May 17, 2007

Australia's aquaculture industry needs revitalisation
 

Australia's aquaculture industry would need to revitalise itself if it is to realise its full potential, Dr Steve Crane specialist with The Commonwealth Scientific Industry Research Organisation (CSIRO) said.

The Commonwealth Scientific Industry Research Organisation is charged with developing improved breeds, feeds, and health and environmental management systems to support the sustainable growth of Australian aquaculture.

Aquaculture accounts for a third of Australia's total fisheries production and has been growing four percent annually in the past decade.

Dr Steve Crane, specialist with CSIRO's Fish Disease Laboratory, said expansion of Australia's aquaculture sector would inevitably bring new diseases to the region and that may stretch resources.

Moreover, aging equipment and specialists in the area are not replaced.

Still, Crane said such problems are not only limited to Australia and should be looked at if Australia is to develop aquaculture.

Other issues to be tackled include managing the health, production efficiency and genetic improvement of aquaculture species and developing endemic species. The centre also wants to source for alternative proteins and oils for animal feeds.

To achieve better breeds, CSIRO is using DNA markers to trace the genetics of wild founder populations and farm stocks and identify genes linked to economically important traits

CSIRO said there were two approaches it was exploring to develop higher-performing aquafeeds with reduced fishmeal content. The first is to find fishmeal replacements such as lupins while the second would be to apply biotechnology to develop alternatives to wild-harvest fish as sources of omega-3 oils.