Bluefin Market Now Toughest In Last Decadeff

The tuna farming industry at Port Lincoln is facing its toughest market since the industry began operating in 1991.

In a bid to overcome tough market conditions, the industry has begun catching fish in the wild far earlier than ever before.

It follows the arrival of the first five pens of tuna from the Great Australian Bight at the Boston Bay farms near Port Lincoln in the past 10 days.

The first fish of the season were caught by MG Kailis Pty Ltd, one of Australia's biggest seafood companies. Kailis general manager John Isle took to the water to watch the company’s catch transferred from the catching pen to a farm cage.

Mr. Ilse said the early catch was aimed at helping to improve the industry’s marketing strategy this year. The company plans to catch 450 tons of tuna and grow them out to about 600 tons in 12 cages behind Boston Island. Mr. Isle said the tuna farming industry was fighting increased export competition and the rising dollar.

Overseas competitors are also at a significant advantage with lower interest rates. “The season is going to be tough for all exporters with the rise of the Australian dollar,” Mr. Isle said. “We will just have to ride it out, Australia can't afford a strong dollar and it won't stay there forever.”

Mr. Isle said one of the industry’s main problems was increased competition because the tuna-farming concept had been exported from Port Lincoln to other countries. The Kailis Company owns nearly 10 per cent of Australia's tuna fishing quota.

Australian Tuna Boat Owners Association president Brian Jeffriess said the value of farmed tuna exports had dropped from $264 million in 2002 to about $195 million last year. This means of drop of income of almost 70 million Australian dollars or almost 35% in one year.

“We hope the price will stabilize in 2004, but the Australian dollar just keeps rising,” he said. Mr. Jeffriess said the industry was looking at a range of strategies to help weather the downturn.

It included a much earlier catch this year with virtually the entire Port Lincoln fleet fishing by mid-January, which had never happened before.

Mr. Jeffriess said the strategy may include holding the fish for a shorter period than normal. It would lead to a lower weight, contributing to a 10-15 per cent drop in volume this year.

”We’re very confident prices have stabilized and will improve in Yen terms, but any of these improvements would be wiped out by any further increase in the dollar,” Mr. Jeffriess said.

Australian tuna farmers are battling increased production overseas with estimates there are as many as 20,000 tons of tuna now being farmed in the Mediterranean.

Increased competition on the global tuna market is one reason why different fishing strategies are being used.

Hundreds of tons of quota have already been transferred to East Coast long-liners with much of that fish already caught and with fishing activity now centered off Tasmania.

”These fish can be seen on market everyday now,” Mr. Jeffriess said.