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R&D NewsVolume 12, Edition 4ED’S EDITORIAL – Promotion: is it time?AND what has seafood promotion to do with FRDC anyway? Short answer: FRDC is in a unique position nationally to collect and manage promotional funds for fisheries. If we do this, the money will still belong to the sectors that raised it and they will decide how to spend it. Next question: is seafood promotion necessary? Perhaps the best response is also a question - the one posed by Seafood Australia’s Norm Grant elsewhere in this edition. He asks: when seafood is Australia’s most expensive and most sought-after primary protein, why do so many seafood producers struggle to survive? And here’s another question for every fishery operating under catch limits: If you don’t act to increase prices and profitability through targeted marketing, just what is your plan? One of FRDC’s first initiatives - in 1992 – was a marketing review. Our inaugural Board, under the leadership of Bill Widerberg, recognised that profit was essential for fisheries sustainability. The review confirmed the seafood industry did not have the marketing ability of other major food sectors. Twelve years later, with rare exceptions, it still hasn’t. Together, through the establishment of Seafood Services Australia, FRDC and the Australian Seafood Industry Council have acted nationally on key recommendations of the 1992 review to ensure production of safe, quality seafood, truthfully labelled. Product promotion though has not been tackled beyond an enterprise level, with one significant exception: export promotion of Australia’s wild catch prawns. Under enabling legislation and at the request of industry, FRDC funded this promotion successfully with money collected through specific-purpose levies. Increasingly, other sectors are awakening to their need to invest in structured promotion. The subject now dominates discussion at many industry meetings. It is a key strategy of the Aquaculture Action Agenda. It is being addressed through the Seafood Enterprise Alliance formed by the National Food Industry Strategy and chaired by Ron Edwards. It is always raised at Seafood Directions conferences. And it was rated a priority by industry leaders at a recent forum convened by Australian Fisheries Minister Ian Macdonald. In response, FRDC has initiated a move for enabling legislation that will give the industry the ability to fund and drive its product promotion on a sector, group of sectors, or industry-wide basis. But it has a way to go. It could take up to two years to put the legislation in place – and that is only the start. It could take a further year to produce the first levy regulation. FRDC has taken the initiative as far as it can. The rest is up to you – the industry. As a story elsewhere in this issue tells, many individual industry leaders are already saying ‘let’s go!’ Peter Dundas-Smith Executive Director, FRDC Phone 02 6285 0400
Profit’s the major challengeTWO principles were crucial to the future of Australian aquaculture, Nick Paspaley, Chairman of the Paspaley Pearling Company, told the Australasian Aquaculture Conference. The first was a need to work in harmony with the environment. On the basis of 35 years’ experience, he said he had come to believe that optimum results in any aquaculture field would only come from being part of the natural operating environment. “It is our duty to preserve our wonderful Australian environment. It’s also the only way to achieve superior aquaculture results.” The second requirement, Nick Paspaley said, was sustainable profitability. This was the greater challenge. “Profit is still very much a dirty word in the Australian bureaucracy. Most officials prefer not to consider the commercial aspects. They tend to concentrate on regulation, compliance and environmental issues. “Consequently the only time they generally have to confront issues of profitability is when the industry is in financial difficulty. “This is usually too late.” For aquaculture to achieve its potential, governments had to listen to the business people involved, he said. “Businessmen usually know more about the industry than anyone else – including expert advisers. “Over the past 35 years, managing the impact of government regulation and legislation on the business aspects of the pearl industry and alerting bureaucrats to the business ramifications of their regulations has probably been my most frustrating task,” Nick Paspaley said. Australia grew strong, he said, through building strong, locally-owned companies. “With technology so easily transferable, we must learn to work cooperatively to protect whatever advantages our industries can develop, so we can claim a share of world markets for ourselves. “The beauty of our challenge is the simplicity of it. That is all there is to it. “Australia’s wealth will ultimately be measured by the sum of the wealth of its businesses – not its resources,” he said.
Success from necessityNICK Paspaley’s father survived the collapse of the pearl shell industry in the 1950s by pioneering culture of the Australian South Seas pearl. The son transformed this technical achievement into an economically viable business. Fifty years on, the Australian cultured pearl sector has overtaken Japan to become world leader, producing and exporting an estimated $400m worth annually.
