Keywords: Hydrodynamic, dispersal modelling, drift algae, nutritional value, health, physiological stress

 

Summary: The Ocean Grown Abalone Pty Ltd sea ranch is the first abalone sea ranching venture to have been commercialised in Australia. The abalone are grown on patented concrete structures that the company has placed on the seabed on their lease site in Flinders Bay, Augusta, Western Australia. In 2016 the farm exported 10 t of product and this volume is set to rapidly increase as the farm expands its artificial habitat structures and reaches full production. It is projected that ~200 t of abalone will be produced by 2022.
The company has undertaken feasibility studies in other areas within Australia that they have identified as suitable for abalone ranching and is looking to expand in the near future. This report deals with research into the drift macro algae and seagrass that forms the food source of abalone on the farm. It examines the movement of the drift algae in Flinders Bay and specifically across the Ocean Grown Abalone lease sites. It then moves from a hydrological focus, to one more biologically centred, by examining the quantity and quality of drift algae and seagrass on the sea ranch and how that changes seasonally through the year. Only one part of the report deals specifically with abalone; it uses different physiological stress indicators as a way of predicting the health/condition of wild-caught and ranched abalone in Flinders Bay.