good option.”

Trevor, like many locals, is very concerned about the long-term effects of these disasters. “The whole fabric of the community is suffering badly with families moving away and shops or businesses closing down. Labour is a real issue up here since Cardwell got hit, and it was hit harder than Tully which has received all of the press.”

Clearly, he says, long term planning is needed for north Queensland infrastructure. “The main power supply north runs right through cyclone affected areas. No matter where the cyclone hits, the line will be cut. Given that that some power comes from Brisbane, even as far south as Victoria, there are major (up to 25%) losses to heat and resistance along this supply line. A network of small local generation sites will assist in overcoming some of these problems.”

Never enough generators The Truloff family’s prawn farm is next door to Seafarm and has 29ha of ponds, with licences for a total of 58ha. Owned and operated by brothers Warren and Jason for the past two years, the farm has seen over $100,000 worth of backup generators installed. “Due to past experiences with cyclones, we put in a 500kVA, a 300kVA, two 200kVA and a 50kVA diesel-run generator,” Warren explains. “And after the cyclone we needed every one of them. You can’t avoid having backup generators, they are essential up here.

Trevor also points to continual problems with access along the Bruce Highway,

“We prepared for the cyclone by securing everything we could and switched off

22 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2011

With a wry smile Warren describes long days and even longer nights stripping down the electrical boards and equipment. “We had stuff on our kitchen table while we dried them with hair blowers. Some of the larger equipment we stripped down, cleaned it with freshwater, put the parts on pallets and left them to dry out in front of the hot air coming out of the generators. With some new bearings we have been able to resuscitate most.” When all the generators were back working the Truloffs were using over $2,500 worth of diesel per day ... for 16 days! But there was no choice. The prawns had to be kept alive. The aerators and pumps simply had to keep working. “We were helped by Dave from Ponderosa Barramundi up at Cairns. He got us three 1,000L fuel transport tanks which we put on a truck and filled them up in Cairns. The generators needed to be refuelled three times a day so we had a person doing this almost fulltime. We are putting in a 6,000L fuel storage tank this year.” Warren says that before the next cyclone they will shrink wrap and gaffer tape their distribution boxes to prevent water damage. “We also now carry a lot of spare parts to keep everything going. We had used almost everything up following Yasi. We won’t be caught again.” The Truloffs are installing a state-of-the art processing plant at a cost of more than a million dollars. Unfortunately

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they’ve found that a generator power supply is too variable for the electronic equipment used for processing lines. “Gen sets don’t like the sensitive electronic equipment,” he says, “So we’ve had to change many components. Happily, however, construction was able to continue with the first batches of processed product from the plant available in mid-March. In the ponds themselves erosion required carting in of a lot of rock to repair the walls. And three weeks after the cyclone the prawns were still off their food due to the turbid conditions in the ponds. “We don’t have a lot of vegetation around our farm so we didn’t have the troubles with leaf litter and sticks that others did. Even so it looks like our prawns are having trouble moulting and we will see more mortalities.” Additional storage Francois Naude (Coral Sea Prawns) learned the hard way how debilitating fuel and feed supply problems could be from the February 2009 floods. “We now minimise our risk by storing additional feed and generator diesel fuel on our farm during our high risk period (i.e. November to April). “We take special precautions to ensure there is never a run down in our stock levels so that at any time we have sufficient feeds and fuels for two weeks usage. It is a simple preventative measure but it works for us.”

state-of-the-art multiplex IQF freezing system (allowing for the freezing and glazing of seafood products instantly online) in the farm’s processing facilities. Lack of insurance After the flooding Australian Prawn Farmers’ Association (APFA) Executive Officer, Helen Jenkins, kept in close contact with Graham Dalton, her opposite number at the Australian Barramundi Farmers Association (ABFA), as they both worked long days and nights to assist their members. “Even though the aquaculture farms in far north Queensland plan for such extreme events, no formal industry emergency planning has been done,” Helen explains. “Unfortunately we don’t have a disaster management plan in place like the dairy industry, for example, which co-ordinates fodder drops from supplies which have been kept ready for tough times. We had to rely on the three main feed companies who worked independently with State Government in an effort to get feed through the flood cut roads to areas in urgent need such as Mackay.” The APFA and ABFA tried hard to find out if some sort of compensation was available from the Government as there was no insurance that would cover this problem. “We found there was no government assistance available either for the farms which suffered transport

cuts or increased prices. For assistance the areas had to be declared disaster areas – most of the farms were safe from the flooding, but because of the conditions of the roads getting feed or fuel up north, or harvested stock south, was proving to be a nightmare.” So, unfortunately, the farmers had to wear their losses – as did other businesses. Then the cyclones hit, particularly Yasi, and these caused so much damage that a number of farmers found themselves in declared disaster areas. Post Yasi Government assistance Fisheries Queensland’s Anne Clarke says road and rail closures due to Cyclone Yasi had minimal impact on supplies because most aquaculture farms had replenished their supplies after floodaffected roads were re-opened. She notes that staff from the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI) personally contacted farmers the day after the cyclone to assess damage and generator requirements. “We maintained strong contacts with the State Disaster Coordination Centre which sourced generators and distributed supplier lists to all aquaculture farms.” The Queensland Boating and Fisheries

As it did this time. All the same, the farm suffered crippling stock losses, primarily due to the extended period of ‘fresh’ water in the ponds. All of Coral Seas’ cobia and goldspotted cod died along with 45,000kg of prawns – a terrible toll. And of those that survived, most had to be sold as 2nd grade. “It’s going to take us a good few years to get back on track,” Francois says. And all expansion plans are on hold. Happily, however, the farm did manage to complete its planned installation of a Winter 2011 | Austasia Aquaculture 23

FA R M P R O F I L E

Damage to the sea cages of Blue Water Barramundi, Hinchinbrook Channel. Courtesy of DEEDI.

informed of all relief and recovery efforts and facilitate referrals to appropriate service providers. • Assist industry members to develop practical recovery plans. • Advise government of regional and industry specific issues that may require additional attention. QFF CEO Dan Galligan said a similar program was used immediately following Cyclone Larry in 2006, and it had proven itself as one of the most effective ways for getting farmers and communities on the path to recovery.

seafood in FNQ for Cyclone Yasi. Margaret Stevenson was appointed as the IRO to assist seafood and aquaculture companies affected by the floods in central and southern areas of Queensland (she can be contacted on 07 4131 5832).

An Aire02 aerator flipped and sinking after extreme turbulence in a pond at Coral Sea Farms. Courtesy of Francoise Naude.

Patrol vessel, Miranda, was on stand-by at Cardwell immediately after Yasi to assist in any recovery exercises. QBFP northern regional manager Ian Fricke said Miranda provided ferrying and communications services to help DEEDI staff who were assisting the Blue Water barramundi farm which suffered significant infrastructure damage during the cyclone. In early March ’11 the Queensland Farmers’ Federation announced that, together with its industry member groups and affiliate partners, it will employ fifteen Industry Recovery Officers (IROs). As part of a $1.7 million nine-month project funded by the Queensland government, the IROs work directly with agricultural and fisheries industries and communities devastated by Cyclone Yasi to get recovery moving faster. Wil Conn is the IRO for aquaculture and 24 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2011

“A great challenge lies ahead in the wake of Cyclone Yasi,” said Wil. “The extent to which the State has been affected, the diversity of operations that have been damaged, not to mention the impact on families and individuals makes for a challenging environment, which recovery efforts have to successfully address.”