New seafood health guideNEW information on seafood’s contribution to health and nutrition is now available in an updated edition of FRDC’s What’s so healthy about seafood? “We all knew seafood was healthy. Now we know why,” said Monash University Professor of Medicine Mark Wahlqvist, launching the publication at the 2004 World Congress on Nutrition in Brisbane. “This guide details how a diet high in seafood may reduce the risk of diseases, including heart problems, stroke, cancer and diabetes,” he said. For its second edition FRDC has collected and summarised global research in a publication designed to help seafood marketers provide accurate advice to their customers and to directly inform consumers who want to read the results for themselves. “Must-read bits include a section on women’s health, including diet during pregnancy; and a Q&A section that summarises the seafood intake recommended by Food Standards Australia New Zealand,” Mark Wahlqvist said. “Seafood has long been recognised as a low calorie source of protein, but this latest research reinforces the link between seafood and disease prevention.” Hard copies of What’s so healthy about seafood are available from FRDC. An electronic version is a free download from www.frdc.com.au. MORE: Peter Horvat, phone 02 6285 0414
Support for levy mechanism“SEAFOOD industry promotional levies? Absolutely essential. Particularly for fisheries selling into world markets,” said Ron Edwards, Chairman of the Australian Prawn Industry Association. He is one of many seafood leaders who have supported FRDC’s proposal for federal legislation allowing promotional levies to be collected at the request of industry. And he speaks from experience. For some years in the 1990s FRDC collected an export promotion levy for the national sea-caught prawn sector. “Our levy cost very little but was worth millions to us. “And it was flexible. It let us produce guidelines that improved handling of the catch at sea and we also used it to have European tariffs reduced – a major achievement,” Ron Edwards said. “Withdrawal of the levy was an unfortunate, short-sighted move. We lost the gains we had made in the EU, because permanent tariff reduction was a two stage process and without the levy the association didn’t have the money to drive the second one. “Now our high-quality product is losing its profile in the face of an international flood of farmed prawns and we have members who previously were landing prawns at more than $30 a kilo accepting as little as $6.” Compelling need Ron Edwards said Australian seafood marketing was at a critical stage and the need for promotion of its high quality products at fishery, sector and industry levels had never been more compelling. Many companies were doing an excellent job, but industry representation opened doors overseas that were closed to individual companies. The FRDC proposal has also attracted the attention of the southern rock lobster fisheries of South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria which, as Southern Rocklobster Limited, are working on their own united marketing initiative. Although it was well on the way to establishing its own long term funding stream, S-R-L remained interested in any opportunities arising from the FRDC initiative, said its independent Chair Roger Cotton. The South East Trawl Fishing Industry Association and the South East Trawl Management Advisory Committee said they strongly supported enabling legislation, along with many others.
Clean green lobster a creditTHERE’S been a fast, positive response to a do-it-yourself Clean Green accreditation system for Australia’s southern rock lobster fishers. “We launched it with an initial fax announcement to 100 licence owners in South Australia’s South East. Within a week 65 skippers and their crews had registered,” said Roger Edwards, Executive Officer of the tri-state fisheries’ umbrella organisation Southern Rocklobster Limited. The pot-to-plate accreditation covers environmental practices, ecological sustainability, food safety and quality and workplace safety, with onboard training to be followed by independent auditing. “Independent auditors have been appointed and FarmBis funding has been secured for training and initial auditing,” Roger Edwards said. The three-year program is also supported by FRDC through Seafood Services Australia Ltd project 2002/434, aimed at closing gaps in South Australian rock lobster supply chain management. It will be offered to southern rock lobster fishers in Tasmania too if flow-on FarmBis funding is available. After five years’ development, he expects the Clean Green initiative to meet emerging market, community and government criteria throughout the supply chain. The cost to fishers who participated would be minimal. Alternatively, those who waited for the auditing governments would soon demand could expect to pay 100 per cent of government-imposed charges. “Our get-in-first strategy will also underpin and build the Southern Rocklobster brand, guaranteeing that our fish are caught and delivered using world’s best practice and ensuring the highest quality seafood for consumers,” he said. MORE: Roger Edwards, phone 08 8272 7766.
