5 results
Industry
PROJECT NUMBER • 2023-156
PROJECT STATUS:
CURRENT

Northern Territory Aquaculture Research, Development and Extension Workshop 2024 and supporting Aboriginal partner attendance

The workshop aimed to unite the NT aquaculture sector and research organisations to develop a cohesive RD&E strategy. Specific objectives included discussing NT aquaculture priorities, challenges, and opportunities; facilitating knowledge sharing on current RD&E activities; strengthening...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (NT)
TAGS
Workshop
Aquaculture
SPECIES
Black Jewfish
Barramundi
Black Tiger Prawn
Banana Prawns
Sea Cucumbers

Supporting attendees at the International Tropical Rock Oyster Workshop & World Aquaculture Conference 2023

Project number: 2022-186
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $37,850.00
Principal Investigator: Samantha J. Nowland
Organisation: Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (NT)
Project start/end date: 23 Apr 2023 - 30 Jul 2023
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Indigenous
Aquaculture
SPECIES
Oysters

Need

In October 2018, FRDC funded the first national workshop on tropical oyster aquaculture (Osborne, 2018). This successful event addressed a need to foster greater collaboration across the various projects and provide strategic direction to future research and development activities. Since then, significant progress has been made in tropical rock oyster RD&E, both in Australia and internationally, and work is underway across the tropics to further develop the industry (Nowland et al., 2019). To maintain momentum and continue to foster collaboration in this field, an International Tropical Rock Oyster Workshop will be hosted by NT Fisheries and The Pacific Community (SPC), supported by the Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia (CRCNA), in the days before the World Aquaculture Conference 2023 in Darwin. The workshop will bring together a broad range of stakeholders to discuss the status and current knowledge of tropical oyster aquaculture research and development. This will provide an opportunity to share experiences and develop an international network for tropical oyster aquaculture. As well as to discuss and document current bottlenecks/issues confronting tropical oyster farming, such as; hatchery production, disease, grow-out technology and shellfish quality assurance.

This workshop is running alongside the World Aquaculture Conference 2023 in Darwin. The project team have identified key people in the region (commercial produces and Traditional Owners) that would add additional value to the workshop and the World Aquaculture Conference 2023. However, they do not have the means to fund their own attendance.

Workshop information
Date: Sunday 28th & Monday 29th May 2023
Location: Convention Centre, Darwin NT, Australia
Sessions will cover:
Day 1 (Sunday 28th May; 8.30am – 5.00pm):
- Regional updates on existing tropical oyster aquaculture; Australia (NT, Qld and WA), Fiji, Malaysia, New Caledonia, Tahiti, Vietnam, Cuba, Brazil, New Zealand, Indonesia and the Philippines
- Evening social event (from 5.30pm): Networking drinks and nibbles at the Oyster Bar.
Day 2 (Monday 29th May; 8.30am – 3.00pm):
- Focus topics and breakout sessions on major issues confronting development of tropical oyster aquaculture, such as; hatchery production, food safety, disease and business development.
A detailed program will be distributed in the weeks leading up to the workshop.

World Aquaculture Conference Information
Date: Monday 29th May to Thursday 1 June
Location: Convention Centre, Darwin NT, Australia
Sessions cover diverse aquaculture topics from feed development to training and governance structures.

Objectives

1. Share experiences and develop an international network for tropical oyster aquaculture.
2. Discuss and document current bottlenecks/issues confronting tropical oyster farming

Development of "guidance" for conducting stock assessments in Australia

Project number: 2021-077
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $97,000.00
Principal Investigator: Thor Saunders
Organisation: Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (NT)
Project start/end date: 31 Dec 2021 - 29 Jun 2023
Contact:
FRDC

