October 26, 2006

Clean Seas Tuna to spawn tuna in captivity

Australia's Clean Seas Tuna is hoping it would succeed where others have failed- spawning tuna in captivity.

Nine 140kg tuna, worth more than US$1 million each were airlifted from sea pens off Eyre Peninsula and lowered into the world's first on-shore hatchery.

Hagen Stehr, chairman of Clean Seas Tuna said he had successfully moved the tuna during an eight-hour helicopter operation involving a team of scientists and divers.

The company has succeeded where everybody else, including the Americans and Europeans have failed, said Stehr.

The tunas were airlifted to a newly built three million-litre tank last Thursday and has so far spent 150 hours in the tank.

Stehr said the tuna would be kept in computer-controlled conditions simulating the ideal environment for spawning.

Stehr intends to transfer a second group of nine tuna next month when the first nine have settled in.

Onshore propagation would ensure the future of tuna fish stocks, which had already been depleted in European waters, Stehr said.

A successful project meant that Australia would be able to produce 5200-tonnes of tuna from aquaculture in a decade, without affecting wild tuna stocks.