Lobster with chips pleaseTASMANIAN researchers hope they are on the verge of developing the world’s first electronic data collection system for rock lobster. This month, while the fishery is closed, staff from the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute will attach external microchip tags under the tails of about 1500 lobsters off the south coast. When the season opens in November, receivers aboard commercial boats will automatically detect and record individually numbered tags as lobsters are emptied from catching pots to either stripping bins or live wells.A number of seafood exporters will have similar receivers in their live holding tanks. The combined data will be used to improve estimates of lobster numbers and set optimal harvest rates. The TAFI-commercial fishery collaboration is part of a three year FRDC project designed to produce tagging methods that meet differing fishery situations. South Australian company Hallprint Pty Ltd designed the new electronic marker, which combines microchip technology within a conventional T-bar external tag. “The number of tagged lobsters caught and subsequently reported varies during the fishing season – and from one season to another,” TAFI’s Craig Mackinnon said. “To provide accurate estimates of stock size we need both consistent and high reporting rates. “Microchip tags and receivers will automatically provide 100 per cent reporting rates, which we will use to scale results from the rest of the fishery. “And high reporting rates mean fewer fish have to be tagged,” he said. Unlike internal tags used in some other fish species, the external tags have significant advantages:
Previously, to improve tag reporting rates, TAFI had changed the tagging position from the underside to the topside of the tail, just behind the carapace, where they tended to be nibbled by other animals and abraded. “Fishers don’t need to see them now, so we’re putting them under the tails for higher retention,” Stewart Frusher said. The electronic initiative follows the fishery’s decision to base its stock assessments on tag recapture models being developed by TAFI rather than the commercial catch rate data previously used. “The fishery operates under an annual total allowable commercial catch. The basic question is how many lobsters are there and how many can we catch sustainably,” Craig Mackinnon said. “The underlying assumption in using commercial catch data is that a change in catch rate is a relative measure of the change in abundance. “But it was never that simple. Catch rates are a complex mix of biological factors such as recruitment, catchability and lobster behaviour and of fishing dynamics, such as season, depth, market price and costs of fishing,” he said. The researchers say fisher support has been tremendous, with reporting of standard T-bar tags increasing dramatically in anticipation of the microchip trial, which will run for two seasons. MORE: Craig Mackinnon, email Craig.Mackinnon@utas.edu.au; Stewart Frusher, email Stewart.Frusher@utas.edu.au
Genetag makes first matchRESEARCHERS and volunteers in northern Australia believe they have achieved a world first by capturing a genetically-tagged finfish. But it was a close-run thing. There is a Canadian rival. The FRDC-funded Genetag project is a collaboration between the Northern Territory’s Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development and Queensland’s Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries. It uses barbless lures to take tissue samples from Spanish mackerel for a DNA database, without bringing the fish to boat. The Canadians are trialling baited sampling hooks to genetag deepwater cod but, unlike the Australians, have yet to report their first catch and database match. Both projects are assessing the potential of using the unique DNA fingerprint possessed by every individual fish to identify that individual over its lifetime. Potential benefits include eliminating tag shedding and minimising tag-induced mortality and changes in behaviour. Besides their barbless lures, Australian project staff have made a tagging pole that participating recreational fishers use to collect tissue samples from fish brought alongside a boat. To identify tagged fish after capture, fin tip samples are collected from Spanish mackerel harvested in commercial and recreational fisheries. These are checked for database matches by QDPIF’s Jenny Overden, who has developed a process to systematically examine subsets of their DNA. Principal Investigator Rik Buckworth said the Genetag project now had 1000 tag samples and 7000 fin tip samples. MORE: Rik Buckworth, phone 08 8999 2144; Jenny Overden, phone 07 3817 9500; or email But it was a close-run thing. There is a Canadian rival. The FRDC-funded Genetag project is a collaboration between the Northern Territory’s Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development and Queensland’s Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries. It uses barbless lures to take tissue samples from Spanish mackerel for a DNA database, without bringing the fish to boat. The Canadians are trialling baited sampling hooks to genetag deepwater cod but, unlike the Australians, have yet to report their first catch and database match. Both projects are assessing the potential of using the unique DNA fingerprint possessed by every individual fish to identify that individual over its lifetime. Potential benefits include eliminating tag shedding and minimising tag-induced mortality and changes in behaviour. Besides their barbless lures, Australian project staff have made a tagging pole that participating recreational fishers use to collect tissue samples from fish brought alongside a boat. To identify tagged fish after capture, fin tip samples are collected from Spanish mackerel harvested in commercial and recreational fisheries. These