|
Hobart-based company
Installed Logic Pty Ltd is to receive $110,00 from the Federal
Government’s New Industries Development Program (NIDP) to help it
undertake commercial trials of sea urchin farming.
Specifically, Installed
Logic will use the grant to produce high-quality sea urchin roe for
testing in various markets.
The Federal Minister
for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Warren Truss, announced details
of all recipients in the latest round of NIDP grants in Brisbane today.
Mr Truss said that,
nationally, 25 businesses would receive grants totalling more than $2.3
million, with individual grants ranging from around $40,000 to more than
$110,000.
“Together, the
successful applicants demonstrate how individuals and businesses
throughout the Australian agribusiness sector are using their skills and
imagination to develop new products, processes and systems,” Mr Truss
said.
“This drive is
helping not only create new products and jobs, but is also helping
reposition Australian commodities into value-added products for niche
markets.”
The NIDP, which is
administered by Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry – Australia, has
been designed to deliver a set of integrated strategies to support and
showcase innovative Australian agribusiness enterprises.
The NIDP was
expanded in 2001 with the release of the Federal Government’s innovation
statement, Backing Australia's Ability, from a three-year program to a
five-year program with funding of $21.7 million from July 2001.
The grants announced
today were awarded under the NIDP’s Pilot Commercialisation Project
component, which provides competitive-based funding assistance for
innovative, niche agribusiness ventures that encourage through-chain
approaches.
Further
inquiries:
Simon Firth
Installed Logic (03) 6231 9334
A fact sheet on
Installed Logic Pty Ltd is attached:
An Australian
first for Tasmanian sea urchin farmer
Australia’s sea
urchin roe industry has received a major boost with the funding of a new
farming enterprise that will see the urchins grown and harvested from
sea cages.
Hobart-based
Installed Logic Pty Ltd, trading as Tasmanian Sea Urchin Developments (TSUD),
has received a $100,000 grant from the Federal Government’s New
Industries Development Program (NIDP) to help set up the venture.
“This is the first
time sea urchins will be farmed in Australia,” Installed Logic Director
Simon Firth said. “There is a substantial market for sea urchin roe in
Asia, with the Japanese market alone importing more than US$360 million
worth each year.
“In fact, Japanese
demand for this product cannot be met because wild catch urchin does not
deliver the required quantity or quality.
“By farming urchin,
we can supply the market with a product of a consistently higher quality
than is possible from the wild fishery. Farming will also contribute to
the long?term sustainability of sea urchin populations.”
Mr Firth said the
key to the urchin industry’s expansion is farming’s potential to provide
higher yields through carefully designed feeding regimes.
“Our project
involves creating feeding regimes that will improve the quality and
quantity of marketable roe,” he said. “We are also upgrading our
experimental kelp nursery — which is used to feed the urchins — to
produce more than 5,000 plants a week.
“We will be able to
extend the harvesting season from three months to a maximum of eight.
This means we can supply urchin to Japan during its ‘off’ season.”
Simon, and business
partner Will James, became interested in sea urchin farming following
their experiences in the wild catch fishery where they noticed that,
despite high concentrations of urchin, much of it was unmarketable due
to age or poor condition.
Installed Logic will
use part of its grant to design, build and locate suitable grow-out
systems. The urchins will be placed in the various systems and fed until
harvest time.
The Tasmanian
Department of Primary Industry, Water and the Environment’s Marine
Farming Branch has granted Installed Logic four sea farming leases to
produce sea urchin.
Sea urchin occurs
naturally on the east coast of
Tasmania,
however,in the wild, sea urchins survive on minimal feed and do not
uniformly develop into a marketable product.
Mr Firth said
research into urchin ecology the has found that farming, and providing
the best feeding material, results in an increase of marketable roe of
up to 10 to 20 per cent.
This project is one
of 25 Australia-wide that have received NIDP funding assistance in 2002.
The NIDP enhances the ability of Australian agribusinesses to develop
and commercialise new agribusiness products, services and technologies.
Further
information:
Merryn Kennedy NIDP
Manager (02) 6272 3785
Simon Firth Installed Logic Pty Ltd (03) 6231 9334/5
simonf@southcom.com.au |
