The establishment of a new native oyster and/or western rock oyster aquaculture sectors in SA and the former in Tasmania will not only diversify the business risk of the existing Pacific oyster sector, but has the potential to become a multi-million dollar industry itself. As native oysters would be more suited to subtidal or low intertidal culture while western rock oysters are an ideal alternative species to mitigate POMS, the successful development of these aquaculture sectors will strengthen the confidence of existing/new growers and investors in Pacific, western rock and native oysters; thereby encouraging further expansion of the industry. In addition, supporting species diversification is one of the high strategic priorities in the Oysters Australia Strategic Plan 2014-2019.
Project number:
2016-807
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure:
$243,426.00
Principal Investigator:
Xiaoxu Li
Organisation:
SARDI Food Safety and Innovation
Project start/end date:
23 Apr 2017
-
29 Jun 2019
Contact:
FRDC
1. To develop Native Oyster on-farm growing methods that maximise survival and growth in South Australia and Tasmania
2. To compare the performance between Pacific Oysters and Native Oysters in South Australia
3. To establish a Native Oyster farmers network to share new techniques and knowledge
4. To develop translocation protocols for the safe translocation of Western Rock Oysters to South Australia
5. Trial Western Rock Oysters in the field in South Australia to assess their performance and viability of a potential industry if agreed by industry and regulators
ISBN:
978-1-8767007-45-4
Authors:
Xiaoxu Li
Penny Miller-Ezzy
Christine Crawford
Deborah Gardner
Marty Deveney
Jessica Buss
Ben Diggles
Kathryn Wiltshire
Final Report
•
2023-05-01
•
3.61 MB
2016-807-DLD.pdf
Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome (POMS), the disease caused by OsHV-1 microvariant, results in high and rapid mortality in Pacific Oysters (Crassostrea gigas) and has been responsible for significant economic loss to oyster industries in Australia and around the world. The diversification of commercial production into different oyster species (Native Oysters and Rock Oysters), that are not susceptible to POMS, has been proposed as a way to mitigate the risk of POMS in southern Australia. However, the Australia Native Oyster (Ostrea angasi) industry is still in its infancy, with knowledge gaps along the production chain. Additionally, there are no wild populations of Rock Oysters (Saccostrea sp.) in South Australia. Despite Rock Oyster aquaculture being well established in New South Wales and recently in Western Australia they have never been commercially produced in South er Australia and translocation policies to move them around the state are non-existent. This project aimed to improve on-farm production of Native Oysters and determine if Rock Oysters can be safely translocated to South Australia from Western Australia, to help Australian oyster growers to diversify into these species.
