Breeding abalone is a difficult and costly business, but
after five years a Bellarine farm is now set to reap the
rewards. Philip Hopkins reports.
The little shells, a beautiful turquoise-aqua colour, cling
to the artificial rocks, barely visible in the gloom.
However, within a couple of years, they and thousands more
growing next to them, may land on the plates of abalone
lovers throughout South-East Asia. |
Great Southern Waters managing
director Steve Rodis says that setting up his abalone farm
cost "many millions of dollars". |
The abalone are being bred on
Victoria's Bellarine Peninsula, not far from Geelong, by a
private company, Great Southern Waters.
There are only about 70 licensed abalone divers in Victoria,
with licences now costing up to $6 million, so aquaculture is
the way of the future.
But breeding abalone is a complex, capital-intensive business
that requires a lot of up-front investment and a few years'
patience before the rewards come - just ask Stephen Rodis, Great
Southern's managing director.
"There is no manual for aquaculture.
You've got to be tenacious and not take 'no' for an answer,"
said Rodis, 38, an industrial designer who took almost five
years to get his abalone farm off the ground.
Rodis was reluctant to say how much they had spent on setting up
the business, located on a 20-hectare site near St Leonards, but
it was "many millions of dollars".
Fortunately, all going well, the rewards will come. While
international prices fluctuate, Rodis said abalone fetched about
$45,000 a tonne. Victoria's abalone divers are licensed to take
about 1440 tonnes a year, or 20 tonnes each. "You can set up a
farm that will produce double that amount," he said.
Great Southern has a brooding stock licence from Fisheries
Victoria that allows it to collect brood stock from the wild.
The stock are taken to the hatchery, where they spawn.
Rodis estimated that it took about three-and-a-half years to
grow stock to a minimum harvestable size of 75 millimetres.
Green-lipped abalone in the wild grow up to about 180
millimetres.
While this was a long lead time, it was not much different from
other agriculture ventures such as grapes or olives.
The aim is to build up the stocks so that Great Southern can
harvest continuously, with the size of the abalone varying with
the customer's wishes.
Great Southern Waters is located opposite the beach. Sea water
from pipes half a kilometre out to sea is pumped into the
hatchery and returned by gravity flow.
Great Southern employs 13 full-time and five to eight casual
staff. Rodis, who is also the president of the Victorian
Aquaculture Council, said aquaculture's potential to generate
employment had been underestimated in Victoria. He expects his
company to eventually employ about 30 people.
The establishment of Great Southern deepens the development of
the Geelong region as an aquaculture hub.
The Bellarine Peninsula is home to a large mussel farming
sector, and Great Southern, together with another abalone farm,
Ocean Wave Seafoods at Lara, breeds mussel spat for the mussel
farmers.
The Marine and Freshwater Research Institute is located at
nearby Queenscliff, and a new 100-hectare aquaculture area is
set to be released at Pinnace Channel in Port Phillip Bay.
Rodis said the way was open for the local aquaculture sector to
produce oysters, scallops and clams. Together with the Bellarine
Peninsula's growing wine reputation, this opens up huge tourism
potential.
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