are checked for database matches by QDPIF’s Jenny Overden, who has developed a process to systematically examine subsets of their DNA. Principal Investigator Rik Buckworth said the Genetag project now had 1000 tag samples and 7000 fin tip samples. MORE: Rik Buckworth, phone 08 8999 2144; Jenny Overden, phone 07 3817 9500; or email But it was a close-run thing. There is a Canadian rival. The FRDC-funded Genetag project is a collaboration between the Northern Territory’s Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development and Queensland’s Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries. It uses barbless lures to take tissue samples from Spanish mackerel for a DNA database, without bringing the fish to boat. The Canadians are trialling baited sampling hooks to genetag deepwater cod but, unlike the Australians, have yet to report their first catch and database match. Both projects are assessing the potential of using the unique DNA fingerprint possessed by every individual fish to identify that individual over its lifetime. Potential benefits include eliminating tag shedding and minimising tag-induced mortality and changes in behaviour. Besides their barbless lures, Australian project staff have made a tagging pole that participating recreational fishers use to collect tissue samples from fish brought alongside a boat. To identify tagged fish after capture, fin tip samples are collected from Spanish mackerel harvested in commercial and recreational fisheries. These are checked for database matches by QDPIF’s Jenny Overden, who has developed a process to systematically examine subsets of their DNA. Principal Investigator Rik Buckworth said the Genetag project now had 1000 tag samples and 7000 fin tip samples. MORE: Rik Buckworth, phone 08 8999 2144; Jenny Overden, phone 07 3817 9500; or email
AUSTRALASIAN AQUACUTURE CONFERENCETurning seafood into moneyA QUALITY certification program would increase the value of Australian aquaculture products and lower costs when things went wrong, according to an Irish expert. Peter Marshall, Managing Director of Irish Food Quality Certification Ltd, said independent certification was the safe way to turn seafood into money. Properly executed, it was an investment in consumer confidence that would bridge the perception gap between product and customer to deliver a substantial price premium. A successful confidence program required:
Certification also would enhance brand protection, investor confidence, seafood health and safety, industry collaboration and global market perception of Australian seafood quality. European experience showed the consumer-driven price premium could be 30 per cent or more, Peter Marshall told the Australasian Aquaculture conference in Sydney. He said Irish mussel producers who introduced a certification program following health and quality disasters in the European market in the 1990s were now getting more than £1000 a ton for their fresh product, compared to an industry average of £650 and just £450 for mussels sold without defined quality. The Irish certification experience, he said, was mirrored by France’s Label Rouge, Scotland’s Scottish Quality Salmon and Canada’s Cold Harvest Program. Peter Marshall’s visit was sponsored by Seafood Services Australia Ltd.
Microbes to the rescue?STIMULATING immune systems broadly may provide the health protection needed in finfish aquaculture until anti-viral and anti-parasitic vaccines are developed and approved for commercial use. Immuno-stimulation uses components of microbes that enhance the fish immune system non-specifically, unlike vaccines that usually precisely trigger a species or strain resistance, say Richard Morrison and Barbara Nowak of the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute. They say recent experiments at TAFI and elsewhere show these microbial components stimulate fish immune systems in vitro – outside the body – and in live fish. The challenge now, they say, is to convert the lab work to success in the field. Their project is funded by FRDC and the Aquafin CRC. MORE: Richard Morrison 03 6227 7256
Single identity’s the goalONE clear brand identity for Australian aquaculture products is the central goal to emerge from a forum held in Sydney as part of the Australasian Aquaculture Conference. To successfully develop the brand the aquaculture sector would have to run a strong product marketing campaign and educate the Australian community about the industry and its clean environmental record, said spokesman Bruce Zippel. A need for new investment, also identified at the conference, will be pursued by the National Aquaculture Council. Bruce Zippel said the conference made real progress on indigenous aquaculture, with experiences shared and agreements reached for collaboration on projects promising positive cultural outcomes as well as profitability. More than 1330 delegates from 49 countries attended the conference and its associated trade show, which featured 105 exhibition booths. The next Australasian conference will be held in Adelaide in August 2006. MORE: Bruce Zippel, phone 08 8625 7022
Some new venture lessonsONE clear brand identity for Australian aquaculture products is the central goal to emerge from a forum held in Sydney as part of the Australasian Aquaculture Conference. To successfully develop the brand the aquaculture sector would have to run a strong product marketing campaign and educate the Australian community about the industry and its clean environmental record, said spokesman Bruce Zippel. A need for new investment, also identified at the conference, will be pursued by the National Aquaculture Council. Bruce Zippel said the conference made real progress on indigenous aquaculture, with experiences shared and agreements reached for collaboration on projects promising positive cultural outcomes as well as profitability. More than 1330 delegates from 49 countries attended the conference and its associated trade show, which featured 105 exhibition booths. The next Australasian conference will be held in Adelaide in August 2006. MORE: Bruce Zippel, phone 08 8625 7022
