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Dissecting the dining habits of prawns
The secret feeding habits of farmed prawns will be investigated as a part of a new CSIRO research collaboration with an Australian company to develop aquaculture technologies that could revolutionise the prawn farming industry.
The goal is to increase yields, enhance sustainability and improve the health and quality of aquaculture prawns by developing and applying the best high-tech marine Research and Development available.
CSIRO Food Futures National Research Flagship Director Dr Bruce Lee said CSIRO was designing video and audio analysis techniques to automatically measure how much feed farmed prawns consume and how much they grow as a result.
'More efficient feeding of prawns will reduce cost, waste and potential contamination of the environment around farms from nutrient rich effluent,' Dr Lee said.
Food Futures Flagship Research Group Leader Dr Nigel Preston said the key to increasing prawn yields, and improving their health and quality is developing a better understanding of their feeding habits in farm ponds.
'To achieve this we are developing software which uses mathematical algorithms to analyse prawn consumption and growth patterns,' Dr Preston said.
CEO of Hobart-based marine aquaculture technology company AQ1 Systems Ross Dodd said that 'from the perspective of the technology used to farm prawns, the industry is currently back where the salmon industry was 15 years ago.'
'The demand for farmed prawns is expected to increase rapidly, but the industry is still heavily reliant on manual labour and unsophisticated feed management systems,' Mr Dodd said.
This research involves developing software to analyse the sound prawns make when they eat.
CSIRO's Information and Communication Technologies Centre's Dr Stephen Giugni said this sound is a bit like hearing oil popping in a pan.
'While still at an early stage, we hope this audio information will reveal many aspects of prawn behaviour, including which feed the prawns prefer and how the biomass moves around a pond throughout the day,' Dr Giugni said.
Apart from establishing a technology platform with potential application across many types of aquaculture, this partnership should generate significant revenue for an Australian small business and add around $20 million per year to the Australian prawn industry's profits.
'If the technology proves viable, this partnership is well positioned to revolutionise the prawn farming industry not only in Australia, but internationally,' Mr Dodd said.
AQ1 will receive investment funds of more than one million dollars through CSIRO's Australian Growth Partnership program, which is designed to provide capital to high potential small- to medium-size enterprises that have an alignment with CSIRO's Flagship programs.
Minister says prawns technology partnership to benefit Tasmania
The Minister for Economic Development, Michael Aird, today congratulated Tasmanian company AQ1 Systems for securing $1.85 million in funding to develop cutting-edge technology for the global prawn farming industry.
Mr Aird said funding from the CSIRO’s Australian Growth Partnerships program will allow AQ1 Systems to work with the world class Tasmanian ICT Centre (TasICTC) on smart sensor systems for prawn aquaculture.
“This collaboration is predicted to provide $15 million in extra revenue for Australian prawn farmers and open global markets in excess of $500m for AQ1 Systems. This initiative should generate high tech jobs and export earnings in a significant outcome for Tasmania,” he said.
“The project aims to reduce feed wastage and improve feed utilisation to improve the growth rate of farmed prawns.
“This will mean more prawns per pond and larger prawns with higher market value.
“Aquaculture and marine science are areas where Tasmania has a natural, economic and scientific advantage.
“It is important to maximise our competitive advantage in these areas through the collaboration of business with best practice research in science and technology.”
Mr Aird said Ross Dodd and his team from AQ1 Systems are internationally recognised for their knowledge and skills in acoustic and optical sensing technology for fisheries and aquaculture.
“Together with sister company Myriax Software, they work with over 250 marine research institutes globally and major aquaculture industries in 18 countries,” he said.
Mr Aird also congratulated TasICTC CEO, Dr Steve Giugni, on the partnership and recognised the world class research and jobs the centre is generating for Tasmania.
“The TasICTC has employed 31 highly qualified research staff and seven PhD students in a joint program with the University of Tasmania.
“The research sector in Tasmania generates employment and postgraduate positions for around 3000 people and brings $210 million dollars into the state each year.”
TasICTC conducts innovative applied research in the areas of sensor networks, data management and robotics and seeks to commercialise outcomes from this research.
The $30 million Centre is jointly funded through CSIRO and the Intelligent Island program.
Intelligent Island is funded through the Australian Government and managed by the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and the Arts.
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