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Questions On Notice Questions on notice are usually asked when a more detailed answer is required and are in writing, and are forwarded by the Clerk of the Parliament to the relevant Minister who prepares a written answer which is presented to Parliament.
ESTIMATES COMMITTEE G PRE-HEARING QUESTION ON NOTICE
ASKED ON 3 JULY 2006 GOVERNMENT No. 5
QUESTION:
I refer to 1-32 dot point 8 of the Ministerial Portfolio Statement. What is the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries doing to facilitate the development of high value aquaculture in Queensland whilst mitigating the environmental impacts?
ANSWER:
The Queensland government's most recent commitment of $4 million additional funding over four years to assist the development of the state's fledgling aquaculture industry has completed its first year. This initiative is supporting the economic development of the major Queensland aquaculture growth sectors such as prawns and barramundi and the developing/emerging sectors such as crabs, sea scallops and reef fish. The initiative has three related objectives:
(i) to support critical Research and Development (R&D) to develop the technologies essential for these sectors to grow; the initiative represents an increase in core base funding of approximately 30 per cent.
(ii) to facilitate export market development for aquaculture products and for aquaculture technologies and expertise suited to tropical countries.
(iii) to augment industry planning and structural change processes which are necessary for industry economic development to be realised. Significant results assisted by this initiative from recently completed R&D projects, and projects currently in progress, include:
o continuation to the next phase of better performing and reproducing 'captive' Tiger Prawns from their genetic improvement and continued domestication, in close partnership with the prawn industry and associated research funding organisations;
o installation of $310,000 of infrastructure to heat a pond for rapid growth of tiger prawn broodstock. This will be delivered to industry for the coming harvest season;
o the intensive production of barramundi with water use efficiency gained by aquatic plants removing nutrients and so cleaning (remediating) and enabling recycling of the wastewater discharge;
o Aquaculture systems for intensive production of barramundi and other finfish that are both water efficient and integrated with cotton agriculture water and other water resources;
o trials of two wastewater treatment systems are underway;
o greater involvement of industry in partnering the direction and application of tropical marine finfish R&D, with on-farm trials now underway of estuary cod and flowery cod;
o commencement of approximately four (4) students to conduct trial work in prawn and finfish biotechnology including identifying improved mechanisms for rapid growth and identification broodstock;
o Improved wastewater treatment systems leading to zero discharge from farming operations.
o Investigating the potential for producing 'organic prawns' using locally available, low-cost organic food sources to provide new opportunities for existing and new prawn farmers in the state and to satisfy rising consumer interest in organic seafoods;
o Developing low-cost methods of remediating nutrient-rich wastewater to enable future growth of the aquaculture industry is a major focus of a range of current projects:
�� assessing the role of aquatic plant and animal species to capture nutrients and to create secondary profits; for example: mullet, banana prawns and bivalve species (oysters, clams and mussels) in prawn farm effluents; seaweed, duckweed for marine and freshwater production systems;
�� combining plant and animal nutrient sinks with mechanical filtration and engineered solutions. Queensland aquaculture production, including prawns, barramundi, crabs, scallops and reef fish is estimated at $64 million or 25% of the total state fish market and is rising to meet strong demand. This research has the potential to significantly increase this market share and gain valuable exports in the future. Last changed: [PUBLISHED_DATE] at 1:17 PM
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