“The clean-up and recovery from Cyclone Yasi will be long, difficult, and costly,” he said. “These IROs will work with farmers as they get their businesses back on track. The Federal and State governments have offered various forms of assistance to farmers during this summer of natural disaster – and it is understandable that sorting through the paperwork and complexity of these is a tough job for farmers when their first priority is dealing with the damage to their farms and communities. “The IROs will help farmers decide what assistances are most needed for them and to get the right applications into the right places. This in turn will help communities recover faster but getting the local economy ticking over again.”

Wil said that IRO’s are employed by industry for industry. “They have access to resources and networks committed to addressing identified needs and IRO’s will accept all industry demands made of them without fear or favour. The IRO focus is on helping industry recover, thereby boosting productivity and to this end I look forward to working closely with members of the Queensland seafood and aquaculture industries”.

Wil said the recovery effort will be a two stage process. “The first efforts will be focussed on the immediate recovery of impacted farms to enable normal operations to be commenced and a certain level of normality returned to individuals, enterprises and regions. The level of success associated with this ‘short term’ process will in many ways be related to industry’s ability to meet the eligibility criteria of the assistance packages.”

Examples of how Wil can help include: • Assist affected industry members to access the full range of assistance packages in a timely manner. • Enable individual members to identify their needs and expedite assistance applications. • Keep members and communities well

“The second, longer term, and equally as important recovery effort is that TC Yasi has served to identify the strength and weaknesses in every facet of our industry with respect to severe natural disaster events and associated impacts. Examples include existing farm practices, management approach, proactive

FA R M P R O F I L E

planning and preparedness, freight logistics, stakeholder relationships, assistance provider awareness of the operational and seasonal needs of the aquaculture and seafood industries. “The development of contemporary management plans and assistance frameworks to adequately address this need is of paramount importance to industry. It is hoped that the IROs can help facilitate outcomes in this area.” Emergency Planning North Queensland has experienced three major weather events in the last five years so the industry recognises that contingency planning is needed for these kinds of events. The hard-earned lesson from those who experienced these events is that preplanning and lots of preparation is critical to ‘weathering these storms’. The Queensland industry is almost entirely land based relying heavily of electrical power for pumping and aeration. So the inevitable loss of mains power is a major issue. Cyclonic wind causes damage to infrastructure, shed, power lines around the farm and to machinery and residences. Graham Dalton says that the climate change consensus is that there will be an increase in these kind of climate events in the future. “But, even for climate sceptics, three events in five years are enough prompting to do some early planning and preparation. The Queensland industry agrees that the Bureau of Meteorology has done a fantastic job of monitoring developments and relaying forecasts. There is now a good level of warning and time to prepare the farm.” From discussions and de-briefs with industry and government extension people (including DEEDI’s Michael Heidenriech who was given the task of reviewing the Yasi impacts), Graham and other Queensland aquaculture industry members have developed a series of recommendation for reducing risks from cyclone and floods (see insert).

appropriate responses for businesses in this industry include the following six steps:

For more information contact:

1. Ensure farm infrastructure is robust enough to take a hiding from floods and cyclones; 2. Carry out a pre-event review and get ready; 3. Develop contingency plans for post event operations,; 4. Review farm plans to maximise preparedness, resilience and survivability; 5. Test and review plans, and 6. Reduce energy consumption.”

Francois Naude at Coral Seas T: 07 4777-279 E: naude@coralseafarms.com.au

The ABFA is running a workshop session at the ABFA/APFA Sydney conference (3rd to 5th August) on farm planning for weather events. Hopefully this will mean that aquaculture farms located in the tropics, and probably in much of the rest of Australia, will become better designed and built for destructive weather events. The development and implementation of emergency plan can assist in reducing impacts if/when the events occur.

Dave ‘Bulldog’ Symons M: 0403 040-588 E: prawnfarmer@bigpond.com.au

Trevor Anderson at Sea Farms M: (04) 2413-5492 E: tanderson@seafarm.com.au Warren Truloff M: 0407 732-520 E: wtruloff@hotmail.com Helen Jenkins EO APFA Mob: 0417 006-639 Email: info@apfa.com.au Web: www.apfa.com.au Graham Dalton, EO ABFA, Mob: 0409 631-292 Email: gldalton@bigpond.com Brad Pfeffer, Communications & Policy Officer, Queensland Farmers’ Federation, T: 07 3837-4747 or 0417 626-420, Email: qfarmers@qff.org.au Wil Conn, Industry Recovery Officer, Seafood and Aquaculture Industries (Cyclone Yasi). Mob: 0438 498-279 Email: Wil.Conn@iinet.net.au

By Dos O’Sullivan.

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“In summary, we concluded that the Winter 2011 | Austasia Aquaculture 25

F E AT U R E

Lobster super mum delivers Lobster larvae such as this one will grow to become the second generation of lobsters fully reared in captivity.

in crustacean research, microbiology and nutrition. It continues on from our successes in a research consortium in black tiger prawn domestication, which has been passed on to industry. Dr Hall said the AIMS project had reached some important milestones. The team have been able to induce breeding in lobsters throughout the year, through out-of-season breeding manipulation. The team had a world first in publishing in the peer-reviewed literature the complete description of the larval cycle of the ornate rock lobster (Panulirus ornatus) in captivity. It has also achieved identification of a new species of disease causing bacteria; rearing of larvae on formulated artificial diets and finally, the spawning of second generation domesticated broodstock. “These are all fundamental issues that had to be resolved, in order to build proof-of-concept for the establishment of a commercial lobster industry. The team has met these challenges” he said. “With the recent spawning of a completely domesticated lobster we can now undertake selective breeding, which will also be important in the establishment of lobster farms.”

Eyed eggs. Tens of thousands of eggs have been hatched at the AIMS’ Townsville headquarters.

An adult ornate rock lobster. Tropical rock lobsters are difficult to breed in captivity but AIMS has now succeeded where others have failed.

fully domesticated female ornate rock lobster is a mother following the hatching of tens of thousands of eggs at the Institute’s Townsville headquarters. The lobster larvae will grow to become the second generation of lobsters fully reared in captivity. 26 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2011

The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) is the first research institution to report these results as tropical rock lobsters are difficult to breed in captivity. The breakthrough will open the way to selective breeding, giving researchers the opportunity to focus on development of commercially important traits in domesticated lobsters. Research institutions and private companies are working to understand the complex breeding cycle of lobsters, so high-value lobsters can be farmed to supply growing demand in places such as China and Southeast Asia. The head of the project, Dr Mike Hall said: “This latest breakthrough builds on AIMS’ strength and the team’s expertise

“Much of this research progress has been possible because of the AIMS research vessel, the RV Ferguson which has given us the platform to study the secret life of the lobster, in its natural habitat in the Coral Sea,” Dr Hall said. Dr Hall said the establishment of a commercial lobster farm industry would help ease pressure on rapidly- dwindling stocks of wild lobsters. “Australia’s marine domain makes up over 70 per cent of its territory, but has one of the largest seafood trade deficits in import (193,500 tonnes) to export (46,900 tonnes) ratio in the world. The demand for high value seafood from the wild is relentless and will continue for decades to come.’

