NAUSTRALIAN SEAFOOD INDUSTRIES

Transcription

1 NAUSTRALIAN SEAFOOD INDUSTRIES EWSLETTER SUMMER 2019 HIGHLIGHTS 02 CHAIRMANS REPORT The breeding of the next generation of Tasmanian oyster families have been successfully completed. 03 GENERAL MANAGER UPDATE Activity has focused on SA and TAS POMS trials, biosecurity plan, small spat EBVs and engaging with the Industry Technical Reference Group. 08 SA FAMILY PRODUCTION The YC18 South Australian families were spawned on the 5th December 2018 at SARDI s West beach facility..

2 2 BUSINESS ASI NEWSLETTER CHAIRMANS REPORT If there is one thing ASI must get right above all else, it is the breeding of a new batch of genetically improved oysters each year. So it is with great pride in the company that I can announce that breeding of the next generation of Tasmanian oyster families has been successfully completed. We now have 74 families in the nursery system and spat will likely be deployed to the field in late December. Breeding of the South Australian families commenced in early December and is progressing well. I would like to thank the ASI staff in Hobart, the SARDI staff in Adelaide and all the growers who take care of our broodstock for their efforts in achieving this successful outcome. As a result, we can continue to make progress in the selection of oysters that show resistance to POMS at 2 to 3 months of age, as well as 12 months something for which the industry has been asking. This will require a change to the way in which Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) are reported in future. More information on this will be provided early in Ms Jan Davis has extensive executive and Board experience in primary industries. She is well known to many people in Tasmania and it will be very valuable to have her political experience added to Board deliberations. Dr Robert Banks is a very experienced geneticist and head of the Animal Genetics Breeding Unit at the University of New England. He leads at team of experts that deliver a range of genetic improvement programs and I am pleased that we have been able to obtain his input to the oyster industry. As 2018 draws to a close I take the opportunity to wish everyone in the industry a joyous, prosperous and safe Christmas and New Year. I would like to formally welcome two new Directors to the Board of ASI. Len Stephens Chair, ASI

3 ASI BUSINESS NEWSLETTER 3 GENERAL MANAGERS UPDATE It s been a typically busy spring and start to summer for ASI. Activity has focused around breeding in both Tasmania and South Australia and deploying families for POMS challenge trials. The development of a biosecurity plan for the IMAS facility has also been an area of significant activity over that period and it is very pleasing to have the plan finalised. The first of the spat from the YC18 Tasmanian families has been deployed for a POMS field challenge in Pittwater. These 2-3 month old spat trials will again be a focus over the summer. This will be the 3rd year we have conducted spat trials and leaving ASI in a position to calculate EBV s for resistance to POMS in small spat for the first time. Lewa has lead this effort with support from Biosecurity Tasmania, IMAS and ASI staff and has done a fantastic job. This will be a departure from the EBV s we currently report which are for 12 month old animals and signifies a new focus towards

4 4 ASI BUSINESS NEWSLETTER high resistance levels in small spat. We will also set new breeding targets in the same way that we did for 12 month old animals. The Industry Technical Reference Group met in August. There were a range of agenda items but from an industry perspective the most important outcome was the recommendation to continue primary focus on POMS resistance for the upcoming breeding season. The group was of the view that high levels of POMS resistance in small spat is vital for a more sustainable industry and that we should maintain that focus. The group did acknowledge that other traits of commercial importance should be included in a long-term breeding strategy. I would like to thank all the ASI staff for their efforts throughout the year. It s been another very productive year for the organisation and much of the credit goes to the team for this. I would also like to thank the researchers from CSIRO, IMAS, SARDI and NSW DPI whose collaboration we value greatly. And without our partner growers we would be nothing so thanks to Chumpy at Shelly Culture, Justin Goc, Hayden Dyke, Craig Lockwood, Ripple at Marine Culture, Josh Poke, Brendy Giedra, Carl Jaeschke and of course the Zippels. Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year for all. Matt Cunningham // General Manager GLOSSARY OF TERMS Spat Under six months old and 6mm in size Juvenile Between six to fourteen months old Adult Over fourteen months old

