This farm tuna is the first of its kind in whole world and this opens the way for the development of a multibillion-dollar tuna breeding and farming industry. It follows the visionary attempt by Clean Seas chairman Hagen Stehr to breed tuna, rather than catch them in the wild, and farm them off Port Lincoln. According to Stehr this is no less than Armstrong walking on the moon.
Stehr also told that the achievements are world firsts and major stepping stones to present the world with a sustainable tuna resource for the future. The company announced that it had produced 2.5cm fingerlings after its broodstock had spawned continuously during a 35-day period from March 12 to April 16. It is informed that more than 50 million fertilised eggs and 30 million larvae had been produced with fingerlings reaching about 2.5cm in length at 28 days of age.
Stehr explained that Clean Seas would continue growing the tuna fingerlings before starting a major commercialisation program late this year. He added that there are a number of other hurdles to overcome, but Australia can now achieve total sustainability in tuna. Fisheries Research and Development Corporation executive director Patrick Hone said the success offered a solution to the problem of falling world-wide fish stocks and rising seafood consumption.
Hone also expressed that the world demand for tuna was rising strongly with a serious shortage for sashimi, while the demand for tuna as a functional food was also strong. He told that Australia uses 450,000 tonnes of fish a year of which 70 percent is imported. He said that their goal is to lift farmed finfish production from about 50,000 tonnes to 100,000 tonnes annually by 2015.