F E AT U R E

Stu Rowland: a heartfelt thank-you I

first met Dr Stuart Rowland at the Narrandera Inland Fisheries Research Station back in 1979. We were looking at starting up a native fish farm at Violet Town with Willie Truman and Willie introduced us. We were new to the industry, as green as blue green algae, and it was Stu’s sound advice, not always fully appreciated at the time, which enabled us to establish Native Fish Hatcheries. Stu’s willingness to unstintingly share his knowledge and vast experience with anyone wanting to come into aquaculture is only part of his contribution to the industry that he so passionately cares about. His technical knowledge equals his passion. He followed the late John Lake’s pioneering work with a native fish breeding research program at Narrandera. We have watched the production of native fish grow from the simple but effective early days to the mass produced industry it is today. Those of us earning a crust from breeding, growing and selling Murray cod, catfish and silver, golden and jade perch all owe Stu a vote of thanks for his skill and devotion. While at Narrandera, Stu also studied the biology of Murray cod. Findings from this research were used to establish new fisheries regulations, including size and bag limits and a closed season and this management has contributed to a significant increase in abundance and recovery of cod stocks in NSW over the last 15 years. From heading up the breeding and re-stocking program at Narrandera he moved to Grafton to carry out a conservation program of the endangered eastern freshwater cod (Maccullochella ekei), including breeding and re-stocking fingerlings. This species is now recovering and has been saved from likely extinction. His next step was into commercial aquaculture. With the growth of the live

fish markets in the capital cities, he quickly recognised that, for the industry to become a mainstream source of quality seafood, growers and investors would need some hard data on such key production indicators as stocking densities, growth rates and food conversion efficiency as well as husbandry and health management issues. The result was the Silver Perch Workshops at Narrandera and Grafton in 1994 and the publication – still in print – of Silver Perch Culture edited by Stu and Carole Bryant. Following on from that he contributed to the development of the least-cost silver perch diet program headed by Dr Geoff Allan and then lead a silver perch disease and health management research program.

Dr Stuart Rowland Stu (left) with a Murray cod broodfish at Narranderra in 1978

Stu Rowland with a Murray cod sampled from the wild in 1982

But what really endeared me to Stu was his no-nonsense approach to research. Like all research scientists he saw his role as removing doubt; to this end he has gone down his share of dead-ends. This in itself should be measured in terms of what it has saved the wider industry. I, like any reporter, was always pushing him for the latest results from his trials. His response was invariably – we haven’t fully collated and analysed the data yet John. We’ll get it to you when we do. And he always did. He always had time to talk to anyone genuinely interested in warmwater aquaculture and I’m sure I’m not the only warmwater aquaculturist who has spent hours chewing the fat and picking his brains. Why am I saying all these nice things about him? Well, he’s finally reached the age of retirement. After 33 years at NSW Fisheries/DPI, he and Lyn are moving down the Clarence to Yamba. We feel sure the whole aquaculture industry joins us here in thanking him for his enormous contribution to our aquaculture lives and to wish the pair of them well.

Stu examining a golden perch broodfish

He’ll be maintaining an office at Grafton as a Visiting Scientist. And as he says: “While I am definitely retiring, I will be keeping my hand in fisheries and aquaculture science”. By John Mosig Stu can be contacted by phone on (02) ) 6640 1691, and by email on Stuart. Rowland@industry.nsw.gov.au Winter 2011 | Austasia Aquaculture 27

RESEARCH The Maxcraft has proven to be a very versatile and stable platform for all oyster lease operations.

Treating oyster overcatch and other pests with ‘slush puppy’ With a catchy name – ‘Super Salty Slush Puppy’ – and providing an effective treatment for oyster over-catch, fouling and other pests, much of the Aussie bivalve farming industry will soon be singing the praises of a great new innovation. It should provide significant cost savings for the farmers. Treatment machines have been built for onshore as well as at sea treatments.

ustralia is a net importer of oysters with over 10% of our market supplied from overseas. And the industry too is experiencing aggressive pricing challenges in its export markets from emerging producers like Chile and established growers like New Zealand. Just to survive, let alone expand, Australian oyster farmers need to reduce their cost of production.

One of those costs is the never-ending control of mud worm or flatworm infestations and other types of fouling. Whichever growing method or culture modules/baskets are used, such problems reduce growing performance, contribute to stock losses and often reduce the marketability of the end product. The manpower and boat-time resources to control these problems are considerable and, whilst estuary-dependent, have 28 Austasia Aquaculture | Autumn 2011

a big impact on the costs of growing Sydney Rock Oysters (Saccostrea glomerata) as oysters need to be moved up and down in the water column or brought ashore for drying out. For Pacific Oyster (Crassostrea gigas) the cost is no less significant and more prolonged given that on-shore dry out is not a viable treatment for Pacifics. The costs of no treatment are likewise significant: • throwing away two years of investment into the oyster, • discounting the product to the market place, • growing out the oyster and then chipping off the over-catch, or • spending more to process to recover meats for the bottle market. Collaboration between industry and government scientists has resulted in the

development and successful on lease trials of the application of an innovative cold-shock treatment technology. An Australian Seafood CRC funded project was undertaken by Southern Cross Marine Culture, through the Tasmanian Oyster Research Council and with the support of the Oyster Consortium. Marine Culture operates oyster farms in Tasmania, South Australia and NSW. According to Bob Cox, Secretary of the Tasmanian Oyster Research Council and Director of Marine Culture, preliminary investigations have shown the potential for cold shock to control oyster overcatch of both Pacific Oysters and Sydney Rock Oysters. This is supported by Dr Wayne O’Connor of the Port Stephens Fisheries Institute, NSW. He says another excellent outcome is the

RESEARCH

The 4-pontoon Maxcraft was shipped in a 21’ sea container from New Zealand for assembly at Port Stephens.

effectiveness of the technology in the control of a variety of other fouling organisms such pigmy mussels (Xenostrobus securis) and hairy mussels (Trichomya hirsuta) which compete with oysters for food and bind them together in clumps. “Effective control of barnacles, including common honeycomb barnacles (Balanus trigonus) is likely,” Wayne adds, “while destruction of predatory Stylochid flatworms (such as Imogene mcgrathi) is almost assured.” Wayne says the technology also has other possible uses. “Hyper and hyposaline baths have been used to control mud worm infestations (Polydora spp. and Boccardia spp.) in other bivalves and therefore the combination of hypersaline solutions and cold shock may well prove beneficial in the control of these worms. “Finally this technology is likely to be effective in deterring a broad range of soft bodied fouling organisms ranging from algal growth to ascidians which Autumn 2011 | Austasia Aquaculture 29

RESEARCH

Oyster over catch on growout baskets. The graph says it all, 100% margin for error with 100% over catch kill within 1 minute and 100% oyster survival if out of cold treatment within 2 minutes.

variously impact bivalve culture across all Australian states.” Wayne and Bob both believe that other industries will also benefit. “Pearl farmers in the tropical north face the most significant imposts of fouling control, most notably those growing Silverlip Pearl Oyster (Pinctada maxima), but also those subtropical farms producing Blacklip Pearl Oysters (P. margaritifera) and Akoya (P. imbricata). These pearl industries all handle stock far more frequently than the edible oyster industry, largely to remove fouling. So they may adopt this technology.” The Blue Mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) industry may also benefit as it has significant over-catch problems and has suffered considerable losses as a result of Stylochid flatworm predation. From cooking to slushies Bob says that the original idea arose from the thought that the effectiveness of the widely-used ‘cooking’ of oysters (a three second bath of oysters in 60-80°C seawater) had more to do with the rapid temperature change when the oysters were plunged in ambient temperature after the cooking. 30 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2011

