Smart science boosts aquaculture future
ITop class science and a series of world firsts are driving the growth of the $70 million a year Queensland aquaculture industry, the state’s fastest growing primary industry.
The industry is booming so much that in April the state government announced a $4 million injection of funds into advanced projects over the next four years – including improved breeding of species like prawns, barramundi and soft-shell crabs.
Another important breakthrough – and a world first – came in September last year when Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI&F) researchers in Cairns successfully spawned flowery cod (pictured left).
That success was followed in subsequent months by the successful spawning of gold spot cod and sea cucumbers.
Gold spot and flowery cod are members of the grouper family, which are in
high demand in Asia where live flowery cod retails for $55 to
$75 a kilo.
Sea cucumbers are processed into beche-de-mer, a delicacy in China and Taiwan.
DPI&F researchers used environmental controls to ensure the successful spawnings, while another world-first factor in their success was the production of live feed for the delicate larval fish stage.
“Our research is targeting the reliable and cost-effective production of juveniles of a range of reef fish species to support the development of a sustainable reef fish aquaculture industry,” DPI&F biologist Elizabeth Cox said.
The department’s reef fish research and development project is based at its Northern Fisheries Centre in Cairns. The centre collaborates with aquaculture research institutes in Indonesia and the Philippines and also obtains support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.
Another world first in aquaculture, a new filtration system now being tested by prawn farmer Pacific Reef Fisheries at Alva Beach in North Queensland, has the potential to revolutionise the entire industry.
The system, which adapts technology used in sewage treatment to substantially reduce nutrient and sediment discharges, could easily be adapted for use in other sectors of the industry, like barramundi farming.
Pacific Reef researchers are also investigating the development of a domestic prawn species that would provide the industry with breeding stock. At present, breeding stocks are caught in the wild and their number can vary greatly from season to season – domestic breeding stock would give the industry much greater certainty.
Last reviewed 19 January 2006