Investor Guidelines - Rock Oyster farming in Western Australia - Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia

Summary

Potential investors and farmers can use this document as a starting guide to undertake tropical rock oyster farming in Western Australia (WA). The intention of this document is to make investors aware of regulatory requirements for shellfish aquaculture in a WA context, whilst emphasising the variability in results and potential risks associated with oyster farming. The outcomes of an oyster farming operation will be unique to each proposed operation based on factors such as site and species selection, environmental and biological parameters, and business and management decisions.

A bioeconomic model incorporating growth and survival metrics from the WA tropical rock oyster project has also been used to compare several oyster farming scenarios. The model compares different scales of operation and key farming parameters such as mortality and growth rates to simulate the theoretical impacts of disease outbreaks or insufficient growth due to poor site selection. Readers should consider the information in this document general in nature (see Disclaimer) and are encouraged to seek advice about their unique farming proposition from subject matter experts in each of these areas (see Contacts).

Tropical Rock Oyster research and development WA

This project established a collaborative cross-jurisdictional approach to address the most significant technical and regulatory issues that confront the fledgling Tropical Rock Oyster (TRO) industry. Several key issues were examined and resolved though sub-projects designed to meet identified research needs, supporting the industry’s development. Securing commercial spat supply – the project utilised existing hatchery infrastructure and expertise at the DPIRD Hillarys facility to refine culture techniques for Blacklip Rock Oyster (BLRO) and other TRO species identified in Western Australia. Researchers applied standard hatchery protocols – commonly used for Sydney Rock Oysters (SRO’s)-to TRO in the species found in the Pilbara and Kimberley regions, comparing performances before transitioning trials to ocean-based nurseries. Optimisation of grow-out methods and gear technology – Grow-out trials were conducted in the Kimberley (Cone Bay) and the Pilbara (three sites within the Dampier Archipelago), using both intertidal and subtidal farming systems for new TRO species and BLRO in the Kimberley. These trials aimed to: Identify TRO species with strong aquaculture potential and determine the most suitable culture system (intertidal or subtidal). Compare the performance of up to three TRO species (likely two) during grow-out to select the best-performing species. Road-test various grow-out scenarios with industry partners for new TRO species. This project developed identification tools and established agreed common names for key commercial tropical oyster species to prevent potential market confusion and ensure accurate licencing and management of the emerging industry. The Darwin Aquaculture Centre produced a hatchery manual for the Blacklip Rock Oyster (Saccostrea echinata). In April 2023, more than 700,000 mature oysters – grown as part of this research project – were transferred to commercial partner Maxima. Maxima will continue refining grow-out techniques, with the goal of scaling up to commercial harvest within the next decade.