The “eureka” moment came when Bob was playing with a Temprite (beer cooler) in a bar where the Temprite wasn’t cutting out and had the beer down to -5°C. Yet the beer still flowed normally; for oysters why not try cold instead of heat?. The idea was spectacularly simple yet ground breaking. Roughly the same temperature differential can be achieved, it is much safer for personnel and likely less damaging to the host oyster if ‘over cooked’. In 2005 an initial study of cold shock treatment was undertaken by Dr Mike Heasman, then with the Port Stephens Fisheries Institute, NSW. The trial utilised an immersion quick-freeze unit commonly used on fishing boats and heavily over-caught oysters were immersed for varying times. A saturated salt solution doesn’t freeze solid ‘till close to -30°C but for the trial the temperature was set at -19°C. Mike’s factory-based trials delivered very exciting results – the graph above says it all! A 100% margin for error was possible with a 100% kill of over catch within 1 minute immersion at -19°C. The high saline sub zero treatment system was proven to be effective in

controlling various types of fouling, including oyster overcatch, on Pacific and Sydney Rock Oysters and their growing modules. Basic equipment Bob says it is important to stress that the application of the science can be in any number of forms. “All that’s needed is a vessel to hold a tank of high salt-concentrate water, a means of chilling that drives water down to -20°C or so, a mechanism to bring your oysters into the tank and after treatment immediately plunge the oysters back into normal temperature water. That, and a very loud egg timer!” To reduce transport costs, Marine Culture decided to test the technology to process product ‘on lease’ (at sea). They commissioned Matthew Brown of SED Shellfish Equipment (based in Wynyard, Tasmania) to build an experimental but automated unit described as ‘brilliant’ by users. The cooling system uses glycol while a stainless steel bar conveyor allows the baskets to be loaded from the water almost at deck level, through the cooling trough and then back out again. .

RESEARCH

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Winter 2011 | Austasia Aquaculture 31

RESEARCH

A cold shock machine for on land treatment of fouling.

Oyster over catch on a cultured Pacific Oyster from Port Stephens.

The trough is stainless steel with high quality urethane insulation and a stainless steel cladding for protection. Modules or baskets Matt says that the current design is able to do 20 baskets a minute. “It has variable speed so the immersion time can be increased or decreased according to the fouling levels. The current machine is overdesigned, however. With some feedback on its operations we will look to reduce the size and power requirements. It will still have the capacity to take main supply electricity or use a generator.” Although the current design is for a continuous system using a bar conveyor, a lower cost batch system for land based operations will also be available. Marine Culture predominantly uses SEAPA growing modules and the SED unit is designed for a staff member to unclip a module, put it on the feed rack and after coming out of the unit another staff member reclips the module back on the line. According to Shaun McCarthy, the SEAPA Longline baskets were the first purposemade injection moulded oyster baskets in Australia and quite likely the world. “The SEAPA basket mesh is made from 100% virgin plastic which insures that the 32 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2011

integrity of the product is never compromised. This has enabled farmers to use our products in extreme farming conditions around the world and allowed others to carry out maintenance activities such as cooking or freezing off overcatch. “SEAPA has been producing a range of oyster farming products for more than a decade and enjoys working closely with innovative and progressive farmers. We have had great success with market leading advances in the past and look forward to the next stage of development working with Marine Culture.” Marine Culture’s unit weighs three tonnes when full and a tonne dry. The main trough is 6m long by 1.2m wide by 0.8m high (the in-feed and outlet gives a total length of 9m). It is designed to be forked onto a vessel along with a 50kVA power generator (0.5 tonne) and the compressor weighs 0.5 tonne. For such a heavy machine a semi-special purpose vessel was needed – i.e. one with capacity (up to 6 tonnes), high stability and clear deck for when the equipment is on board as well as a vessel being usable for lease development and normal farm operations. After extensive consultation with various vessel builders, Marine Culture bought a punt from Maxcraft New Zealand which was shipped disassembled in a 40’ container and put together on site at Port Stephens. According to Maxcraft’s Max Monkley, he has been building aluminium boats since 1974 working in NZ, Pacific Islands, (Vanuatu), Indonesia and Malaysia; he has also exported vessels to China. His speciality is multi-hull craft for uses in fishing and aquaculture industries, also for tourism, sports (2010 World Rowing Champs held in NZ), rescues and movie making. “Harvey Calvert (Marine Culture) called me to supply, design and delivery to Port Stephens of a boat that could act as a stable platform to handle up to 5 tonnes,” Max explained. “Knowing only

a little about the oyster industry I sent a couple of ideas and suggested shipping the parts in a sea container. The chosen design was four folded 4mm thick pontoons with a 3mm bridge deck. I stepped back the outer hulls for manoeuvrability and assembled it in our NZ workshop in two parts. We actually launched the boat (overall length [LOA] 11,500mm, width [BOA] 4,500mm, draft 280mm) only three days after arrival. It is capable of fitting up to four outboards. Marine Culture’s GM Peter (Ripple) Kosmeyer believes they have achieved an excellent outcome with the vessel, named the ‘Kiwi Express’. “The four pontoons deliver exceptional stability, despite its size the vessel gets easily on the plane with a single 75 HP motor and it steers straight and true.” Ripple says it takes around 24 hours for the compressor to cool down the saline mixture. “The immersion time depends on the size of the overcatch and host stock. We have a 30 second target plus variations upwards with increasing size and age of the host. Pacific Oysters have worked very well in testing 25 - 40 secs for smaller overcatch and 50 - 80 secs for larger over catch. Sydney Rocks don’t like the cold so we need to be quicker. We are experimenting with the immersion time for them. We must remember that immersion for close to 2 minutes can kill the oysters. “The machine has been made to operate at 1 tube every 2.5 seconds,” Ripple continues. “However once on the water changing operating conditions means it unlikely we could do a full 1,440 tubes per hour (approx 7,200 dozen oysters); but in theory that rate can be achieved. We believe that with 3-4 people on the boat we can take tubes off at the front of the boat, place into the machine, run through the machine and then replace onto the rack – all in one pass. Ripple confirmed that Marine Culture is happy for people to have a look at their unit and take pictures, ask questions and even pinch and adapt the design.

RESEARCH

People are encouraged to observe their land-based and sea trials. “Already some other farmers are looking at retro-fitting their existing cooking tanks. This seems to make perfect sense and is a very cost effective approach.” “Our willingness to share the knowledge and IP we have already developed is to encourage wider industry acceptance, adoption and trials to lower the cost of production and maintenance. There’s also the hope that when neighbours employ the same mitigation measures, we can all avoid the mud worm infestation and re-infestation.” Tweaking and fine tuning The current research is examining the variables for immersion times and temperature for differing sizes and ages of oysters in order to establish optimal and most cost-effective operating parameters for the various applications (oyster overcatch, other hard shell fouling, soft fouling, mud worm, flatworm, etc.). Oversight of the trials to verify the

efficacy of the treatment and the range of applications is being undertaken by Wayne at the Port Stephens Fisheries Institute. “Our role in the slush puppy exercise is twofold – to assist with monitoring the success of the full scale field trials when they get underway and lab work with oysters and pests to more accurately quantify success.

tougher but for practical purposes can be handled easily if dealt with in a timely fashion.” By Dos O’Sullivan. All photos courtesy: Southern Cross Marine Culture. For more information contact: Bob Cox, Principal Investigator, Secretary

“For the latter, we will specifically look at the relationship between size and survival time for oysters to provide insight into how to deal with specific overcatch problems … for example small Pacific oysters, on Sydney rock oysters and vice versa. We will then compare the respective tolerances of key pest species with those of the oysters.

