Huon bids to recapture 20,000 fish after storms
Tasmanian fish farmer Huon Aquaculture has begun efforts to recapture 20,000 yellowtail kingfish lost during rough weather from a trial farm in Australia last week.
“We believe the entire pen was lost, containing 20,000 fish,” a spokeswoman for Huon, one of Tasmania's three major salmon farmers, told the Port Stephens Examiner.
“As of Monday night 2,500 of the fish had been recaptured and those efforts are ongoing.”
Huon is part way through its trial with the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries. Part of the trial was to measure the response of equipment during severe weather with the farm,considered to be in the roughest conditions of any aquaculture operation in Australia. The farm is situated off Port Stephens, about 110 miles north of Sydney.
Extreme weather
On Friday afternoon Huon advised that the farm on the Marine Aquaculture Research Lease had sustained damage after four days of extreme weather. The fish are smaller than 50cm, under legal catch size, and fishers were advised to keep out of the area.
“We’re using a few means to recapture the including industry-standard barbless fishing methods and attracting the fish into the pen through feeding,” the spokeswoman told the Examiner.
“An investigation is underway and the findings will be made public once complete.”
No biosecurity risk
The farmed yellowtail kingfish have undergone routine health checks and are sourced from local genetic stock and as such are not considered a biosecurity risk.
A spokeswoman for Huon said the nearest wave buoy to the lease recorded wave heights of more than 11 metres.
Each pen is designed to hold between 15,000 and 20,000 of the fish – much lower than the 60,000 to 100,000 salmon stocked in Huon’s Tasmanian pens.
