Australian aquaculture pioneer Clean Seas Tuna Limited has become the first organisation in the world to create an artificial breeding regime for Southern Bluefin Tuna.
The successful collection of significant quantities of SBT sperm and eggs spawned by captive tuna in Clean Seas’ purpose-built land-based breeding facility at Arno Bay will allow the realisation of the company’s plans to close the lifecycle of SBT, potentially establish a valuable SBT sperm bank and secure sustainable production of this premium endangered species.
Clean Seas Chairman, Mr Hagen Stehr AO, said the breeding breakthrough should give Clean Seas the ability to at least duplicate Australia’s Southern Bluefin Tuna annual quota within the next few years and to dramatically grow the aquaculture industry on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula without impacting on wild tuna stocks.
“This world breakthrough is what we have been working towards for the past three years and realises a dream I have had for more than a decade,” Mr Stehr said. “Our SBT sperm bank and collection of mature eggs now makes it possible to deliver our stated goal of growing out SBT fingerlings produced from our own brood stock to sizes required by the rapidly expanding world seafood markets, enabling year round production of SBT and lowering the overall cost of production,” Mr Stehr said.
“This has extraordinary benefits for Clean Seas and its shareholders, in that these fish will not be subject to the strict Australian SBT wild catch quotas and there are no trade barriers for their sale into the major markets of Japan, China, the US, and the European Union where natural fish stocks are severely depleted.
