April 4, 2008

Australia could soon begin to farm striped trumpeter
 

Scientists in Australian state of Tasmania have successfully produced high quality fingerlings of the striped trumpeter, making the fish a potential addition to aquaculture.

Scientists of the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute have worked for many years, using millions of dollars in the process, but the hard work have finally paid off as they had managed to artificially grow the fish to maturity in captivity and the trials have been successfully repeated a number of times. Previous obstacles have been the difficulty in producing high quality fingerlings, a feat the scientists have now achieved.

The next step is to produce the striped trumpeter commercial, said Stephen Battaglene, a researcher.

The project is now at a stage where they can grow a great amount of the fish, put them in sea cages to assess their growth and survival, according to Battaglene.