Tuna baron Hagen Stehr has finally hit the jackpot by breeding the world’s first southern bluefin tuna in tanks. He confidently declares that it would have the revolutionary impact on the booming seafood market: sidestepping tough fishing quotas and even replenishing wild supplies. Hagen Stehr, chairman of Clean Seas Tuna, based at Port Lincoln in South Australia, told that it could have monstrous paybacks for Australia and the world.
According to him the tuna are still tiny, with the oldest only a month out of the egg. They range from the size of an apostrophe to about 2.5cm. Swimming in large tanks at Clean Seas’ Arno Bay hatchery, an hour north of Port Lincoln, the fish are closely guarded by staff who are in uncharted scientific territory.
Stehr also said that it is “purely a numbers game” from now on, a question of how much money to pour in for commercial production. It’s welcome news for investors, with the share price hovering between 70c and 80c, double what it opened at this year but a long way short of the $2.10 highs struck in 2007.
Clean Seas aims to produce 10,000 tonnes of the tuna annually by 2015 with a $10-per-kilogram before tax farmgate margin. Market size for the fish, known as the “Porsche of the sea” because of its 70km/h top speed, is about 20-30kg. It is told that the result came after the breeding team finally conquered the biggest hurdle: coaxing the female tuna to spawn.