Need

Australia’s fisheries research agencies all conduct stock assessments of varying complexities to assess the status of key fish stocks. However, the modelling approaches taken, data analyses that underpins the stock assessments and the level of peer review that is undertaken are variable (Dichmont et al. 2018, Haddon et al. 2018). The Status of Australian Fish Stocks (SAFS; Flood et al. 2016) program has aimed to make the reporting of these assessments consistent among jurisdictions. Additionally, in recognition of the data limited nature of many of the species being assessed in SAFS there has also been work undertaken to train jurisdictional stock assessment staff in data limited stock assessment techniques (Haddon et al. 2019). However, while there are a substantial amount of modelling tools available, most jurisdictions have stock assessment scientists that are model users rather than developers. Consequently, there is a need to provide guidance on how to use these appropriately so as to strengthen the quality of the outputs of the models. Developing guidance (defined as help and advice about how to do something or about how to deal with problems) is important and a set of stock assessment guidelines that describes each method currently used in Australia, outlines the method, required biological and fishery data, levels of uncertainty, and pros and cons is an important facet to demonstrating best practice in management of Australia’s fisheries. The guidance will provide transparency in the modelling process and has the potential to remove or moderate controversy regarding modelling outputs and the resulting management implications. This guidance (hereafter guidelines) are not intended to be prescriptive but provide guidance on a suite of methods from full-blown bioeconomic models and integrated assessments (e.g., SS3) through to data-poor approaches such as catchMSY.

Objectives

1. Develop a set of stock assessment guidelines to assist stock assessment processes being undertaken by all jurisdictions.
2. Evaluate the need for a national stock assessment working group to provide updates to the guidelines (for example as new modelling approaches are developed) and to address ongoing jurisdictional stock assessment issues.
Communities
PROJECT NUMBER • 2018-115
PROJECT STATUS:
COMPLETED

National tropical oyster aquaculture workshop - Darwin 2018

The first national workshop on tropical oyster aquaculture was held in Darwin on 22 to 23 October, 2018 at the Waterfront Campus of Charles Darwin University (CDU). The workshop brought together representatives from Aboriginal communities, industry, government agencies, and Australian and...
ORGANISATION:
Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (NT)
TAGS
Post Harvest
Food Safety
Economic
Disease
Community
SPECIES
Oysters

Where should I farm my oysters? Does natural Cadmium distribution restrict oyster farm site selection in the Northern Territory?

Project number: 2018-005
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $123,272.00
Principal Investigator: Matthew Osborne
Organisation: Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (NT)
Project start/end date: 10 Feb 2019 - 29 Sep 2022
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Rac Nt
Indigenous
Husbandry
Food Safety
Contamination
SPECIES
Oysters

Need

RD&E that addresses critical hurdles to Aboriginal capacity and enterprise development (e.g. quality assurance strategies) have been identified as priority areas of the NT RAC and the Indigenous Reference Group (IRG). NT Fisheries has been conducting research to support Aboriginal aspirations to establish tropical oyster farms in the Northern Territory (NT).

Heavy metals have been a longstanding concern as an impediment to the development of a tropical oyster industry. Cadmium (Cd) bioaccumulates in the tissue of oysters, and unlike E. coli or toxic algae, has a long depuration period. As a result Cd levels are a major determining factor on the saleability of farmed tropical oysters. McConchie, D.M & Lawrance, L.M (1991) and FRDC Project 2012-223 identified high Cd concentrations, which varied considerably across locations and water depth, in blacklip oysters (Saccostrea echinata) at location in Shark Bay, WA and South Goulburn Island, NT respectively. Following these projects naturally occurring heavy metals have been a presumed barrier to the establishment of an oyster industry in the NT, due predominantly to the exceedance of Cd trigger levels in the Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ).

However, recent testing on market sized oysters farmed on long line trials at Pirlangimpi on Tiwi Islands have not shown high heavy metal concentrations and complied with the FSANZ. This suggests that Cd exceedance may not be an issue in all locations. We propose a multi-location survey of blacklip oyster (Saccostrea echinata) heavy metal concentrations across the NT to identify the best locations for commercialisation of this emerging aquaculture species. With the aim of identifying locations, like Pirlangimpi, that could produce oysters that comply with the Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ). The results are needed to inform the development of a NT tropical oyster industry and the establishment of a NT shellfish quality assurance program.

Objectives

1. Map the distribution and concentration of Cadmium in wild blacklip oysters across the Northern Territory.
2. Aboriginal communities better understand the role of shellfish quality assurance programs and the implications of Cadmium on oyster farming.
3. Risks associated with Cadmium are better understood and inform the development of a NT Shellfish Quality Assurance Program.
4. Knowledge is shared and retained through Aboriginal participation in the research project.
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