5 ASI BUSINESS NEWSLETTER NEWSLETTER 5 IMAS-ASI BIOSECURITY PLAN DONE AND PENDING FINAL CERTI- FICATION Funding from the Future Oysters CRC-P has allowed IMAS to build a biosecure facility for ASI. Its completion required a biosecurity plan; preventing potential pathogen spread between differing biosecurity zones through controlling water flow and staff movement within the area. The enhanced biosecurity environment has allowed us to continue its successful family production in a more efficient and effective manner. The IMAS-ASI Biosecurity Plan has taken 12 months for ASI and IMAS to complete (Pertl et al., 2018). It includes 23 standard operation procedures (SOP) and an Emergency Response Plan. The draft biosecurity plan was completed in August 2018 and underwent independent audit process on 5 November 2018 and was finally approved on the 6th December It is currently pending final certification from the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) of Tasmania. Since the beginning of this project all spat and larvae screened for POMS have been negative through PCR testing. Many thanks to Biosecurity Tasmania for their support and input. References Pertl, L.P, Trotter, A.J., Endo G., Cunningham, M.P, & Smith, G. G. (2018). ASI-IMAS Oyster Hatchery Biosecurity Plan, Australian Seafood Industries, 18 pp. Trotter, A.J., Pertl, L., Endo G., Cunningham, M.P., Carter, C. G. & Smith, G. G. (2018). Future Oysters CRC-P: Enhancing Pacific Oyster Breeding to Optimise National Benefits Progress Milestone Deliverable 5 - Hatchery Trials Report, 4pp.

6 6 BUSINESS ASI NEWSLETTER TAS BREEDING UPDATE We ve maintained 80 as our number of YC15 family lines. Some spat are currently divided between broodstock and POMs trials. For the past three years, we have been running POMS trials the Hawkesbury River (NSW). Now that CRCP funding is available, this will be our first full summer for our Tasmanian POMS trials. Family production of the YC18 families has been very successful. In all 74 families have been produced across 2 production batches. WHAT S NEXT? The first families were spawned across the week starting the 24th September and the second lot 3 weeks later during the week starting 15th October. The last of the families were settled at the beginning of November. The whole process ran like clockwork and the way we have managed the batches post settlement means that they are all very similar in size already. This is a marked improvement on the YC17 families which had significant separation in age due to the loss and subsequent replacement of the second batch due to the effects of biotoxin on the Broodstock. The largest of the spat are over 3mm and the first deployment to the field was on the 20th December, just in time for Christmas and most likely POMS! The YC18 year class is an important year class where we expect to see a significant increase in POMS resistance. The parent animals for this year class where selected from the YC15, YC16 and YC17 year classes.

7 BUSINESS NEWSLETTER ASI NEWSLETTER 7 The YC16 and YC17 families have all been challenged as 2-3 month old spat which ensures that a high percentage of the susceptible individuals within a family have been removed from the breeding population. This within family selection really is the cream on top of the breeding program. In previous years we have held back a significant amount of spat to ensure we have enough animals for commercial Broodstock allocations. Based on the results from the last seasons YC17 trials we are confident that we can deploy the entire YC18 year class to the field and still be left with enough animals for ASI and commercial breeding requirements. This is an important milestone for the breeding program and for the end users, Pacific Oyster growers and hatcheries.

8 8 ASI BUSINESS NEWSLETTER SA FAMILY PRODUCTION AND PORT RIVER TRIALS The YC18 South Australian families were spawned on the 5th December 2018 at SARDI s West beach facility. There are 30 families in the first cohort and these should be settled by Christmas. The families were created using parents from the YC14 and YC16 year classes. The YC14 s were the last year class to be sent form Tasmania and the YC16 s are the first year class produced in South Australia. The YC16 broodstock were selected from Coffin Bay due to the reproductive condition of the animals and also because Coffin bay had the highest general mortality rates. The rationale is that, in the same way that we are utilising within family selection for POMS in Tasmania, we are breeding from the animals that are most likely to survive and thrive under South Australian growing conditions. The focus of the breeding plan was for POMS resistance and also South Australian survival. Some of the families performed particularly well under South Australian conditions so we are very The YC17 year class will be tested in the Port River this summer. Funding has been provided by FRDC to be able to conduct this POMS challenge. In all 75 families will be tested in a designed replicated trial. The families are months of age being produced over the previous breeding season at SARDI. The animals selected for the trial range from 20-40mm. The families will have a much larger potential for exposure than last season s YC16 trial which was only placed in the Port River at the very end of the POMS infective window. We are hopeful that this increased exposure will provide better differentiation between the best and worst performing families, which is very important when making breeding decisions from both the ASI and commercial perspective. We are also planning to conduct a POMS spat trial on the YC18 s later in the season in the Port River if possible.

9 FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT US. Australian Seafood Industries Tech 3, Tasmanian Technopark Innovation Drive, Dowsing Point TAS