• Project Number – 2011/720
• Start Date – 1st June 2012
• End Date – 30th June 2012
• Principal Investigator – Dr Anthony Hart
• Research Provider – Department of Fisheries, Western Australia
• CRC Participant End User – Abalone Council of Australia Lt and Tasmanian Seafoods Pty Ltd

About the Project

Professor Lorenzen is a leading expert on sustainable and responsible stock enhancement in fisheries. He has written and produced computer simulation software that connects the biology and economics of stock enhancement ("EnhanceFish"), as well as undertaking a major policy review of the future of stock enhancement in marine fisheries, known as the "Responsible Approach".

Both of these tools are being used by the Western Australian Fisheries Department, the Western Australian wild abalone industry, and Tasmanian Seafoods Pty Ltd to progress their business and develop their stock enhancement programmes. The policy and the economic practice of stock enhancement need to be closely linked, and Prof Lorenzen is the ideal candidate to review and optimise our bioeconomic analyses, and ensure that policy development is aligned with "world's best" principles and practice.

Professor Lorenzen will conduct training in the program "EnhanceFish" which will allow researchers and policy officers to investigate the complexities of merging aquaculture practices with harvest fisheries, and provide knowledge transfer to the aquaculture and fishing industries and scientific community on the possibilities of this simulation tool and its application to stock enhancement policy and plans.

Professor Lorenzen's visit will also optimise the bioeconomic stock enhancement models for Greenlip Abalone (Perth - Western Australia), and Sea Cucumbers (Darwin – Northern Territory) and he will review the abalone stock enhancement policy of Department of Fisheries, Western Australia, with a view towards its adoption of the "responsible approach".

Completed Project

• Project Number – 2008/726
• Start Date – 1st May 2008
• End Date – 30th May 2008
• Principal Investigator – Mr Scott Parkinson
• Research Provider – Department of Primary Industries, NSW, CSIRO
• CRC Participant End User – Oyster Consortium

About the Project
Dr Pierre Boudry leads IFREMER's Genomics Laboratory and is co-ordinator for IFREMER's Department of Aquaculture. He has worked in bivalve shellfish genetics for 11 years and has published extensively on molecular taxonomy, population genetics, cytogenetics and selective breeding. Dr Helen McCombie has worked on bivalve cytogenetics for five years, focusing on tetraploidy in Pacific Oysters.

The three week visit commenced in Brisbane in August 2008 with a series of presentations at the 2008 Skretting Australasian Aquaculture conference, where the pair were a major draw card for the shellfish sessions. Topics covered included an overview of French Oyster production, the status of oyster breeding programs in France and an update on progress in research on Summer Mortality Syndrome in France.

Pierre and Helen then spent a week in NSW touring Sydney Rock Oyster hatcheries, nurseries and farm facilities, following the production chain of selectively bred Sydney Rock Oysters and viewing first hand Seafood CRC & FRDC supported oyster research programs. They then flew to Hobart to participate in an industry workshop on mortality in Pacific Oysters at the CSIRO Laboratories before going on to tour the Tasmanian Pacific Oyster industry. Throughout the tour, Pierre and Helen were accompanied by industry selective breeding program representatives from Australian Seafood Industries, the Select Oyster Company and Shellfish Culture, and R & D providers (CSIRO & NSW DPI), who gleaned and exchanged information on selective breeding and heritability of traits such as mortality.
Given Australian Seafood Industry's heavy emphasis on selecting Pacific Oysters for survival, General Manager Matt Cunningham valued the opportunity to learn from French experience on the link between mortality, condition and stress events. Using this information Australian Seafood Industries will be striving to identify mortality triggers in South Australia and Tasmania (heat, handling, etc) with the aim of selecting for traits that will reduce Pacific Oyster mortality.

Shellfish Culture's Breeding Manager Scott Parkinson gathered information across Mussel production, tetraploidy and disease resistance. Dr Boudry's international perspective confirmed that Australian selective breeding achievements have been very significant when he visited Hayden Dyke's Oyster lease which held Australian Seafood Industry's lines displaying excellent uniformity, shape and condition.

CSIRO and NSW DPI scientists appreciated the chance to discuss the French approach to selective breeding and felt the visit had come at a time when the New South Wales oyster industry is considering new approaches to selection. Dr Boudry's visit also provided the chance to discuss a wide array of research programs, including those involving Flat Oyster and Pearl Oysters, and the opportunity to review areas of potential collaborative research.
In seeing these achievements in the Australia oyster industry, Dr Boudry reconfirmed the importance for Australia to follow in international footsteps in its reliance on hatchery production so that it can reap the benefits of sound selective breeding programs.

Dr Boudry and Dr McCombie's report is available from the CRC Bookshop

Completed Project

• Project Number – 2009/741
• Start Date – 1st July 2009
• End Date – 31st July 2009
• Principal Investigator – Mr Mike Thomson
• Research Provider – Darwin Aquaculture Centre
• CRC Participant End User – Clean Seas Tuna Ltd and Australian Barramundi Farmers Association

About the Project

Dr Talbot visited South Australia (Clean Seas Tuna's head quarters in Port Lincoln and Yellowtail Kingfish (YTK) grow out operations in Arno Bay) during which time he reviewed YTK farming activities with particular focus on feed management issues including:

• Identification of opportunities and constraints related to infrastructure, operating environment and human resources with recommendations for improvement,
• An evaluation of YTK diets currently used and recommendations for diet development research, including
• Input into and review of the proposal to the CRC for a project entitled "Sustainable Feeds and Feed Management for Yellowtail Kingfish".

He also undertook growth modeling to:

• Analysis of historical growth and performance production data of YTK and
• Production of a growth model incorporating size, temperature and seasonal effects and
• Recommendations for implementation of regular and periodic data gathering including template data formats.

Dr Talbot also gave an appraisal of facilities available for diet development work and recommendations for potential funding models for a research farm and gave a presentation to key staff of generic best feed management practices using some examples from Yellowtail culture in Japan and Europe. Lastly he conducted a workshop at the Darwin Aquaculture Centre with Australian Barramundi Farmers members.

The report produced by Dr Talbot is currently commercial in confident and is not available for download from the CRC bookshop until further notice.