This project will undertake the critical science required for the next step of closed-cycle Tropical Rock Lobster production, the grow-out of hatchery-produced juvenile lobsters in sea raft enclosures, with research trials in the pristine waters of northern Western Australia. There are multiple gaps in knowledge that must be investigated to support the development and evaluation of this production technology to meet market demands. The project partners bring expertise across the production-to-market pipeline and we will focus on six research areas: environment; raft design; translocation, lobster health and biosecurity; feeding strategies; lobster growth performance; and, premium diverse market acceptability. We will evaluate production systems, comparing sea raft productivity with onshore culture, to de-risk and attract quality investment in a brand-new grow-out aquaculture industry by current and new aquaculture businesses.
All aspects of the production research will include training of personnel and documentation of procedures that will be made available to new lobster grow-out producers in Australia through project participants. The project team will regularly communicate progress with stakeholders, including government (national, state and territory, local), jurisdiction agencies, Traditional Owners in research trial areas, community, aquaculture producers, training and research providers. At the end of the project a Field Day event will share the current status and production models for consideration by existing and new businesses. Industry value of $160 million is projected by 2030, with future potential of over $500 million p.a. that creates 1,000 direct jobs, 900 of those in Northern Australia, for people in feed manufacture, grow-out, downstream processing/distribution and marketing.
The project outcomes are directly aligned with the Food & Agribusiness Growth Centre’s (Food Innovation Australia Limited-FIAL) vision to grow the share of Australian food in the global marketplace – as it captures a unique opportunity for growing tomorrow’s food and contributing to the $200 billion possibility for Australian agri-businesses by 2030.