Australia's national science agency, CSIRO, has developed a new prawn feed which it claims will help in the quest for sustainable seafood.
After a decade of research, the CSIRO scientists have perfected the Novacq™ prawn feed additive. Farmed prawns fed with Novacq
grow on average 30 percent faster, are healthier and can be produced
with no fish products in their diet, a world-first achievement in
sustainability, according to CSIRO.
CSIRO's Dr Nigel Preston has been working with the A$75 million
Australian prawn farming industry for over 25 years, and says this is a
game changer for the industry.
"We fed Novacq to black tiger prawns, and it made them even better for consumers, the environment and prawn farmers," Dr Preston said.
"This is a major achievement for the sustainability of Australia's
aquaculture industry as prawns fed this diet are not only a top quality
product and reach market size faster, they also no longer need to be fed
with any products from wild fishery resources."
"This means that Australian prawn aquaculture, already a world leader
in sustainability and environmental management, is now set to become
even better, and really solidifies aquaculture as a sustainable source
of protein to help meet the ever growing demand for food."
Until now, Australian prawn farmers have needed to feed their prawns
with a pellet that includes some sustainably sourced fish meal or fish
oil, in order to ensure that the prawns grew fast, and were a healthy
and high quality product for consumers.
"When we are talking about relieving pressure on our ocean stocks of fish, every little bit helps. Novacq
will mean that the Australian prawn farming industry could potentially
no longer be reliant on wild-caught fishery products," Dr Preston said.
An area of Florida, USA which was originally granted aquaculture licences in the 1980s may see finally aquaculture come to the area.
Officials are discussing the possibility of reactivating four aquaculture use zones (AUZ) for licenses for oyster farming in the Apalachicola Bay area.
The AUZs are part of a previously planned, but subsequently abandoned,
aquaculture leasing project in the aftermath of Hurricane Elena.
However, according to local press, cabinet members are taking a cautious approach so the AUZs are not a forgone conclusion.
Innovative cage firm, Hawaii Oceanic Technology, USA, is aiming to expand its open ocean farming business.
The firm has already received a patent for its spherical cages from Canada but is looking to expand into Japan, Australia and the EU.
The Oceansphere system is an automated
positioning and submersible open ocean platform that can grow yellow fin
tuna and other pelagic species in an efficient and sustainable manner.
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| The Big Prawn, Ballina, NSW. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
