The Live Reef Food Fish Trade (2002) Grouper Aquaculture in Australia. Richard Knuckey

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1 Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation Grouper Aquaculture in Australia Richard Knuckey The Live Reef Food Fish Trade (2002) Official LRFF import to Hong Kong, China of T US$350 million Estimated total imports to Hong Kong = T Gross retail US$486 million Hong Kong, China ~60% of total trade Overall regional trade US$810 million. 2 1

2 Markey Analysis Two ACIAR working papers Economics and market analysis of the live reef-fish trade in the Asia-Pacific region No. 60 (2006) No. 63 (2007) Asian Development Bank 2003 While Stocks Last: The Live Reef Food Fish Trade 3 LRFF Sustainability Continuity and Diversity of Supply Hong Kong Workshop on Impacts of Destructive Fishing Practices on the Marine Environment (APEC, 1997) Alarming decline in health of coral reef ecosystems with more than 30% of reefs degraded beyond recovery and 30 60% facing destruction. 4 2

3 Australia and the LRFF trade Since 1999, total imports of coral-groupers have increased by more than 60%. New Australian exports of coral trout make up over 85% of this increase. Average beach price in Australia US$14 25 / Kg Average wholesale in Hong Kong US$35 / Kg Average retail in Hong Kong US$60 / Kg 5 Challenges for Australia How to maintain and grow LRFF market share (coral trout). How to diversify the mix of grouper species we export. Wild fisheries fully allocated. Restrictions on wild fisheries (green zones on Great Barrier Reef). Growing domestic requirement with the population projected to double by Unknown impacts of climate change on wild fisheries. Species distribution Recruitment of juveniles Health of the reef 6 3

4 Australian Aquaculture Production Australian Aquaculture State Gross Value Annual production (millions) Australian Finfish $451 Tasmanian Atlantic salmon Southern Bluefin Tuna Barramundi QLD (>80%), NT, NSW, WA, SA Gross Value Annual production (millions) $748 $793 Tas $221 $333 (42%) SA $156 $138 ($311 in 00 01) $17.2 $21 Data from Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) 7 Tropical Marine Finfish Species Project Focus Epinephelus coioides Gold spot grouper Epinephelus fuscuguttatus Flowery grouper Plectropomus leopardus Coral trout Epinephelus lanceolatus Giant grouper (Queensland groper) 8 4

5 On-farm Nursery of Gold Spot Grouper Pond Cage Nursery Juveniles stocked TL: 30 40mm Stocking density: 1-7 kg/m 3 Temp: C, Salinity: ppt. Fed 10% body weight / day (commercial grouper pellet diet 48:9 protein:lipid) Graded once a week Biomass doubled in first week (FCR = 0.7) Biomass increased five fold in four weeks (FCR = 1.0) Weekly FCR range Feeding Regime Dry pellets for Groupers Fish Size (g) Daily feeding Rate (% Body Weight) Number of feeds per day (pm) > (pm) from Sim S.Y., Rimmer, M.A., Williams, K.C., Toldeo, J.D, Sugama, K., Rumengan, I. and Phillips, M (2005.) A practical guide to feeds and feed management for cultured Groupers NACA, Bangkok, Thailand 10 5

6 On-farm Grow-out of Gold Spot Grouper Tanks: Up to 70 Kg/m 3 Generally kg/m 3 Pond Cages: 3 28 Kg/m 3 Has approached 100 kg/m 3 Ponds: Kg/m 3 11 Health Issues Observed in Grouper Growout Noda virus (VNN) Deformity (Flowery grouper) Skin pigmentation Leeches Infections Bacterial and Protozoan 12 6

7 Noda virus - VNN On-going Containment Biosecurity measures Ozone treatment of fertilised eggs No active disease at point of transfer to farm Flowery > Gold-spot > Coral trout Queensland groper? Always susceptible Minimise exposure and stressors 13 Normal and abnormal skeletal structure in, Epinephelus coioides (A and H) and E. fuscoguttatus (B -G) A) Maxilla and premaxilla dorso-ventrally aligned (arrow) and hypertrophy of notochord (arrowhead) 16 dph. B) misaligned maxilla and premaxilla (arrow) and compressed vertebral bodies (arrowhead) 33 dph. C) misaligned maxilla and premaxilla 32 dph. D) normal jaw 40 dph. E) misaligned maxilla and premaxilla with compression of the upper jaw 40 dph. F) lordosis 40 dph. G) lordosis 32 dph. H) short lower jaw 42 dph. 14 7

8 Skin pigmentation Occurred on separate farms at different times Not fungal or bacterial and no inflammation associated with patches Patches disappeared as fish grew 15 Leeches Occurs across sites and in SE Asia Heavily fouled cages increase the level of infestation Some seasonal effect Wounds can become infected 16 8

9 Infection - Bacterial and Protozoan Skin Opportunistic Vibrio infections Post-leech Rubbing wounds from cages In association with Uronema Lethal skin infections Bacterial septicaemia 17 Gold-spot free-range in pond Seasonal growth Temperature (winter) Salinity (summer) Average wet weight (g) Free-range in pond Around 18 months to market size (>500 g) /02/08 1/06/08 9/09/08 18/12/08 28/03/09 6/07/09 14/10/09 22/01/10 2/05/10 10/08/ Caged in pond 600 Weight (g) /12/08 28/03/09 6/07/09 14/10/09 22/01/10 2/05/10 10/08/10 18/11/

10 Gold-spot (Epinephelus coioides) Currently stocked in cages within ponds. FCR ~1.5 Feed cost ~$2/Kg Grow-out time ~18 months This year ~ 15 T product sold on to the domestic market Live ~$25 / Kg Whole, chilled ~$15 / Kg Barramundi 30 Production (tonnes) Production Value Value ($m) Year

11 Investment Options for Tropical Groupers Grouper are now on farm and being sold domestically real products, high research investment Builds on existing aquaculture farm knowledge and provide an opportunity for diversification and increased profitability to: Existing marine barramundi farms Existing prawn farms Various entry options Existing operational marine barramundi or prawn farms Existing underutilised marine farm with permits in place Dedicated marine finfish facility 21 Consumer Feedback Feedback for live gold-spot grouper Variable texture, sometimes too firm Preference for flowery (tiger) grouper Grouper texture Acceptability testing conducted Live, gold-spot grouper Dead, chilled gold-spot grouper Live, flowery grouper All fish were around 600 g All samples were prepared in the same way, steamed and portioned Samples provided in random order to the 21 member tasting panel 22 11

12 Results means for tasting parameters Steamed sample Texture Initial firmness Chewiness Flakiness Juiciness Overall firmness Live gold-spot grouper Live flowery grouper Dead chilled gold-spot grouper Live, gold-spot grouper was confirmed as being firmer, chewier and less juicy than either dead gold-spot or liver flowery grouper. 23 Coral trout (Plectropomus leopardus) Australia s first production of coral trout in Currently undergoing evaluation Diet Husbandry Pigmentation Technically very challenging Egg quality Larval diet Weaning Grow-out environment 24 12

13 Giant Grouper Broodstock 25 Australia s first production of Giant grouper 26 13

14 10 9 Individual Fish Weight (Kg) /12/09 22/01/10 13/03/10 2/05/10 21/06/10 10/08/10 29/09/10 18/11/10 7/01/11 Time (days) 27 Thank you Northern Fisheries Centre 28 14