27/08/2015: Australian Prawn Farmer Demands Action

Fronting the Federal parliamentary inquiry into aquaculture, Pacific Reef Fisheries general manager John Moloney told ABC News that successive governments have failed to address barriers to develop the burgeoning industry."The biggest frustration is that we're dealing with multiple government agencies about exactly the same thing."
 Pacific Reef Fisheries operates a 100 hectare farm near Ayr producing 1,000 tonnes of black tiger prawns, worth about $20 million per year.
For 14 years, the company has been working on a proposal to construct a 260 hectare operation at Guthalunga, on the Elliot River between Ayr and Bowen. Once built and in full production, Mr Moloney said the new farm would quadruple the company's production.


Mr Moloney claimed the lengthy and complex approval process has been exacerbated by changing Federal and State government policy and duplication across multiple departments.
"Our main message is, embrace us as an industry that has huge potential, and work with us," he said.

"As long as the government and industry has common goals, and that includes environmental management, then we will build a really good industry for Queensland and Australia."
Pacific Reef Fisheries also farms cobia, a little known saltwater fin fish, that is in high demand from
first-class restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne.
The company's fish recently won the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW's President's Medal, beating 5,650 entries for the prestigious prize.
Judges made particular mention of the groundbreaking and innovative land based seawater pond system used by Pacific Reef Fisheries.
Man-made mangrove wetlands form part of a world-first water treatment technique used to clean the farm's discharge before it is pumped back into .





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