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The Aquaculture Development Council is establishing a portfolio of projects and initiatives to grow the Western Australian aquaculture industry.

As part of this process, it has initiated development projects to assess the feasibility of and initiate large-scale marine finfish aquaculture in the State’s coastal waters.

To assess economic feasibility, an understanding of target market sizes, prices and price sensitivity are important; consequently, as part of the development process, the ADC commissioned a staged market study to provide the requisite market intelligence inputs.

Present and future Western Australian producers can target numerous possible marine finfish species and potential countries. Stage 1 of the market study prioritised identified species and countries (called species/market combinations).

Stage 2 of the market study then undertook an in-depth investigation of market sizes prices for the prioritised species/market combinations.

Prioritised species were yellowtail kingfish, mulloway and mahi mahi; prioritised markets were Australia, USA, Japan, UK and France.

An extension of the market study provided additional information on selected marine fish in the Western Australian market.

When they are required, Stage 3 market studies are planned to undertake further in-depth analyses of specific markets and species.

Earlier we highlighted the work of the Stehr Group and Cleanseas Tuna 

Breeding techniques originally pioneered by Clean Seas Tuna Limited to artificially reproduce Southern Bluefin Tuna have been successfully replicated in Europe.

European research consortium Allotuna has reported productive spawning of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna – the SBT’s northern cousin – using the same strategy conceived by Port Lincoln-based Clean Seas earlier this year.

Allotuna’s international research team which includes Dr Dinos Mylanos and Prof Chris Bridges – both members of Clean Seas’ advisory panel – successfully collected over 10 million eggs from sea cage broodstock last weekend after hormone induction trials on a tuna farm in Italy.

The spawned eggs were transferred to a commercial hatchery in Bari where the larvae will feed and grow. Eggs have also been transferred to key hatcheries in France, Crete, Israel, Malta and Spain for further rearing and research.

Prof Bridges said the breeding breakthrough is a major boost for the fishing industry worldwide, which faces a critical shortage of Bluefin Tuna.

“Mediterranean Bluefin Tuna wild stocks are heavily threatened by overfishing, so much so that the fishery was closed earlier this year amid loud protests from the fishing industry,” said Prof Bridges.

“This development represents a major breakthrough in providing commercial quantities of eggs ‘on demand’ for feeding into hatchery systems. Although there is much further work to do, it is clear that this technology can be applied to solve one of the major bottlenecks in the production of sustainable aquaculture for the endangered Bluefin Tuna.”

Clean Seas Chairman, Hagen Stehr, was buoyed by the development in Europe and said it was a great endorsement of his company’s ongoing research.

“It proves that Clean Seas Tuna is right on target with its Southern Bluefin Tuna lifecycle project and that it is a matter of when, not if, commercialisation starts,” said Mr Stehr.

In March this year, Clean Seas became the first organisation in the world to create an artificial breeding regime for Southern Bluefin Tuna. The successful collection of SBT sperm and eggs spawned by captive tuna in the company’s land-based breeding facility at Arno Bay will allow the realisation of the company’s plans to close the lifecycle of SBT, potentially establish a valuable SBT sperm bank and secure sustainable production of this premium endangered species.

The breeding regime is expected to give Clean Seas the ability to at least duplicate Australia’s Southern Bluefin Tuna annual quota within the next few years and to dramatically grow the aquaculture industry on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula without impacting on wild tuna stocks.

“We are on track with our artificial breeding regime and our primary objective remains to grow out SBT fingerlings produced from our own broodstock to sizes required by the rapidly expanding world seafood markets. This will enable year round production of SBT and lower the overall cost of production,” said Mr Stehr.

“This has extraordinary benefits for Clean Seas and its shareholders in that these fish will not be subject to the strict Australian SBT wild catch quotas. There will also be no trade barriers for their sale into major fish markets of Japan, China, the US and the European Union where natural fish stocks are severely depleted.

“We are confident that we will be able to emulate the success we have achieved with other aquaculture species such as Yellowtail Kingfish and Mulloway – and in so doing reward the faith of those who have invested in our dream and those who have worked so hard to turn it into reality.”

Source: Clean Seas Tuna Limited

Clean Seas Tuna Limited is going “end to end” in the aquaculture value chain by building key reputation reinforcing relationships in the world’s most demanding markets.

Clean Seas produces the fish and has also created the relationships to see their fish on the most pretigeous plates in Europe. 

In May 2008 Clean Seas established an agreement with Euro-Toques International – an association of more than 4,000 of Europe’s finest chefs, targeting its Yellowtail Kingfish product.

Clean Seas’ Chairman Mr Hagen Stehr, who attended the signing in Brussels, said the agreement provided an opportunity to showcase products and increase export sales to the world’s biggest seafood market – 455 million people across the European Union. 

“Euro-Toques counts among its members the world’s most influential chefs – international celebrities such as Gordon Ramsay and the chefs of some of Europe’s finest hotels including the Ritz in Paris and Dorchester in London – providing Australian seafood producers with unique access to food opinion leaders and connoisseurs from around the world,” Mr Stehr said. 

“At the same time, the European Union represents the largest single aquaculture import destination in the world - worth more than AUD$40 billion per year,” Mr Stehr said. “Australia is the first country outside Europe to be endorsed by Euro-Toques and the fact that the South Australian State Government and local seafood industry have jointly achieved membership represents a tremendous boost for producers.” 

“Membership of a prestigiuous organisation such as Euro-Toques will build the profile of yellowtail kingfish at the premium end of the market while also increasing the awareness of South Australia as a safe, reliable country of origin for seafood products,” Mr Stehr said. 

Mr Stehr said the agreement with Euro-Toques offered producers like Clean Seas with influential endorsement for their products and provided an entry card to the finest restaurants in Europe. 

“Over the next year, Clean Seas’ kingfish will be featured on the menus of some of the best restaurants in the world. 

“Produce will also be showcased at prominent expos and market events across Europe — including the renowned Bocuse D’or World Chefs Challenge in Lyon where the finest chefs across the EU will have a chance to experience the quality of our kingfish.” 

Approximately 60 per cent of Clean Seas’ kingfish is currently sold overseas with markets including Italy, Holland, Germany, France, Switzerland, and Eastern Europe as well as South East Asia and the United States. 

Clean Seas’ major shareholder, the Stehr Group, was established in the early 1970s and is now recognised as an Australian leader and international pioneer in off-shore fish farming.

In 2007-08, the Group will produce more than 4000 tonnes of aquaculture-bred kingfish and mulloway, as well as 700 tonnes of Southern Bluefin Tuna. 

Source: Clean Seas Tuna Limited

Neil Sims, an ex-pat Australian, is the president and co-founder of Kona Blue Water Farms. The farms, situated off Hawaii, are stocked with ‘Kona Kampachi’ or yellowtail and Sims is embracing the need for sustainable aquaculture innovations. To date, Sims has assisted in the modification of submersible cages to make them ‘flippable’ and therefore much easier to clean in addition to trialling various food sources, some with very positive results.

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