Some new venture lessonsCOMPANIES considering new aquaculture ventures should first make sure they possess these three basics, said Queensland marine scientist Mike Dredge:
He said there was a great deal to be learned from two Australian struggles to commercially culture the saucer scallop, Amusium balloti – both based on a detailed FRDC-funded feasibility study that predicted profit under almost all scenarios. Mike Dredge was Principal Investigator of the FRDC study. The lessons to be learnt from:
Saucer scallop culture, he said, retained its profit potential. Time would tell if it was the current generation that realised it. MORE: Mike Dredge, email flatcalm@ozemail.com.au
Food safety is number oneFOOD safety should be the most important issue for food producers, a British-based representative of feed manufacturer Nutreco told aquaculturists. Keynote speaker Graeme Dear said that, following a string of scares - from mad cow disease in beef to salmonella in eggs - food safety in the EU had become a highly-charged and emotive issue. Internet and media had helped fuel the fire of food scares and opponents of aquaculture had used them to frighten consumers and thus further their aims – in each case, through a mix of fact, fiction and misinformation. Graeme Dear analysed actions being taken by producers to address heightened consumer concern, including tracing systems, ISO and product certification and independent and retail audits. Ultimately, he said, consumer safety legislation would set the standards EU suppliers would have to meet. The question then was whether consumers would accept the increased costs, or become tired of ‘yet another media scare’ and continue to demand cheap food. Oyster attitudes A local perspective on consumer thought processes was delivered by Yu Liu and colleagues from the Australian Maritime College, who have clarified and ranked Australian attitudes to eating oysters. Their information was collected in face-to-face interviews with customers in seafood retailers in several capital cities, using a questionnaire based on a prior focus group study. Responses identified quality, safety and psychological concerns and suggested consumers wanted more information on the traceability of served oysters. Age and gender were important, with teenager attitudes almost uniformly negative. Yu Liu said the results provided insights into the potential to increase demand and would be a useful basis for promotion, marketing and retailing of oysters and other seafood. MORE: Graeme Dear, email
EMS is body armourTO make aquaculture politically sustainable, use environmental management systems that are audited and internationally recognised, advises Jean Cannon, Managing director of Enviro Action Pty Ltd. EMS externally audited to ISO 14001 gave business the independent endorsement needed to counter misinformation and convince politicians, regulators, concerned community groups and consumers, she said. ISO 14001 thus was an important marketing tool for both selling and raising public image. “In particular, we’ve found that international consumers want to be able to use the web to reassure themselves that their food is free from pollutants and sustainably produced,” she said. MORE: jean@enviroaction.com.au
Really, it’s about marketingWHEN seafood is Australia’s most expensive and most sought-after primary protein, why do so many seafood producers struggle to survive? Aquaculture investors should be asking this question long before they risk their money, Norm Grant of Seafood Australia advised delegates to the Australasian Aquaculture conference. If they proceed, he said, they should build a resource of marketing skills long before they have a product ready to go. Only then could they capitalise on aquaculture’s strengths in a world where consumer awareness increasingly directed market share. Being forced to meet tough environmental standards should have given Australia a significant competitive advantage, but in the absence of a strong marketing culture the opportunity for successful environmental branding had diminished and industry negatives had emerged as a serious threat. “It will take strong and sophisticated marketing to change the increasingly negative consumer perception of aquaculture now apparent in Europe and North America,” Norm Grant said. For local market too For the Australian market, this sentiment was echoed by John Susman of Steve Costi Seafoods. “Aquaculture projects demand intensive investigation and analysis in site selection, hatching, growing and harvesting, but how often is this same rigour applied to find out what the market really wants?” he asked. ‘capitalise on aquaculture’s strengths in a world where consumer awareness increasingly directs market share’ In a market spoilt for quality, choice and value from every other food group, the seafood industry – and specifically its aquaculture sector – had an obligation to consider the end user first, rather than try to force what they chose to produce on to an unwilling market, John Susman said. Sydney food writer Matthew Evans told growers to get more passionate about their produce, saying Australia still had a long way to go in some areas to match the world’s best. “I’ve been to fish markets overseas where every single item is gone by midday. I’ve seen people cycling across a foreshore to intercept a fishing boat as it berths, to get the freshest calamari. “There has been a huge increase in respect for seafood during the past 20 years. “But more growers need to care about what happens to their produce after it leaves the farm,” he said.