Tasmanian Oyster Research Council and

“It is early days and it takes time to collect the various species, but things are looking good. It is no surprise, but flatworms don’t stand a chance (we knew that, but needed to confirm it) and it is very effective with barnacles. Mussels (in this case pygmy mussels) are a little

SEAPA: www.seapa.com.au

Director Southern Cross Marine Culture, M: 0418 338-797 E: OYSTERS@pecserv.com.au Peter Kosmeyer: Ripple@marineculture.com.au SED: matthew@shellquip.com.au 03 6442-1563. Maxcraft: mjmonk@xtra.co.nz

Wayne O’Connor: wayne.o’connor@industry.nsw.gov.au

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Winter 2011 | Austasia Aquaculture 33

RESEARCH

Prawn farmers planning for rising energy costs

By the standards of rural Australia, the productivity of a prawn farm is prodigious- but the energy costs are also high

Energy technology specialists from CSIRO are modelling energy use on prawn farms to determine how the farmers can respond to rising energy costs and other effects of climate change. The outcomes will assist other industry sectors.

veryone is talking about climate change – record-breaking floods, cyclones, fires, what will be next?

Some sceptics are still unconvinced. However we know that new record high temperatures are posted routinely these days and the worst fires, floods and cyclones ‘in living memory’ are enough to convince most people that all is not well with the world. But it doesn’t just stop with the weather. It’s our Economy. It’s our Environment. Some degree of scepticism is probably understandable. In Australia, drought, cyclone and flood come with the territory. We’ve all heard the doom-sayers. It doesn’t help that plagues of locusts, disease-harbouring mosquitoes and now beetles have now reached “biblical” 34 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2011

proportions. That’s right, beetles? It might sound like the script for some Hollywood special-effects blockbuster, but this time it’s our cities, our communities and our businesses in the cross-hairs. Ask yourself how many years like 2011 do you want the country to have over the next few centuries? Threats from climate change From the perspective of many of the scientists and policy-makers in Canberra, climate change is the biggest looming threat to our economy. The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) have the future of the primary production industries in its care. Along with disaster or emergency relief and other emergency activities, they have

been undertaking a wide number of projects to assist the farmers, fishers and foresters. In the context of the problems associated with climate change, energy security is high on the ‘to do list’. Extreme weather events can interrupt power and liquid fuel supplies. New or farms undergoing expansion in pondage are forced to pay for new power infrastructure such as power lines, transformers, back-up generators and so on. Rising demand and the need for investment to replace ageing electricity generation and distribution networks means that energy prices are increasing around Australia (some estimates suggest increases as high as 3-4 times). Thus both supply cuts and increasing costs will have significant impacts on profitability.

RESEARCH

With onshore aquaculture operations the majority of energy is used moving water around, whether drawing water using river pumps or circulating water in ponds. It’s not just a matter of how long the equipment is used for. The efficiency is also critical, for example prawn farmers use 4-10 paddlewheel aerators per one hectare pond and their efficiency is in turn influenced directly by their orientation and how fouled up with algae they are. Competent operators are dealing with energy in its many forms on a daily basis with an eye on their tariffs and their next bill. But they must also plan for the future, for interruptions to mains supply, for fuel shortages due to bigger cyclones and for higher demand due to farm expansion or higher productivity (i.e. increased growth and survival due to selective breeding). Energy audits DAFF has contributed almost $120,000 (GST exclusive) through a Farm Ready Industry Grants Round 2 for the project “Prawn Farmers Responding to Australia’s Changing Climate”. Run over the 2010-11 production season the project enables CSIRO Energy Technology specialists to examine energy use at a variety of prawn farms. With inkind assistance from the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI, Qld), CSIRO, DAFF and industry, the whole project is probably worth over $200,000 and it is expected to have far reaching impacts on the industry. According to Dr Brian Paterson, Principal Research Scientist at DEEDI, the outcome of the project will be recommendations on a range of options for how the industry might respond to rising energy costs and carbon abatement (carbon credits). “There are two main challenges the project faces,” says Brian. “The first is the diversity of culture methods and systems in the industry. The second is dissecting daily and yearly energy use within farms to find trends. “This project will set the principles for

Paddlewheel aerators have to be cleaned regularly to stop them sinking under the weight of biofouling.

Looking for a prawn farm? Follow the power lines.

how different kinds of prawn farms will be powered in the future,” he continues. “There will probably be lessons for barramundi farmers as well (and for other aquaculturists around Australia).”

competition. They can find further efficiencies in future and use domesticated stocks, but sustainable farms will still have to use huge amounts of energy. That’s the next big challenge.”

He believes that Aussie prawn farms are very good at adapting to problems. “Our prawn farmers are operating in the face of El Ninos, cyclones, floods and import

Brian says this project is an opportunity for prawn farmers to step back and decide where it’s best to spend their energy dollar. “The project is examining

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RESEARCH

energy usage at several prawn farms throughout the state (Queensland), incorporating practices such as hatchery, grow-out and postharvest processing and cool chain storage. This information has allowed the modelling of a series of generic farms (of different sizes, with removable hatchery/processing components) which were then matched against renewable or alternative energy systems.”

Dr Sarah Miller (CSIRO) discussing seawater for hatcheries with Shane Cartwright (Pacific Reef Fisheries).

A total of 6-8 farms were included in the study from along the Queensland coastline. Dr Sarah Miller is the CSIRO engineer doing the energy study. She says that examining the energy bill was only part of the equation. “The energy bills only reflect basic information on usage; amount used, peak months, overall cost. The daily time of use data is not provided and this has major impacts on the bill as there are differencing prices for off peak energy use.

Sarah Miller examines a motor at Australian Prawn Farm, south of Mackay.

Sarah says that when she is examining the energy efficiency, she will be analysing the energy use patterns for all activities, including processing and growout. “We will check over monthly periods for day time or night time (off peak) usage data; also gas and diesel consumption. Matching or placing the energy loads with renewable energy options is an area for industry to consider.” After the recent cyclones and floods, one question a few farmers already know the answer to is how long you can keep pond biomass alive when there is no power. It is expected that the results of the research will be available before the end of the year. By Dos O’Sullivan All photos courtesy of DEEDI. For more information contact Dr Brian Paterson, Bribie Island Research Centre, Principal Research Scientist, DEEDI, T: 07 3400-2003, M: 0412 183-116, E: Brian.Paterson@deedi.qld.gov.au

Alistair Dick (Pacific Reef Fisheries) and Sarah Miller discuss paddlewheel control.

36 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2011

Sarah Miller examines pumps at Seafarm, Cardwell

Dr Sarah Miller, CSIRO, T: 02 4960-6084, E: sarah.miller@csiro.au

RESEARCH

Eco-efficiency Case Study

How much energy is needed to produce prawns?

