Australian Barramundi Farmers Association

President’s News Letter for April 2006

What with cyclones and heavy weather, this is proving a difficult time for some of us and a busy time for the Association. The Conference and Workshop went well despite some robust criticism from the floor about the presence of government at the planning sessions. I was very pleased to host the industry at our GFB farm at Bowen. I think we all learn something by visiting each other’s operations. I trust we will continue with farm visits as part of these events.

More details follow.

Cyclone

Cyclone Larry ripped through Innisfail causing major damage to our members in the area. Losses of stock, cages, walkways, sheds and packing facilities, damage to houses and vehicles. Both Cris Phillips and Marty Phillips were impacted. Jungle Creek advises it is in not too bad shape. The hatchery at flying Fish Point was severely damaged.

With a lack of electricity, back up diesel generators have been supplying power for aerators.

ABFA has been working closely with people there and arranged visits with the Minister and has been working with Government on the assistance package.

In fact, it is clear that as an industry we are still vulnerable to weather and climate. Marine harvest suffered damage earlier in the year and even our own facility at Bowen several hundred kilometres south of the cyclone centre has had to cope with the torrential cyclonic rain.

We wish everyone in the path of the cyclone a speedy recovery.

We Need Good Press for Farmed Barramundi

Fresh farmed Australian Barramundi produced by our members is an outstanding product. Unfortunately, there are still some negative perceptions about the aquaculture side of things. A couple of weeks ago the noted food consultant and writer in the Courier Mail Good Life Food section, Gillian Hirst, really dumped on farmed Barramundi compared to wild caught product.

The message in all this is that we are not doing enough to sell the quality image our product and industry.

In response, I have written to Gillian Hirst and dispatched a carton of our very best farmed Barramundi – both whole fish and filets. This should dispel a few myths. Also, I on behalf of the industry we have offered to fly her to Townsville and inspect farms at Innisfail and Bowen.

I was proposing to do this in the next week or so, but the cyclone has obviously interfered with that plan. We need to clean up and get some of the urgent recovery tasks completed. So I have said we will fly her up in the dry season.

I will see how this goes, but if successful, it may be worth the industry investing in a similar visit for such people as Gourmet Traveller, Sydney Morning Herald and Age and Advertiser food writers etc. It does cost a bit – we need to budget about $2000 per person on the trip, but if we can lift the profile of fresh farmed Australian Barramundi as a must have gourmet food item, the pay off to members will be enormous.

Queensland has just had Primary Industries Week. The week covered a wide range of public events promoting the importance of primary production. Graham Dalton represented aquaculture at the luncheon.

The new Deputy Director General Fisheries replacing Peter Neville is Mr Grant Hall. He comes from the DPI’s Corporate Capability area. He has a background in policy, industry development and resource management.

There remains a lot to be done following the Townsville workshop. The Executive will be meeting in Brisbane on May 18.

The AGM this year is being held in conjunction with the National Aquaculture Council’s major international conference in Adelaide from Sun 27 August to Wednesday 30 August. The ABFA will be meeting on Thursday 31 August and Friday 1 Sept.

Please keep these dates free in diaries and plan on attending. We will send out agendas and brochures this month.

Julie Lisle from Bakers Creek Marine Farm near Mackay did a fantastic job organising the Townsville workshop. Catering and administration and registration went like clockwork- run by Michael Lisle with some direction no doubt from Julie. Julie had to go into hospital recently for a short stay; so on behalf of the Association we wish her a quick recovery.

You will see from the header on this news letter that we have a new sponsor. Skretting has joined Ridley and Primo as principal sponsors of the ABFA. We now have the three major feed suppliers working with us on industry development. I am committed to making sure the industry works closely with our sponsors. They have much to offer. Especially, they are tapping into research relating to growth and feed uptake and that is directly relevant to the profitability of the industry.

I am keen to see every workshop and conference have at least half a day for presentation by these sponsors about research and application to the industry. They have a lot to give and we can all learn.

- Dave is well known to many members and but has now established his own hatchery near Innisfail

- Jungle Creek is supplying high quality fingerlings so if you need supplies contact them at: diborgelt@dodo.com.au

I guess everyone in the industry knows Carl. He was Exec officer for the association at an important time, has been a consultant to many of the businesses in the industry. He has just returned from a stint in the

and is now working on a benchmarking project for barramundi farms.

A few producers have dropped out of their membership. If you have not renewed your membership, this will be the last time you receive a news letter as we have just updated the distribution list.

Members in the Northern Territory , South Australia and Queensland are getting behind a benchmarking study of the industry. The aim is too try and set best practise standards for efficiency and productivity for a wide range of parameters. It will enable participants to compare their operations with industry standards. This should be a powerful tool in boosting profitability and performance. Funding has been provided by industry and the NAC.

The event is to be held over two days on 27th and 28th April 2006 in Cairns . We have been invited to attend the Forum and provide views on the issues facing the future development of the Fishing industry across northern Australia . If anyone in the area is able to attend on behalf of the ABFA please contact Graham Dalton.

We have had a request from France for an internship for Léa Mazzina. She is a student of the ISTOM, a College of Advanced Studies in International Agro-Development, in Paris ( France ). She is studying to be an engineer in agro-development in all the sectors relating to farming, including aqua/sea farming. She has to complete a 3 months internship in an English speaking country.

At the workshop in Townsville members asked the ABFA investigate what is needed for organic certified barramundi. We have obtained some initial information and will consider whether to put on a workshop in Adelaide .

Coincidentally, Seafood Services and the NAC have also started looking at what will be involved in organic certification of aquaculture. We will keep you informed.

We had a very well attended and productive work shop in Townsville. If anything, we suffered from having such a large agenda that some issues did not get covered in full. Also, we suffered some strong criticism for inviting government people.

In defence of having a wide level of participation including government, particularly in the industry development planning, one of the problems faced by many members across Australia is an almost excessive level of regulation. Our strongest supporters are the state departments responsible for aquaculture development and I think it is important that we involve them and bring them with us.

The Australian Prawn Farmers Association with assistance from the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries has published an industry development plan.

ABFA used the Townsville workshop to start a similar process. Hopefully we will end up with an agreed path to a bigger and more profitable industry. We need to get a premium for our product as well as being more efficient and this is very much part of the plan.

The Executive will consider the document developed at the workshop and then we will send a draft version to members for consideration.

We now have some estimates on production of Barramundi. The figures are higher than official stats. Significantly, although production is growing overall, it has been less than forecast by members. No doubt at the end of the season we all realise that we have produced less than we think we thought we would and less than we think is desirable. There appears to have been a fall in production this year, probably due to the climate and weather factors. But members are optimistic about next year.

Julie Lisle and Graham Dalton are working on the membership cards and certificates. As soon as these are done we will be working on developing a template for stickers for ABFA members to use on product as a badge of origin and quality.