Last Updated: Thursday 8th of July 2010 12:01:00 AM -0500CDTSouth Australian biotechnologist Andrew Ward is breaking down the waste to create methane, irrigation water and nutrients to feed water fleas, which can become fish meal.
Dr Ward says there is big potential for other animal waste too.
He says it is based on methods already used in many Asian countries.
"Basically reproducing what happens in nature. First you grow the algae, then you feed it to the zooplankton and then to the fish - very much like what happens out [in the] natural environment," he said.
"We just pick the things that are most productive and maximise the productivity of them to make it commercially viable."
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Last Updated: Tuesday 6th of July 2010 12:51:00 AM -0500CDTNSW Department of Primary Industries has launched a new website encouraging consumers in NSW to buy and enjoy local seafood.
It includes tips on buying, transporting and storing seafood, as well as a calendar detailing which NSW seafood is "in season" at different times during the year.
Primary Industries Minister Steve Whan said he hoped the site would inform consumers about local seafood and encourage them to make the switch to NSW seafood.
"By choosing NSW seafood, the public can be assured of some of the best seafood in the world, a premium quality product that is fresh to eat and enjoy," he said.
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Last Updated: Friday 2nd of July 2010 01:26:00 AM -0500CDTScientists have come up with a way to satisfy Australians' demand for prawns which have become the nation's main Christmas fare -- a genetically bred strain of larger, black tiger prawns that taste great.
After 10 years of careful breeding and research, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) scientists have bred a larger tiger prawn which will reduce the need to import the popular seafood platter and barbecue food.
The new prawn, which has won five gold medals at Australian marine aquaculture shows in recent years, means an increase in prawn yield from an average of around 5 tonne per hectare to 17.5 tonne per hectare.
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Last Updated: Tuesday 22nd of June 2010 01:35:00 AM -0500CDTOnshore aquaculture firm Cell Aqua has acquired its first food processing plant and is close to sealing a new production opportunity in Europe, Executive Director Peter Burns told IntraFish.
The acquisition of the Australian food processer – which Cell Aqua won’t identify – will allow the company to carry out its own processing and distribution for the first time, Burns said.
“We didn’t have any production facilities before,” Burns told IntraFish. “But now we used the assets of an existing company and expanded it.” Above all, owning the plant gives Cell Aqua an instant access to a nationwide distribution network covering supermarkets, restaurants and catering customers.
It will also allow Cell Aqua to develop a wider range of value-added products for barramundi -- its staple specie -- such as smoked fillets. Illustrating this, the group has hired the services of a local chef who has “15 years experience in food processing and new product development.” While the plant also produces non-fish items, Cell Aqua will maintain its production range but focus mostly on developing the seafood products.
Europe, South Africa and Malaysia next But Cell Aqua’s expansion plans don’t stop here. The group has just unveiled a joint venture in Singapore and is close to sealing new production deals in Europe and South Africa. It is also in talks to complete a joint venture in Malaysia.
In Europe, the group has now “completed initial due diligence on a potentially lucrative production opportunity,” Cell Aqua said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange. Cell Aqua already has a European partner in the form of Linnaeus Capital Partners, the Dutch private equity firm which invested AUD $2.4 million ($2.2 million /€1.6 million) in the company in February.
In Singapore, Cell Aqua has just established a AUD $4.15 million ($5 million) million joint venture to produce “high-value premium species“ to target “the lucrative local live seafood market.” Called CellMore Pte, the venture is currently establishing the first stage of the production farm and assessing “further food processing opportunities,” Cell Aqua said. CellMore is 50-50 owned by Cell Aqua and by its Singaporean-based partners.
Boosting production The deals in South Africa and Malaysia, meanwhile, would significantly expand Cell Aqua’s farm production. Today the group produces around 100 metric tons of barramundi domestically and twice that much in Malaysia, from where the fish is also sold to Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. However, if the deals go through, it would produce another 4,000 metric tons combined in South Africa and Malaysia alone. These plans are not new -- they were already announced last year -- but Cell Aqua says it is now closer to reaching agreements.
“The company is still actively pursuing the opportunity to establish an initial 2,000 metric tons per annum facility with its South African partners,” Cell Aqua said in a statement. “The process of obtaining relevant approvals for this venture has been slow,” it says, but “significant progress has recently been made (...) towards granting of relevant approvals for the project to commence and has now offered a number of potential sites for the project.
The comany's financial director is "currently in South Africa viewing potential sites and advancing financing discussions with the South African partners," it adds. In Malaysia, the plans seem more advanced. “Further to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding and subsequent submission of a detailed feasibility study and business plan with a major Malaysian based global multinational organization, Cell Aquaculture advises that discussions are still progressing regarding this project,” it said.
Only the start? And such moves are likely to be the way forward for Cell Aqua. Established in 1998, the firm first started as a developer of its own proprietary aquaculture recirculation systems and equipment. However, instead of becoming a supplier, the group decided to expand into the aquaculture business itself.
“We looked at the possibility of providing equipment, but decided that we would expand by developing company-owned farms or though good joint ventures,” Burns said.
Last Updated: Thursday 17th of June 2010 01:33:00 AM -0500CDTThe New South Wales Government is currently assessing plans for an abalone farm at Pindimar, south of Tea Gardens.
Aquaculture company, AustAsia, plans to spend $2 million on the project that would start off with around 50 wild blacklip abalone to be used as broodstock.
An additional 24 abalone would be collected each year to maintain genetic diversity.
The farm would produce up to 60 tonnes of abalone a year, supplying the domestic and Japanese markets.
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