In mid 2010 researchers from the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM, Qld) undertook a number of case studies on eco-efficiency for various industries, including aquaculture. The Rocky Point Prawn Farm (Gold Coast) was selected as it is AS/NZS 9001 certified for environmental sustainability.

The last time energy audits were undertaken on Queensland aquaculture facilities was a threeyear study undertaken during the late 1990s by Eric Peterson, a research fellow in Aquacultural Engineering at James Cook Uni’s School of Engineering. The JCU team analysed load profiles with maximum demand power meters on a range of aquaculture facilities. They found that on Australian and overseas prawn farms the energy use of aeration represented about 70% of the electric load, while pumps were responsible for intense short-term peaks of maximum demand.

They found that the use of efficient aerators is a key issue for aquaculture farms. Independent research completed under Queensland Sustainable Energy Innovation Fund found that the surface floating paddlewheels used at Rocky point have higher standard aeration efficiencies compared to other aerators such as aspirators, leaky hoses and airlifts. However, to increase electricity savings the farm installable variable speed drivers on some of its aerators. These drivers are set to operate at lower speed during daylight hours, using thus less energy. It was estimated that installation of variable speed drivers for all of the farm’s aerators had the potential to save up to $40,000 per year in energy costs, with a payback period of two and a half years. A further $10,000 in annual savings can be achieved on the farm by incorporating weights on aerator floats during the early stages of the crop cycle to improve aerator efficiency. During the later stages of the growing cycle the weights are removed to reduce bio-fouling of the aerators. Ref: http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/ environmental_management/sustainability/sustainability-publications/si_ cstudy_rockypointprawnfarm.pdf

Their report (presented at the 3rd Queensland Environmental Conference, May 2000) showed that power cost savings of over 25% could be achieved through switching off some aerators during daylight, use of speed controls on aerators and off peak pumped storage of water for exchange. Prawn farming practices have significantly improved over the past

decade and energy efficiencies have been achieved through speed control pumps and aerators, better insulation of processing and storage areas and improved electrical switchboxes and generators. A recent article in the Global Aquaculture Advocate (Henriksson et al 2010) confirmed that feed production is the major-energyconsuming practice in finfish and crustacean culture. Even so they showed that the energy used in seafood production to farm gate was usually much higher for beef (43-64 MJ/kg), than for farmed fish – eg. salmon (26-48 MJ/kg) or intensive Tilapia (18-27 MJ/kg). As a comparison broiler chickens in the US had lower energy use (15 MJ/ kg). For filter feeders (eg. oysters <1 MJ/kg), the main energy intensive stages were host harvest and transport. Ref: Henriksson, P. et al 2010, Energy efficiency of Aquaculture, in Global Aquaculture Advocate Sept/ Oct ’10, p40-44.

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Winter 2011 | Austasia Aquaculture 37

RESEARCH

Mud worm review to assist control mechanisms T

he mud worm became Australia’s first recorded marine pest way back in 1885 causing large numbers of mortalities of Sydney Rock Oysters in the Hunter River of NSW. However, one hundred and twenty-six years later the identity and life history of this pest in Australia remains unclear. Bivalve culture industries in several states are known to be adversely affected by more than twenty species of these mud worms.

According to University of Queensland researcher Lexie Walker the longevity of this problem is largely due to unaddressed issues of basic taxonomy. “It is obvious,” she explains. “If people don’t know which species from the Polydora-complex of polychaete worms is causing a problem,

Top: 100X magnification of the head and 1mm long grooved feeding palps of a mud worm recently discovered in Darwin. The possible new species was found in large numbers blocking the water filtration system of an aquaculture pond. Bottom: 40X magnification of the head of a Polydora sp. extracted from a mud-blister in Sydney Rock Oyster. The long feeding palps have been removed. Photos by L.M. Walker, MAGNT facilities.

then developing control methods become difficult. A complete taxonomic revision of Australian mud worms should be published by early 2013.” As part of her PhD research, Lexie has compiled an updated checklist of the 36 Polydora-complex species known to occur in Australia to assist scientists and farmers. Twelve of these species are known to occur on farmed molluscs. Her recent research indicates that up to 29 species, including several new species are from subtropical east Australian estuaries. She collated information currently available on the species in Australia, including history of discovery in the natural environment and in commercial aquaculture facilities plus a swag of ecological information. This has allowed the identification of serious gaps in our knowledge of this group. “It is hoped that by being explicit about the knowledge gaps, ultimately they can be addressed by specific research. This combined with a solid taxonomic background means we are much closer to resolving the mud worm problem in Australia.” Natural or assisted distribution? A number of scientists have suggested that the apparently widespread distributions of Polydora-complex species, particularly the pest species, are directly due to accidental translocations around the globe. Lexie reported that the ecological adaptability of the group combined with the increased movement of marine vessels and the intentional transportation of bivalve stock globally and nationally over the last 100–150 years has led to this belief. “As most of these vessel and stock movements have not been recorded in any systematic fashion, it is very difficult to

38 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2011

trace the country of origin, or even the region of origin in Australia, for many of the Polydora-complex species found here. “We need to determine whether these species occur naturally in Australia, or have been introduced through human activities.” Ex-NSW Fisheries scientist Damian Ogburn and two colleagues published a paper* in 2007 that discussed the reasons for the disappearance of oyster reefs from eastern Australian estuaries. Their research concluded that introduced mud worms caused a greater impact on the oyster reefs than did catchment degradation. The rehabilitation of the estuaries of NSW is linked to the reformation of hard substrate habitats formed by the oyster reefs. However, whilst it can’t be determined if the mud worms were endemic or introduced, identifying the species in the rivers now is critical to reducing their impact on oyster health. Lexie is confident that in the not too distant future we will unravel what was once a “too hard” problem - the identity of our first marine pest. “New molecular and morphological identification tools, imaging techniques and increased computing power mean we can identify the species, map their distribution and confirm their life histories so that effective and sustainable control methods can begin to be developed.” This research was published in the Zootaxa journal in early 2011. For more information contact Lexie Walker, M: 0402 509-912, E: lwalker2@iprimus.com.au Note: Ogburn, D.M., White, I. & McPhee, D.P. (2007). The disappearance of oyster reefs from eastern Australian estuaries – impact of colonial settlement or mud worm invasion? Coastal Management, 35, 271–287.

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RESEARCH

Effects of seawater acidification on Sydney Rock Oysters T

he equation is simple – more carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere equals acidification of seawater!

