Australia's first floating abalone farm has headed out to sea to begin its full year of operations after an AUD 2 million refit.

The refit included the fitting of special ultraviolet light treatment systems to prevent the spread of any disease thereby allaying the concerns of the wild-caught industry and State Fisheries.

The 6,500-tonne, 123-metre motor vessel the Destiny Queen left Port Lincoln in South Australia last week to begin a four to six-week operation loading 1.5 million juvenile abalone from one the region's land-based abalone farms.

The ship now has both holds fitted with 1,000 tanks specially designed to grow-out abalone under optimum conditions and will spend 12 months in sheltered but cold waters in approved anchoring zones in the Spencer Gulf off Port Lincoln.

The five or six land-based abalone farms have had to overcome mortalities caused by warm summer temperatures and disease.

Destiny Abalone company director Mark Thring said the decision by the Destiny Group to move to a full-scale operation followed a seven-month trial, which the company says produced exceptional commercial results in a world-first operation.

"We expect to generate about 40 tonnes of abalone onboard the Destiny Queen throughout the 2003 season for export sales of around AUD 6million," Mr Thring said.

"Virtually all the abalone matured onboard will be air freighted to Hong Kong."

One of the major upgrades was the installation of an ultraviolet (UV) treatment system regarded as one of the most advanced in Australia's aquaculture industry.

"The system will ensure the removal of pathogens, bacteria and viruses - particularly the 'perkinsus olensi' pathogen - from all sea water circulated through the ship's grow-out tanks," Mr Thring said.

"Up to 80 litres of sea water per second can be treated with the Destiny Queen's UV system and this is more than sufficient for production rates in the ship's holds."

Destiny Abalone is a major Australian producer and exporter of abalone and launched the ship-based project to speed up commercial growth and harvest rates.

The higher-valued and rare green lip abalone are grown under conditions were temperature, water quality, feed and stocking rates can be controlled as the ship sails to a different location in Government approved zones every two weeks.

The company claims last year it achieved growth rates of 12 millimetres a month compared to four to five millimetres a month on land, while mortality was as low as three per cent.

Other upgrades included the removal of a central crane and the installation of processing and freezing facilities on the ship's deck.
 

By Stan Gorton
FIS.com