Go organic, says OmegaAUSTRALASIAN aquaculture should exploit a competitive advantage by developing the regimes required for certified organic production, according to industry pioneer Omega Fish Farms. The cost-effectiveness of moving to organic aquaculture would allow Australian and New Zealand growers to profitably exploit global consumer demands for organic foods and concerns about intensive fish farming, said Omega’s Stephen Bedford Clark. He said organic farming would require feed changes and higher standards of fish welfare and environmental monitoring. Organic certification currently was the sole domain of agribusiness. Aquaculture should develop similar controls to catch the wave of consumer demand. Simplicity, sustainability and greater efficiencies were the keys to the necessary sea change in aquaculture principles and new Omega operations in New South Wales were an example of the way to go, he said. MORE: Stephen Bedford Clark,
Profitable growth on grainsTHE cost of ingredients for silver perch feed has effectively been halved as a result of FRDC’s Aquaculture Nutrition Subprogram. The new diets contain no fishmeal, very little fish oil and otherwise use only Australian-grown agricultural ingredients, Mark Booth of New South Wales Fisheries told the Australasian Aquaculture Conference. To get a commercial result, digestibility coefficients were determined for about 60 local ingredients and then applied to data from trials that established silver perch’s requirement and use of nutrients. Researchers from Western Australia, the world’s biggest producer of lupins, said rainbow trout fed protein concentrates from two lupin species had done well on both. Trout found the lupin concentrates (LPCs) highly palatable at up to 40 per cent of diet and growth rates were comparable to those of conventional feeds. The Department of Fisheries WA team said LPCs had substantial potential as a fishmeal replacement and feed ingredient. MORE: Mark Booth, email
Getting the sediment picturePICTURES from still or video cameras are all finfish farmers need to monitor sediment underneath their cages, researchers from the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute told the Australasian Aquaculture Conference. Through their FRDC-Aquaculture CRC project they have produced a guide showing farmers how to take the pictures and interpret them. The visuals identify what the researchers describe as impacted and unimpacted sediments, plus transitional stages; and allow farmers to identify degrading and recovering bottom. They also provide a predictive function when analysed against farm production information. An accompanying database is a series of entry and report forms designed to automate the conversion and calibration of results and provide summaries that let managers quickly assess sediment conditions. MORE: Catriona Macleod, phone 03 6227 7277; Susan Forbes, email susan.forbes@utas.edu.au
AGD answer in the genes?SELECTIVE breeding may be the answer to the main health problem in Tasmanian Atlantic salmon. Research funded by FRDC and the Aquafin CRC suggests resistance to amoebic gill disease (AGD) may be genetically influenced and that a molecular marker can be developed to speed a selective breeding program. The researchers tested 107 fish and found that most susceptible and resistant fish had different class two restriction fragment length polymorphisms in their major histo-compatibility genes. They suggest the polymorphisms in the resistant fish may result in a more efficient presentation of Neoparamobea antigens and thus stimulate an immune response. AGD currently accounts for about 10 per cent of salmon farm costs. MORE: Chris Prideaux, phone 03 5227 5000;
Murray cod shows star qualityAUSTRALIA’S endemic Murray cod, a late arrival on the aquaculture scene, is showing signs of star potential at home and aboard, according to FRDC-funded research. This fabled freshwater fish is easy to breed in captivity, produces robust larvae and grows quickly on artificial feed in crowded, intensive recirculation systems with an operating temperature between 22ºC and 26ºC, report Brett Ingram and colleagues from Primary Industries Research Victoria. In the marketplace farmed cod have replaced wild-caught specimens following a ban on commercial fishing. The DPI team says from 1000 one-gram fingerlings, farmers can expect to harvest between 413 and 616 fish at a minimum market size of 700g, 36 weeks to 108 weeks after stocking. A complementary Deakin University study using a 20 tonne recirculating system and three generations of cod returned feed conversion ratios of 0.75 to 1.26 and specific growth rates from 1.02 to 3.3 throughout the culture cycle. The Deakin researchers say the cod naturally develop into at least three class sizes – allowing market supplies to be maintained. From 1.5g fingerlings, Deakin’s fish reached 800g to 1kg after 365 days. Genetic enhancement to increase production and profitability is the goal of a second Victorian DPI team, that says the potential for improvement is considerable, as current farmers get most of their seed stock from wild fish. A microsatellite library is being developed and DNA markers will be used to identify desirable traits. Controlled reproduction, chromosome and sex manipulation, hybridisation and cryopreservation will also be investigated. The DPI researchers say if the Murray cod’s potential is realised it will be farmed overseas, as well as in Australia. MORE: Brett Ingram, email