Current research around the world is suggesting that the impacts of climate change on marine organisms and ecosystem could be catastrophic. The effects are expected to be significant for organisms which construct calcium carbonate shells and skeletons such as bivalve molluscs and reef forming coral polyps. To date, however, little is known about whether the response of such marine organisms varies within a species and whether this provides a potential “adaptive capacity” of the species to survive these effects of climate change. This shortcoming is being addressed by research undertaken at the University of Western Sydney, in collaboration with Industry and Investment NSW, Macquarie University and the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (Germany). The team has found that existing selectively bred lines of the Sydney Rock Oyster (Saccostrea glomerata) are more resilient to ocean acidification than the wild populations. The scientists refer to these levels as pCO2 – currently coastal seawater has

a pCO2 of 380 µatm which is equivalent to a pH of 8.2. Over the next century, it is predicted that seawater pH will drop 0.3-0.4 units as pCO2 levels reach 1,000 µatm. This might not sound significant, however a drop in pH of 0.1 units equates to a 30% increase in hydrogen ions in solution (pH uses a log based scale). The once highly lucrative pearling industry is probably most at threat from increasing acidity of seawater. “There are two main polymorphs of calcium carbonate, calcite and aragonite,” says ARC Postdoctoral Fellow Laura Parker. “Aragonite combines with the organic compound conchiolin (a protein) to form nacre or mother-of-pearl. Aragonite is by far the most soluble form of calcium carbonate. “However, the fact that pearl oysters and a number of other commercial bivalves are bred in hatcheries means the selective process could lead to animals with enhanced genes influencing the production of specific proteins or overall physiology of the species to adjust to changing seawater conditions. “Since 1990, the SRO has been the subject of selective breeding programme to establish populations of oysters which grow faster and are resistant to disease,”

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Laura continues. “We were able to test those hatchery bred family lines against those of wild populations.” Thus the responses to more acidic seawater in newly metamorphosed (settled) spat from selected breeding lines were compared with those from wild population spat. Overall both showed a significant reduction in the shell growth after only four days exposure (acute effects). “Recent experiments show that longterm exposure of larvae leads to reduced growth, development rate and survival. However, the effects on the selectively bred population are far less severe than those on the wild population.” “We found a 25% reduction in spat shell growth of the selectively bred population of the Sydney Rock Oyster compared to a 64% reduction in shell growth of wild populations,” Laura explains. “Whilst a number of overseas studies on seawater acidification have demonstrated reduced growth in several marine species, this is one of the first studies to directly measure the response within and between populations of the same species.” Laura has also undertaken preliminary research on Pacific Oysters (Crassostrea gigas) and found that whilst acidification affected them, the effects were not as pronounced as with the Sydney Rocks. “Interestingly we found that the drop in pH adversely affected the fertilisation of the local (Port Stephens) population (this originated from unplanned introductions of Pacifics from Tasmanian or other waters). Studies on Japanese and Swedish wild populations of Pacifics found they were not affected at fertilisation.” As the Pacific Oyster has been introduced to dozens of countries around the world (in a wide range of cold temperate to subtropical regions) and it is one of the most cultivated bivalve species in the world, then the potential for finding family lines that are more resilient to

RESEARCH

changing seawater pH are high. Likewise with the Mediterranean Mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and the Blue Mussel (Mytilus edulis). Populations of both these species are found in wide geographic areas and they are cultured in many countries, including Australia (Mediterranean Mussel) where farmers can now choose between hatchery-bred seed or wild caught spat.

fed a daily algal diet of Chaetoceros muelleri, Pavlova lutheri and Tahitian Isochrysis aff galbana and there is a complete water change every two days.

“None of these studies have looked at the potential for adaptation in these species,” said Laura. “My research showed that there are significantly different sensitivities to ocean acidification even within the same species, providing preliminary evidence that selective breeding may be a solution to ‘climate proof’ important aquaculture industries to overcome the future effects of ocean acidification.

“At the end of the experiment we will be testing the physiology (metabolic rate, blood and tissue pH levels etc) and proteins (what proteins are produced at elevated CO2 and what proteins are different between the wild and selectively bred Sydney rock oysters using 2D-gel electrophoresis and shotgun technology). Our reasons for doing this are to identify ‘how’ oysters are impacted by ocean acidification (what is actually happening to them), identify ‘why’ the selectively bred oysters are more resilient/ resistant to ocean acidification as well as determine whether the wild population can adapt to long-term exposure.

“We are now running longer term studies where the oysters are grown in tanks for number of weeks/ months at a time at ambient (current level) and elevated CO2. We are using state-of -the-art facilities at the Port Stephens Fisheries Institute where the CO2 level is constantly controlled by pH controllers, the oysters are

“We will then be able to determine how the different stages and different family lines are affected. This will allows us then to selective breed Sydney Rock Oysters which are more resilient to the higher CO2. This technology will also be able to be used for testing other aquaculture species.”

The experimental setup with the tanks (black) of oysters on top of tanks with seawater and algal culture. Pumps maintain a flow through the oysters. The CO2 bottles can be seen to the right. Photo by Matthew Smiles

If we can identify the mechanisms responsible for the resilience of selectively bred oysters to elevated CO2 there’s the potential to select oysters specifically for resilience to ocean acidification. There is the hope that similar mechanisms may be discovered too for other aquaculture species in Australia and potentially world-wide. By Dos O’Sullivan The earlier research was published in the prestigious journal Marine Biology December ‘10. For more information contact Laura Parker, 0438 354-637, email: l.parker@uws.edu.au

Winter 2011 | Austasia Aquaculture 41

FA R M P R O F I L E

Ben Hokin with valuable microalgae at NMIT

Biodiesel from microalgae: a student’s experience B

ack in 2007, Nick Mitropoulos, the Managing Director of Fuji Fuels in Thomastown, Victoria, wanted some advice on the culture of microalgae – microscopic algae also known collectively as phytoplankton. Fortunately, his first port of call was literally around the corner in the nearby suburb of Epping where he was aware that an aquaculture program was running at the local TAFE institute, NMIT (Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE). Nick’s reason for wanting to investigate algae was for the development of biodiesel, a clean and green fuel seen by many as a panacea from the climate change issues that have dominated discussion in our energy hungry society for quite some time now. “Up until the time we started investigating algae, most of our work had concentrated on oil from vegetable sources and the like,” 42 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2011

says Nick. “But then we started to hear about the potential for microalgae to be used as an alternative source of the oils that can then be converted into what we know as biodiesel and we started investigating this in earnest.” On meeting NMIT’s Head of Program, Dr. Saleh Mobin, Nick was introduced to Dr. Sadiqul Awal, who has had extensive experience and training in the culturing of algae in Bangladesh, China and Belgium and who teaches the Algology and Zooplankton subject at NMIT. Enter Ben Hokin Thankfully for both Fuji Fuels and NMIT, a promising young student was about to re-enter the academic system. Ben Hokin initially started off his tertiary education at Deakin University, undertaking studies aligned with the conservation and natural resource management

sector, but after a year decided that the course wasn’t for him. “I found the information being presented just wasn’t stimulating for me, and felt that it really lacked practical application. I was itching for something that contained solid theory but with plenty of hands-on application as well.” With the 2006 academic year approaching, Ben decided to enrol in the Bachelor of (Applied) Aquaculture course at NMIT’s Epping campus. “When I had a tour of the Aquaculture Training and Applied Research Centre, my mind was made up. I wanted to do this course and find out more about this field.” Ben thus set off on a journey that would culminate in his exploration and employment in the biodiesel industry; not an area that most people would readily associate with aquaculture.

E D U C AT I O N

After completing the first year of his studies (and doing exceptionally well), Ben decided that his hankering for hands-on practical work still needed to be satisfied and decided to work in industry for a year and defer his studies. Yarra Valley Salmon signed him up, and he spent a year there – in a role as a farm manager at their farms in Murrindindi, Rubicon, Noogee and the processing facility at Kilsyth – gaining valuable industry experience before deciding to return to his studies at NMIT to complete his qualification. From there, Ben undertook employment at Aquarium Industries in Epping as well as at Seca Marine Life in Oakleigh while completing his degree qualification.

