Mariculture and aquaculture livelihood options for the Pacific Islands region (IWC5 Presentation)

Mariculture and aquaculture livelihood options for the Pacific Islands region

Cathy Hair and Paul Southgate – James Cook University, Townsville

ACIAR Project BackgroundDevelopment of aquaculture based livelihoods in the Pacific Islands region and tropical Australia

James Cook University (Partners: Secretariat of the Pacific Community, WorldFish Center, Uni of the South Pacific)

Duration: October 2007 to October 2011

Primary objective is to carry out “mini-projects” – small, targeted interventions to address bottlenecks to sustainable aquaculture.

ACIAR target countries for Phase II mini-projects:

Fiji, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu

Mini-project features Target PICT aquaculture bottlenecks Flexibility Rapid implementation Country partner ownership Institutional collaboration Private sector and NGO involvement Focus on achieving real benefits to PICTs, including follow-up where necessary Ability to “test the water”

Phase I mini-projects (2004-07)

Pond

study

Tilapia White teatfish

reseeding

Microalgae

trainingTilapia restockin

gMIRCfaciliti

esEel

survey

Microalgae

training

Sponge

farming

Cage cultur

e

Shrimp

viral study

Feedsstudy

Mabe

pearlM. lar

trials

14 projectsAU$184,000

Phase II mini-projects (2007-11)

Sandfish cultureClownfis

h culture

Pteria trials

Siganid cage culture

Shrimp viral study

Macrobrachium lar

Mabe pearl

Spat collectionHerring

fishmeal

Tilapia grow-out

12 projectscommenced

Live rock and coral culture

Example 1:Sandfish culture & ranching in Fiji

Large mini-project (>AU$40,000)

2.5 years duration

Project partners – Fiji Fisheries, J. Hunter Pearls, NGO (USP FLMMA), USP ACIAR student, community

GOAL – To investigate the potential for sea cucumber culture and sea ranching in Fiji.

Sandfish culture and ranching in Fiji- Objectives

Transfer sandfish hatchery technology to the government (MFF) and private sector (J Hunter Pearls)

Produce large numbers of 3-5 g sandfish

Evaluate the ease of transferring culture techniques to a pearl hatchery

Evaluate growth and survival of juveniles sea ranched in community managed qoliqoli

Improve capacity of Fijian counterparts (hatchery technicians, fishery officers, students)

Explore management options for futuresandfish sea-ranching

Sandfish culture and ranching in Fiji- Objectives

Trained hatchery staff 3 successful larval

production runs

Limited number of juveniles produced

Experimental sea ranching activity

Staff trained in monitoring and data collection

Community engagement in project

Sandfish culture and ranching in Fiji- Results to date

Example 2:Live rock and coral culture, Tonga

Medium mini-project (~AU$25,000)

1.5 years duration Project partners –

Tonga Fisheries, Walt Smith International (aquarium exporters)

GOAL – Produce cultured live rocks and corals to augment the supply of marine ornamentals for export.

Live rock and coral culture, Tonga- Objectives

Develop protocols to farm artificial live rocks and compare different habitats

Identify suitable species of corals for farming and develop simple culture protocols

Facilitate technology uptake by private sector and community farms for these commodities

Protocols developed, staff trained in coral culture and live rock production

Sea and land-based trials commenced

Identified suitable grow-out sites

Ongoing trials

Live rock and coral culture, Tonga- Results to date

Example 3:Pearl oyster spat Collection, Fiji

Small mini-project (~AU$10,000)

1.5 years duration

Project partners –J. Hunter Pearls, USP-ACIAR post-grad student

Spatial/temporal distribution of spat

Industry-oriented,improved methodsof spat collection

Example 4:Fly River Herring fishmeal, PNG

Small mini-project (~AU$15,000)

6 months duration

Project partners – Ok Tedi Development Fund

Determine quality of fishmeal to support aquaculture initiatives (barramundi cageculture) in the Fly River

Fish samples collected under experimental conditions

Fish sample proximates and biogenic amines analysed in Australia

Preliminary test results show that herring samples can be left unrefrigerated for more than 8 hours and still be suitable for fishmeal production

Implications for livelihoods: local artisanal fishers can access this market without needing to ice their catch

Fly River Herring fishmeal, PNG - Results to date

Summary

Mini-projects are a novel way to support sustainable aquaculture livelihoods in the Pacific Islands region

Provide important capacity-building opportunities

Allow many commodities and techniques to be trialled, and problems to be addressed quickly and economically

Value-add to larger projects by “filling in gaps”

Indicate where larger, more expensive interventions are needed

Thank you