| South
Australian fish farmer Hagen Stehr will be spreading the word about
his farmed yellowtail kingfish when attends the upcoming
European Seafood Exposition in
Brussels. According to Mr Stehr,
yellowtail kingfish farming could one day rival or even surpass the
southern bluefin tuna industry in his native town of Port Lincoln,
but there was still a long way to go.
The
Stehr Group last week completed one
its regular kingfish harvests bringing in 350 fish averaging three
kilograms that will be jet-freighted to Philadelphia, USA. |
The Stehr Group now harvests several
tonnes a week with the product going mainly to Europe and the United
States. (Photo:PLT) |
The recent accreditation of Mr Stehr’s
multi-million-dollar hatchery with the top ISO 14001 environmental
rating is another breakthrough that should boost the marketing of the
farmed kingfish.
The hatchery is already producing
thousands of kingfish fingerlings, as well as other species such as
mulloway.
The kingfish are grown out in pontoons in
the relative calm waters of the Spencer Gulf, not far from where the
southern bluefin tuna are ranched.
The company now harvests several tonnes a
week with the product going mainly to Europe and the United States, as
well as the large Australian cities.
But Mr Stehr said a number obstacles
stood in the way of the kingfish industry reaching its full potential.
"Unfortunately we are badly lacking when
it comes to infrastructure and to develop this industry to the next step
we really need the support of various Government departments," Mr Stehr
said.
South Australia’s infrastructure was
already being pushed to the limit with the existing level of farming, so
much more was needed before kingfish farming could really take off, he
said.
Mr Stehr and his son Marcus will attend
the Brussels seafood show next week in attempt to break into new
markets.
The fact that all the Stehr group of
companies and the hatchery had the ISO 14001 environmental rating would
make marketing the product a lot easier, and Mr Stehr said he
anticipated a number of other local fishing companies would also be
accredited in the near future.
"ISO 14001 is an absolute must nowadays
when you are selling fish to the rest of the world," Mr Stehr said.
Stehr Group kingfish farm workers Ben
Trezise and Chris Brooks harvest fish that in just over 12 months have
grown from small fingerlings to more than three kilograms. Several
hundred of the fish are harvested every week for the European, American
and domestic markets.
Source:
 |
