The Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies’ (IMAS) $6.5 million Experimental Aquaculture Facility (EAF) at Taroona is a partnership between the University of Tasmania, Huon Aquaculture and Skretting Australia. The EAF has also been funded by the Australian and Tasmanian governments and the Australian Seafood Cooperative Research Centre.
The salmon, each weighing around one kilogram, were trucked in from Huon Aquaculture in rainy weather that was perfect for fish. Smolt weighing just 100 grams have also been added to stock tanks where they’ll grow to one kilo.
The facility is the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and will enable collaborative research on the health and nutrition of Atlantic salmon, aimed at supporting growth and sustainability in the aquaculture industry.
A percentage of the new arrivals were carefully weighed and measured to allow monitoring of growth rates and feeding. The facility will support the development of different types of feed which optimize the use of marine ingredients, can be used to supply health treatments, and produce efficient growth over a range of temperatures.
Tasmania’s salmon farming is by far the largest aquaculture industry in Australia and accounts for the bulk of seafood production in Tasmania.
The facility uses recirculation aquaculture systems, 12 tanks of 7000 litres, 12 tanks of 2500 litres and two stock tanks of 13 000 litres. The site will undergo a six-month commissioning phase to test the holding capacity of the systems and temperature tolerances, and to identify any problems. In April 2016 the first industry research will start with IMAS’s industry partners Huon Aquaculture and Skretting Australia.
