The WA research provides another valuable market for the State’s grain farmers. It is told that the Aquaculture Feed Grains Programme has brought together private and public sector partners, who saw the potential of developing a sustainable, nutritionally-sound product to feed farmed fish and create a new and growing export market. According to Department of Fisheries research scientist Dr Brett Glencross as the aquaculture developing grows faster primary industry in the world, the traditional sources of fish feed would have meant a major constraint to growth and put further pressure on wild stocks. Traditional feed relied on fish oils and fishmeal, sourced from wild caught stocks.
Dr Glencross informed that they have been able to develop a lupin-based fish feed from a renewable resource that is not only sustainable, but also provides great benefits for WA grain growers from additional sales of value-added lupin products. He told that delegates from the 12th International Lupin Conference will be visiting the Department of Fisheries at Hillarys to see and hear about the research.
Dr Glencross said that he will be presenting a review of the nine year development path that has led to many scientific discoveries and technical improvements, as well as spawning a new, locally based, value-adding industry at the Conference in Fremantle. WA now has the largest lupin processing plant of its kind in the world.
