In this section:

Leading-edge technology in Spencer Gulf

Tuesday 9 January, 2007

A 10 day survey of finfish farms in Spencer Gulf by SARDI scientists will explore how leading-edge technology can be adapted to reliably and quickly monitor the health of sea-life found in seabed sediments.

This project is part of the `Innovative Solutions in Aquaculture Planning and Management Program’, a joint initiative of Primary Industries and Resources SA (PIRSA) and the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC). The project will identify effective ways to measure the environmental performance of finfish aquaculture.

The Executive Director of PIRSA Aquaculture, Mr Ian Nightingale said that the results of the survey would enable scientists to fine-tune technology.

“This will give us access to real-time monitoring results from finfish farms located in Spencer Gulf,” Mr Nightingale said.

“This is the critical knowledge we need so we can continue to manage the growth of the State’s aquaculture industry sustainably.”

Mr Nightingale said that support for the research project signalled the government and industry’s commitment to ensuring a sustainable aquaculture industry in SA.

The field research is being led by Dr Maylene Loo from SARDI.

“The animals living in seabed sediment differ as the habitat changes – it’s a dynamic biological system, so measuring sea-life is a sensitive way of measuring any changes occurring, the key element of any environmental monitoring program,” Dr Loo, said.

“This study, which has evolved from an earlier Aquafin CRC project, will give us the opportunity to build on the DNA based test now used for tuna aquaculture and extend this for new farming systems and different environments such as yellowtail Kingfish and mulloway farming sites,” she said.

“We will gain insights to know where adjustments are needed through evaluating the diversity and similarity between regions of the small organisms in the seabed sediments.”

Dr Loo said the rapid-DNA test saves resources and time compared to conventional laborious methods of counting small organisms mixed with the sediments collected from the seabed.

The inspiration for the approach arose from technology pioneered by SARDI and the CSIRO to avert soil diseases causing concern to cropping farmers. DNA-based tests at SARDI are now also being used to detect noxious weeds and measure gut health in poultry.