Successfully moving 60 baby fish into sea cages off South Australia is a big leap for a company that plans to breed, grow and sell southern bluefin tuna.
They’re the second batch of fingerlings to be transferred from onshore nursery cages at Arno Bay on SA’s Eyre Peninsula to Clean Seas Tuna’s offshore aquaculture facility for grow-out trials.
Managing director Clifford Ashby says its “a major, major step†for the world-first research and development trials they hope will close the lifecycle and lead to production of 10,000 tonnes of aquaculture-bred southern bluefin tuna.
“As a company it gives us the feeling and the comfort that what we are doing is right and that we will be successful,†Mr. Ashby said earlier this week.
“It is very difficult to say whether it will be one, two or three years - but I think we are heading in the right direction on the right path.â€
There was a two per cent mortality rate during both transfer programs but the remaining juveniles are feeding well and growing.
Mr. Ashby said the success of both transfers was exciting for the team at their hatchery at Arno Bay, a small fishing town 118 kilometers from Port Lincoln.
“Our hatchery manager, Morten Diechmann, he has been working on it since 2006, so for him to see fingerlings going into the ocean is like a dream come true, all his hard work and endeavors have paid off.â€
New spawnings have occurred since the second spawning began in mid-March but the numbers of eggs have not been sufficient to produce commercially.
The company’s success would have spin-off benefits for Port Lincoln and the Eyre Peninsula, where aquaculture developments are growing regional employment.
The wild-catch tuna industry lost some of its quota a few years ago and Mr. Ashby says there is potential to work with that industry and also to re-employ people who may have lost jobs.
