IntraFsh?, page-3

This is an old article but it came up in my Facebook feed, I find it a nice refresher on how deep this project goes.

Scientists work to create 'super prawn'
Jorge BrancoUpdatedMay 5, 2015 — 1.08pmfirst published at 11.46am

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Move over Ant-Man, scientists are working on a so-called "super prawn", designed to be faster growing and more disease-resistant but just as tasty.

But the research may not have as large an effect on the hip pocket or those long Christmas Eve seafood shop lines as you'd expect.


Researchers are working to improve the black tiger prawn through selective breeding.CREDIT:AGNES LE PORT

A $6.5 million project launched in Far North Queensland on Tuesday, but operating since January, aims to "unleash the genetic potential" locked inside the delicious tiger prawn.

James Cook University head of aquaculture and fisheries Professor Dean Jerry is heading up the new hub.

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Australia's largest prawn farming operation Seafarms runs 52 ponds at this site, just south of Cardwell.CREDIT:AGNES LE PORT

He hopes to double the species' growth rate within five years and help the Australian industry become a global powerhouse.

"The whole thing about this is we want to unleash the genetic potential that's in the prawn that hasn't been tapped, to produce essentially a super prawn that will be highly productive and easy to farm but will maintain a lot of good qualities for the consumer," he said.

Tiger prawns have been farmed in Australia since the 1980s but haven't been exposed to the same level of selective breeding and industrialisation as more common farm animals.

Pigs, chickens, sheep and most other farm animals and crops have been bred for generations to grow faster and larger and better resist disease but Professor Jerry says tiger prawns are "essentially unimproved".

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New prawns are being bred to grow faster and resist disease.CREDIT:AGNES LE PORT

He wants the five-year Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Research Hub for Advanced Prawn Breeding to create the "knowledge base" to help the industry change that, as well as improving farming efficiency.

"What we want to leave as the legacy of the hub is to bring the knowledge of the tiger prawn up to the point of similar species in livestock, like dairy cattle and pigs, and … to be able to do really advanced selective breeding programs that will increase productivity," he said.

He said the hub, which is supported by a $4.9 million grant from the federal government and $1.5 million from major prawn farming company and project partner Seafarms, was the first specialising in aquaculture anywhere in the world.

But Seafarms CEO Dallas Donovan said while the research would be a boon for the industry, it was unlikely to send prawn prices crashing.

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He said globally and in Australia especially, farm production couldn't keep up with growth in demand for prawns.

"The aquaculture production has to grow by about seven and a half per cent annually to match demand growth," he said.

"And it's only been growing by about three or four per cent so what you're going to have is continual pricing pressure until that production increases."

He said one Australian project couldn't do enough to make up that gap but it would likely restrict price growth to some extent.