January 9, 2007

Australia's Gold Coast makes first harvest of domesticated tiger prawns

Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture, a Queensland prawn farm, has harvested the world's first commercial crop of black tiger prawns grown from parent stocks bred and matured in captivity.

The prawns were the first successful crop to come from a Food Futures Flagship project aimed at developing methods for breeding from domesticated prawns and reduce the industry's reliance on parent stocks from the wild.

Others in the joint research project include the Australian Institute of Marine Science and the Queensland Department of Primary Industries.

Director of Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture, Noel Herbst, said the 50-tonne harvest represents about 15 percent of the farm's annual production of black tiger prawns.

The harvest is the third generation to be bred in the company's hatchery and their growth and survival has been as good, or better, than the progeny of wild-caught parents, Herbst said.

Leader of the black tiger prawn domestication project, CSIRO's Dr Nigel Preston, said the research involved growing three generations of prawns to maturity in experimental tank, pond and indoor raceway systems. The trials in commercial ponds at Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture began in 2004-05.

Factors such as water temperature and diet need to be just right to achieve the best possible rates of spawning and larval survival, Preston said.

Wild stock supplies are seasonal and erratic so being able to control the production process ensures a consistent quality. Farmers can also selectively breed prawns, thus improving quality and efficiency, he said.