WORLD

The human race long ago turned away from hunting and gathering food on land and adopted agriculture, the cultivating of the land to farm food. Aquaculture, the business of cultivating fish, is the new agribusiness and is now flourishing worldwide as wild caught fisheries decline on the planet. Seafood is a traditional and favoured form of healthy food for many of the Earth’s peoples, particularly those in East Asia. Aquaculture is a successful US$46 billion a year industry and growing, representing 23% of the total value of all seafood production from wild and cultured sources. The economics of aquaculture is simply that well founded projects are far more continuously productive and profitable than enterprises founded on catching seafood from increasingly pressured and uncertain wild caught sources.

Success stories in world aquaculture already include salmon, prawns, barramundi, ocean trout, tuna, sea bass, sea bream, scallops, oysters, clams, mussels etc.

AUSTRALIA

A Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Honourable Warren Truss MP, addressed the AQUACULTURE BEYOND 2000 national workshop on 23 August 1999, and said:

"Aquaculture is one of the most exciting ‘good news’ stories in Australia, and contributed around 27% of Australia’s total fisheries production, and was valued at $491 million for the year ended 30 June 1998. Over the five years to 1998, the value of Australian aquaculture production has increased by a staggering 94%, and is expected to almost

triple by 2005.

This growth.. .. is a remarkable achievement, and a credit to the industry; O Aquaculture has the potential to significantly improve the standard of living in rural communities by providing a range of employment opportunities. O It can bridge the gap between demand for seafood and the shortfall in the wild harvest. O It can be a powerful conservation tool by breeding species endangered in the wild. Government has a role to play to support new developments and to promote the continued sustainable growth of aquaculture in Australia into the third millennium. With a vision, you do not wait for things to happen, you make them happen".

The Queensland Government has an Aquaculture Development Strategy, and supports appropriate development. It has invested in dedicated facilities and research. The industry in Queensland is highly regarded. Prawn farming dominates, with considerable interest in high value seafood species such as reef fish and mud crabs. The aquaculture industry in tropical and subtropical Australia was valued at $259 million in FY1997.