JCU-led hub to transform aquaculture in Australia
A 10-million-dollar research hub led by James Cook University will be the catalyst to transform Australia into a world leader in sustainable and high-tech aquaculture.
The 5-year Next-Gen Tropical Aquaculture initiative will be established under the Australian Research Council (ARC) Industrial Transformation Research Program.
Centre Director, JCU’s Professor Dean Jerry, said the new Research Hub aims to develop and evaluate innovative digital technologies that enable aquaculture producers to capture critical biological data currently unavailable in commercial production, support smarter decision-making and more efficient, productive and sustainable farming.
“Aquaculture is an increasingly important food production industry in northern Australia and this Research Hub gives us a tremendous opportunity to drive transformative improvements in productivity, efficiency and sustainability,” Professor Jerry said.
“Globally, aquaculture is the fastest growing food production sector and is also a rapidly growing industry in tropical Australia.
“Around 70 per cent of seafood in Australia is imported and so we need the industry to continue to innovate and pursue new technologies to achieve productivity gains and be competitive.
“Our Hub will focus on addressing the key biological challenges constraining sustainable tropical aquaculture production, including variability in growth, feed efficiency, stress tolerance and disease resilience.
“We’ll harness advanced digital technologies, including sensors, drones, artificial intelligence and genomics, to enable real-time monitoring and prediction of biological performance in aquaculture production systems.
“This will support better breeding, feeding, and health management, reduce costs and risks, improve animal welfare, and lower environmental impacts.”
The ARC will contribute $4.863 million with significant funding and in-kind contributions from the Queensland Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation, The Queensland Department of Primary Industries, The University of Queensland, the University of Tasmania and commercial partners Mainstream Aquaculture, Australian Prawn Farms, Cygnet Bay Pearls, The Company One and Living Water Aquaculture.
“JCU is excited to lead this Hub, which demonstrates JCU’s research approach of working with industry and partners on real world problems,” JCU Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research Jenny Seddon said.
“It also helps build innovation and economies for the regions."
Professor Jerry said JCU’s productive partnerships with innovative industry players in the various aquaculture sectors was key to the hub’s success.
“Our focus is on providing solutions for our commercial partners, trying to produce translatable technologies in partnership and on farm,” he said.
“These technologies will be embedded, trialed and developed on farm, so there is a direct translation opportunity, but also capability building within the industry.
“While this isn’t specifically an ARC research training hub, there will be PhD students trained, with some components of this training occurring by embedding them on farm.
“That means we’ll be providing industry relevant training to our students.
“We appreciate the support we have received from federal and state governments, as well as our industry partners for this work.
“This sector has enormous potential to be a major socio-economic driver for communities in northern Australia and this hub will create the next generation of innovation to enable this.”