The Southern Bluefin Tuna (SBT), Thunnus maccoyii, Aquaculture Industry has undergone rapid expansion since it commenced in 1990. In 2002/03 the industry was Australia’s third largest export fishing industry (ABARE, 2002) with most of its value coming from aquaculture. In this year the industry produced about 9,100 tonnes (whole weight) worth approximately $267 million (Knight et al, 2004), employing over 2000 people directly and indirectly, particularly in the Eyre Region of South Australia.

In recent years, however, production has levelled off, with nearly the entire available quota going into aquaculture. The value of the industry has also been affected by increasing competition on the Japanese market (the largest importer of Australian SBT) from overseas supplies of northern bluefin tuna (NBT), the fluctuating Japanese and Australian currency exchange rate and world health and terrorism events.  More than ever there is a need for well prioritised and coordinated R&D to address key issues that will maintain or enhance the industry’s competitiveness.  

In 1997 the coordination of the Subprogram commenced as part of ‘Project 1: Implementation and coordination of research experiments conducted with caged SBT, to access manufactured diets, feeding regimes and harvesting techniques (FRDC No: 1997/361)’. In 2001 this role was formalised in the current, more focused project (FRDC No: 2001/250). The objectives of this project were to provide a cohesive approach to R&D aimed at meeting the priority needs of the industry; to provide a management structure to oversee the active research projects and ensure that they achieved their desired outcomes; to manage and coordinate the infrastructure and activities associated with SBT research in Port Lincoln, and to provide a focused strategy for disseminating research results to industry, obtain feedback and set research priorities.  The Subprogram has also been successful in providing a focus for all SBT research projects in Australia, in particular with the Aquafin CRC Programs: Production; Value Adding; Health; Environment and Education and Training, which have all been run through the Subprogram.