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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-04-13 Daily Xml
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Yellowtail Kingfish

The Hon. T.R. KENYON (Newland) (14:31): My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. Can you inform the house about research to improve the production of yellowtail kingfish in South Australia?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson—Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Tourism, Minister for Recreation and Sport, Minister for Racing) (14:31): I thank the member for Newland for the question. The aquaculture and fisheries industries are very important to the South Australian economy, worth $876 million a year and creating hundreds of jobs right around coastal South Australia. Clean Seas is Australia's biggest provider of yellowtail kingfish. It is growing a reputation, not just here in Australia, but around the world, as an outstanding fish, suitable for premium sashimi, which is particularly big in the Japanese market but growing too in the Chinese market. It is also a versatile white fish that can be cooked in a number of different ways and is very suitable for lots of different dishes.

I was pleased to join with Marcus Stehr last week in China when he joined the Premier's delegation of 300 people from councils and industry sectors from around South Australia. He was over there again working with importers in China to grow their market and convince them of the wonderful qualities of the kingfish as an eating fish. I was also there last November with Marcus Steer and another group.

It is tremendous to see the way that the fishing and aquaculture industries are working with government. As I told the house yesterday, it is really important when you go into markets like China to be doing it with the government, because we can open the doors that perhaps you cannot on your own. It is also fantastic to see the way that the different fishers over there from different sectors are collaborating together and going as one so that they can bring back their learning.

In terms of research, SARDI, along with Clean Seas and the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, with funding from the Australian government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources' Rural R&D for Profit program, the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries and the New South Wales industry partner, the Australian Seafood CRC, and two aquafeed companies, are all working together on a program that will cost $6 million over the next three years to work out more efficient ways of getting fish ready for market.

They are grown in the pens off Eyre Peninsula. What companies like Clean Seas worked out was that they thought they were wasting food. When they put the pellets into the pens, a lot of pellets just went straight through to the bottom, so they asked SARDI to do the research. They have tried a different regime of feeding techniques. I was down at SARDI at West Beach a couple of weeks ago having a look at the kingfish in the tanks down there. What they do is lower the temperature to the sort of level that it would be at during winter, and feed the fish. They worked out that the fish were not eating as many of the pellets when the water was colder, in those winter months.

Clean Seas has taken that knowledge on board, they have adopted the research and the recommendations, and they have changed their feeding regime. They have since advised us that the change will result in a financial gain of approximately $2 million on a 2,000 tonne operation over a full winter program. Again, it is a matter of us as a government working with the private sector on ways of saving the industry money, making sure that the quality of fish is at a premium for when they put it on the market, not just here in Australia but into those emerging markets throughout Asia and other parts of the world.

We will continue to do that as our primary industry department works side by side, hand in hand with industries right across South Australia to ensure that we can grow our wonderful industry that is worth $18.2 billion for our food and wine, which is up $1.1 billion on the year before.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader will not interrupt the leader—

The Hon. P. Caica: Don't talk about money and tuna, Vickie.

The SPEAKER: —who is about to ask a question, immediately after I call to order the member for Colton.

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