Aquaculture for all

Abalone Producer Aims to be Biggest

SOUTH AUSTRALIA - Filling a void in the market will make one South Australian aquaculture company the biggest abalone producer in the world.

That's the strategy for Australian Bight Abalone, which is aiming to be the world's largest abalone producer within the next five years.

Reports on ABC Rural News, says the prospects are excellent for the firm because of the unique way it can grow the shellfish on the Eyre Peninsula. It allows farmed abalone to grow in wild fishery conditions and current harvest yields prove it's a good route to improved productivity.

The company is two months into its first harvest near Elliston, and operations manager, Bill Bascomb, says there's plenty of room for expansion.

"At the moment, it's set up to hold 30 cages. Next week we'll start to process of extending that to hold another 30, so we'll hold a total of 60 cages. We think at this stage we don't know of anyone that's got as big a one in the Southern Hemisphere," he adds.

The business will operate a total of 96 cages by the end of July, which it says is on a par with the whole tuna industry in Port Lincoln.

View the ABC Rural story by clicking here.

Further Reading

- Go to a previous news item on this story by clicking here.
Create an account now to keep reading

It'll only take a second and we'll take you right back to what you were reading. The best part? It's free.

Already have an account? Sign in here