Intensive cultivation of a calanoid copepod for live food in fish culture
Final report
The aim of this study was to develop a system for the cultivation of a calanoid copepod which occurs in estuaries in the southwest of Western Australia. This copepod, Gladioferens imparipes, seemed suitable for use in marine fish aquaculture; it can tolerate a wide salinity range, including sea water, has planktonic nauplius larvae and is sufficiently robust to grow well in cultivation. The objectives of the study were to develop a scale of culture which would be realistic for use in aquaculture, develop a system to automate routine procedures in the copepod culture to minimise labour and to investigate the effectiveness of using copepod nauplii from intensive cultures to enhance the survival, health and growth of fish larvae. A final objective was to provide a manual of operations to assist people to develop, maintain and use cultures of G. imparipes for use in aquaculture. This manual is available as a separate appendix to this report.
Rock Lobster Post Harvest Subprogram: physiological studies of stress and morbidity during post-harvest handling and storage of western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus)
Final report
Fish meal production using by-products of commercial fisheries (pilot study)
Final report
Fish meal is used extensively as a source of protein in aquaculture feed which represents the major cost constituent in aquaculture production. Commercial fish meals used to manufacture aquaculture feeds in Australia are currently imported from Denmark, Peru, Chile and other countries. These feeds are expensive (approx. $1,000/tonne) and, in the case of prawn head meals, are a possible source of disease introduction. Fish meals produced from locally sources fisheries wastes could offer an alternative supply, possibly at a lower cost than is presently available.
The overall aim of this project was to determine the range, seasonal variation and annual production of seafood waste products in Western Australia and to assess their suitability as aquacultural feed ingredients.
The specific aims of the study were to identify sources of fisheries waste materials, determine annual production and seasonal variability of the wastes in question and perform proximate analyses and fatty acid analyses on selected materials with the view of assessing their suitability for inclusion in aquaculture feeds.
Feasibility of intensive aquaculture of freshwater crayfish of the genus Cherax
Final report
In Western Australia, and now elsewhere, there has been considerable interest in marron farming for over two decades. Many schemes have come and gone and the highly optimistic attitude which once prevailed has gradually been replaced by a more realistic approach to marron aquaculture. While, for example, it was once considered that appropriate site selection would allow marron to be cultured to marketable size (120 g) on a yearly basis (Morrisey 1976), it was later realised that at least at intensive pond culture densities achievement of 120 g average weight in Western Australia was not possible even on a two-year schedule (Morrisey 1984(a)).
Most serious commercial interest in marron farming has been with pond and dam culture but there is still little clear evidence to the would-be marron farmer. Proposed management and pond designs are yet to be tested as full-scale enterprises. Reasons cited for the failure of many marron farming schemes include predation by birds and other animals, cannibalism, climatic and weather variability and extremes, and, increasingly, operator inexperience. Underlying such explanations is the fundamental fact that pond and dam ecosystems are extremely complex and unpredictable. There is a growing appreciation that marron are sensitive organisms which are intolerant of environmental extremes.