LULUs may stunt your growthNIMBYs and LULUs pose a significant risk to aquaculture growth in Australia, according to Daryl McPhee of the University of Queensland’s Environment Management Centre. Prospective coastal developments increasingly were being met with vocal and often effective opposition from local people who saw them as NIMBY (not in my backyard) or LULU (locally unwanted land use), he said. The result was projects delayed and sometimes abandoned. Daryl McPhee said in assessing potential new projects industry, consultants and government should fully understand how the local community viewed environmental risk. They also should consider:
Daryl McPhee said growth forecasts for Australian aquaculture appeared over-optimistic unless these planning challenges were overcome. MORE: d.mcphee@uq.edu.au
Family farm success in PNGRURAL family groups are successfully growing barramundi off the Madang coast of Papua New Guinea in the country’s first fully integrated, intensive aquaculture operation. Bismark Barramundi has progressively transferred ownership of all its growout pontoons and cages in the Bismark Sea to individual family groups. The company supplies the fingerlings and feed and buys back all fish at market size to supply local hotels and resorts and to export to Australia. Four years in, annual production has reached 100,000 fish, with plans for a further 200,000 by the end of this year with the help of a European Union development program. Bismark has also produced a trial batch of banana prawns and is looking at large-scale cobia production. Managing Director Ian Middleton said for the coastal people of Madang the venture had proved an invaluable small business opportunity – and a realistic chance for a better life. Maori polyculture In New Zealand, low cost polyculture systems are being investigated by coastal Maori and the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research as a way to provide jobs and customary food. NIWA’s Sheryl Miller said the aim was to profitably grow small quantities of several high-value species in single modular systems that could be scaled up or down to meet the requirements of individual Maori groups. MORE: Ian Middleton, email bismark.barra@global.net.pg; Sheryl Miller, email s.miller@niwa.co.nz
Omega-3 for the millionsCSIRO researchers in Hobart and Canberra aim to transfer long chain omega-3 oils from the marine environment to broadacre oilseed crops, to make them more readily available for human nutrition and aquaculture feeds. Their targets are the microalgae and other marine micro-organisms which supply the beneficial oils found in the fish we eat. CSIRO’s Peter Nichols and Susan Blackburn told the Australasian Aquaculture Conference the work had been prompted by the realisation that wild fisheries could not meet the growing demand for the oils and that aquaculture was a net user of them. Their aim is to isolate genes the microalgae and other micro-organisms use to bio-synthesise the oils, clone them and transfer them to crop plants such as canola and flax. From there they expect them to be transferred directly to human food as processed oils and oil products and incorporated into aquaculture feeds. This work builds on the broad base of FRDC-funded research that also underpins publication of a second edition of What’s so healthy about seafood?, reported elsewhere in this edition. MORE: Susan Blackburn, email susan.blackburn@csiro.au; Peter Nichols, email
Safer by nightNIGHT navigation on Victoria’s Port Phillip, Corio and Western Port bays has been made safer by the installation of synchronised flashing lights on marine farm leases. The synchronisation outlines the size and boundaries of each lease to boat operators to improve navigation and reduce damage to farm equipment. The lights, installed by Fisheries Victoria in association with Parks Victoria, were manufactured by local company Sealite. Their light emitting diodes (LEDs) flash in unison without external wiring, aerials or operator intervention. Each light reads GPS time data and pulses from overhead satellites, and automatically configures its flashes to these readings. This technology allowed two or more SL125 lanterns set to the same flash character to synchronise anywhere in the world, said Sealite Sales Director Chris Proctor. MORE: Sealite, phone 03 5977 6128
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Last Updated: March 28 2007 13:43:41