Algal bags at Fuji Fuels

After returning to his studies, Ben was introduced to Nick at Fuji Fuels by Dr Sadiqul Awal, and the rest, as they say, is history. “That many of our graduates have secured paid employment in the aquaculture and related industries prior to even graduating is probably the single most satisfying aspect of our degree program,” says Andrew Christie, a lecturer in the Bachelor of Aquaculture program. “In Ben’s case, he was an outstanding student who picked up several awards and study grants during his time at NMIT, so it was always simply a matter of where he would end up and what he would be researching.”

Aquaculture Pack more into your aquaculture degree

By the time Ben had reached the third year of his studies, he was actively involved in investigating the idea of extracting biodiesel from algae by undertaking a research project entitled Comparison of Harvesting Techniques and Oil Extraction Methods for Microalgae under the supervision of his mentor Dr. Sadiqul Awal. This research project was instrumental in steering him onto a path of discovery in the area; he was able to achieve a mark of High Distinction (the highest possible mark) for his work. Biodiesel: a cleaner and greener fuel for the future So, what is the idea behind the development of biodiesel from algae? Winter 2011 | Austasia Aquaculture 43

E D U C AT I O N

The technology for producing and using biodiesel is not new and has been known about for over 50 years (Chisti, 2007). While algae was always suspected as having great potential for being a source of biodiesel (with interest in algae stemming back to the 1970’s; Demirbas, 2009), it is only relatively recently that very serious efforts are being made to increase production, with concerns about global warming from the burning of fossil fuels and the rising cost of petroleum driving the issue. It has been known for some time that biodiesel fuels tend to burn cleaner than conventional petroleum products at very similar efficiency levels. Another great benefit of algae is that it captures carbon dioxide as part of the growing process, thus neutralizing any carbon emissions that may have gone into producing the biodiesel in the first place. There is still much work to do on the production of biodiesel from microalgae; while there have been hundreds of scientific articles written on vegetable oil-derived sources of biodiesel, to date there have been relatively few articles written on the production of biodiesel from algae. Since they are loaded with fatty acids and have an oil content that may be up to a whopping 80% of their weight by dry biomass (though oil levels of 20-50% of overall mass are more common) microalgae are a potential goldmine when it comes to biodiesel production. Not surprisingly, the yield of oil from algae is massive: studies have shown that around 200 times more biodiesel per acre from algae is produced than even the best performing vegetable oil sources! Demirbas, (2009) explained that as much as 46 tons of oil per hectare per year can come from the culture of diatoms, testament to microalgae’s ability to complete its life cycle every few days. In terms of culturing algae, the bare essentials are sunshine, nutrients and some space. Because of the requirement for nutrients, there has been some discussion of reducing carbon dioxide 44 Austasia Aquaculture | Winter 2011

(CO2) and nitrous oxide (NOx) from existing powerplants by growing algae in close proximity to them (Demirbas, 2009). When all of these elements are provided, algae are the fastest growing photosynthesizing organisms on the planet. The extraction of oil from algae can involve one or more of several different processes. The first of these is the use of a press to extract as much as 75% of the oil from the algae. Chemicals (such as hexane) can also be used to perform what is known as a solvent extraction and extract the oils that way, and carbon dioxide can also be used for this purpose. Before any extraction process can begin, the algal tissues must be ground up to break the cell walls (which are made of cellulose and quite tough in their own way), allowing them to release their valuable contents. What happens next is quite complicated, but in a nutshell involves the use of triglycerides (three fatty acid molecules), which are then reacted with glycerol. To manufacture biodiesel, the tryglycerides are reacted with methanol (alcoholysis or transesterification). The chemicals produced are biodiesel, as well as methyl esters of fatty acids. One of the key issues with biodiesel fuels is the relatively very high viscosity that they have. This creates problems when they are used in compression-ignition engines, since deposits can build up in engine parts and a certain quantity of the fuel may not burn, which leads to inefficiency. Biodiesel also has the issue of having relatively low volatility. Other than the considerable benefits that biodiesel brings to the environment, another great benefit is the potentially excellent cold weather applications that it has after some chemical alterations to the mix are made. The same can’t be said for biodiesel from other sources, such as vegetable oil and animal sources, which have a characteristically poor performance in lower temperature regimes (Demirbas, 2009). All the theory in the world concerning biodiesel is one thing, but of course it is the practical applications of the

technology that will determine how big a part this fuel will play in our future fight against climate change and the desire to have a cleaner and greener future. Even minor or subtle variations in the production process can lead to significant overall increases in production efficiency. This is crucial when remembering that vegetable oil biodiesel has been beset by major cost-benefit issues; namely that the cost of production is simply too high. Fuji Fuels are understandably tight-lipped about intricate details of their biodiesel production process, since their intellectual property has been derived from several years of hard work and significant investment. “We knew when we branched out into the field of aquaculture that we were taking a gamble, and knew that we were in need of some assistance, and that’s where NMIT and Ben Hokin stepped in,” Nick says. According to Ben, Fuji Fuels is certainly having one hell of a crack at biodiesel production. “I believe that what we are doing is as good as or better than anything else being done in Australia at the moment.” For Ben to have secured employment in an industry that is so different from the lay person’s appreciation of aquaculture is a testament to the diversity of this fascinating industry. By Andrew Christie, NMIT Aquaculture Program (Higher Education)

*NMIT’s Bachelor of Aquaculture program has been running since 2006 and is currently taking enrolments. Students can elect to undertake full time studies or may select certain units in either a part-time or single subject enrolment mode, and there are also a variety of short courses running at Certificate III level. For more information, please contact 03 9269 1042 or refer to the website at www.nmit.edu.au References and Further Reading Chisti, Y. (2007). Biodiesel from microalgae. Biotechnology Advances, 25, 294 – 306. Demirbas, A. (2009). Production of biodiesel from algae oils. Energy Sources, 31, 163-168.

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This is one of only 12 licences. POA please call 0417 871 110 or (61) 417 871 110 from outside Australia

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Prawn Grading Machine For Sale Prawn grader – 1998 • Fully automated, adjustable 10 grades Food grade stainless • Grading capacity 4 – 4.5ton per day Only operational 2-3 months a year • Extra parts including spare conveyer belts and motor • Very good to excellent condition Requires buyer to collect and install at their expense. Price $10,000 ono (incl GST) Please contact Andrew Carroll, Palmers Island Mulloway Pty Ltd Tel: 0421 500 611 or email: andrew@pim.net.au

Providing high quality equipment to the

aquaculture industry

The Fresh By Design Group is an Australian company providing the Australasian aquaculture industry with high quality equipment, expertise, experience together with an extensive product range and reliable ongoing backup service. We cover commercial and hobby aquaculture, waste ZDWHU WUHDWPHQW Ă&#x20AC;VK SURFHVVLQJ DQG WKH needs of educational facilities.

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Ben Pope and Peter Koller 3 Old Oak Place, PO Box 1020 Moss Vale NSW 2577 Ph: 02 4868 1762 Fax: 02 4868 2206 Mobile: 0419 288 712 fresh@bigpond.net.au

The only equipment supplier to be allied with Future Fisheries Veterinary Service Dr Matt Landos Mobile: 0437 492 863 matty.landos@gmail.com

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