Cobia production was instigated in Queensland as a business diversification and risk mitigation option for the marine pond-based aquaculture sector. BIRC has produced and supplied the entirety of cobia fingerlings to industry partners through a number of research projects. In early April 2019, RPP produced their first batch of cobia fingerlings from larvae supplied from BIRC. While commercial-scale methods for hatchery and fingerling production have been successfully adopted by farms, the industry still needs to demonstrate that it can be self-reliant and self-propagating by 2021, by producing seed from its own broodstock. Further, more effective feeding strategies are required for growout-sized fish (> 2 kg) which typically exhibit poor feed conversion ratios (FCR), impacting production efficiencies. This revised proposal seeks to seamlessly transition cobia R&D to a fully vertically integrated industry production model by (1) the supply of biosecure cobia broodstock and seedstock (fertilised eggs and larvae) to industry collaborators; (2) optimising feeding strategies using experimental trials; and (3) promoting project outputs through web-based media.
Project number:
2017-143
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure:
$510,560.00
Principal Investigator:
Evan Goulden
Organisation:
Department of Agriculture and Fisheries EcoScience Precinct
Project start/end date:
14 Dec 2019
-
30 Aug 2021
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
SPECIES
1. Expand cobia production: (a) supply of biosecure broodstock from BIRC to RPP
(b) bilateral exchange of broodstock management, reproductive knowledge and technical support between DAF and RPP
(c) on-demand supply of quality fertilised eggs and/or 1-2 day-old larvae from BIRC to RPP
and (d) optional fee for service ($10,000 per year) entry to future project participants, enabling access to BIRC seedstock through a pro rata arrangement.
2. Optimise feeding strategies for farmed cobia using commercially available finfish diets: (a) conduct a feed trial at BIRC in collaboration with RPP to test the effect of feed frequency of a commercially available fish diet on cobia growth performance (FCR, SGR, biomass)
and (b) conduct a feed trial at BIRC in collaboration with RPP to fast track winter growth of cobia juveniles using a commercially available fish diet.
3. Contribute project deliverables to the DAF cobia aquaculture RD&E web portal.
ISBN:
978-0-7345-0473-9
Authors:
Evan Goulden
Luke Dutney
Brad Cherrie
Richard Dickson
Trevor Borchert
Tom Gallagher
Hazra Thaggard
Philip Brady
Serena Zipf
Final Report
•
2021-08-31
•
2.27 MB
2017-143-DLD.pdf
This report discusses a collaboration between the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) and Rocky Point Agriculture Pty Ltd (RPA) to transition cobia aquaculture research, development and extension (RD&E) to commercial production. The report outlines the success of RPA in producing commercial volumes of cobia fingerlings and details refinements made to larval rearing systems that were fundamental to this success. Tank studies on harvestable-sized cobia conducted at DAF’s Bribie Island Research Centre (BIRC) showed adjustments in feeding frequency could reduce feed input without affecting growth performance. The report also highlights the potential of cobia as an alternative to prawn farming in southeast Queensland and outlines the need for further gains in seed stock supplies, disease management, and feeding efficiencies. The report's methodology includes domesticating broodfish and seedstock and optimising feeding strategies for harvestable-sized cobia. The success of the project was measured by the quantities of fingerlings produced at RPA against commercially relevant targets and the growth performance of harvestable-sized cobia.
