Welcome to The Good News! Here you will find out why Australian farmed barramundi is the responsible choice for you.
Barramundi based aquaculture is a growing industry with huge leaps made towards sustainability. Learn about the ways in which your choices will influence the future of Australian barramundi populations so we can continue to enjoy Australia’s national fish.
“If there was such a thing as a prince of fish in aquaponics then the barra would have to be it” – EcoFilms
Barramundi
Barramundi, also known as Asian Sea Bass, is a large fish. It belongs to the catadromous fish family. Barramundi is very popular not only in Australia but worldwide.
Barramundi are found in both saltwater and freshwater environments and can reach up to 1.8 meters in length and can weigh up to 60 Kg. They have a very interesting lifecycle, starting as male, but by the age of approximately 5 years they change to female.
They eat everything from insects , shrimp, frogs to algae. Barramundi are able to eat very low in the food chain.
In Australia barramundi populates the areas around Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. The name barramundi comes from the Aboriginal term meaning “fish with big scales”. They are usually found close to the bottom of coastal waters, rivers and lagoons.
It is an ideal fish for aquaculture and is Australia's favorite fish to farm. Australian farmers started barramundi farming in the mid 1980s and has been farmed in all states except Tasmania. Western Australia is known for its barramundi aquaculture and has been abundantly farmed in Kimberley region.
The Bad News
Just imagine never being able to enjoy fish and chips on the beach with family and friends again… This is what could happen if we do not change our fish eating habits which rely too heavily on wild-caught fish.
The continued reliance on wild fisheries to feed a growing population is unsustainable. Around 80% of the world’s wild fish stocks have been found to be overexploited. This means we are taking much more fish than can be sustainably supplied from the environment. Not only are we damaging fish populations that we eat, but also our much loved marine creatures such as turtles and dolphins who are tragically caught up in our bad fishing practices through by-catch.
Wild-caught barramundi is no exception. In Australia it is currently practiced unsustainably. Most of Australia’s wild-caught Barramundi is harvested from Queensland and the Northern Territory. While in both areas the stock levels are very unhealthy and record keeping practices are unreliable and unregulated, the biggest problem is their terrible record on by-catch. In Queensland wild-caught barramundi industries and causing increasing numbers of threatened species to be lost to by-catch including green, loggerhead, flatback and leatherback turtles, dugongs, sawfish and a number of shark species, including hammerhead sharks. In the NT crocodiles, sawfish and blacktip sharks are the victims. This is especially terrible for shark as they are especially long living creatures and take a considerable amount of time to mature; meaning population levels take a long time to replenish.
While it is easy to think that farming fish solves all the problems associated with wild fisheries, it is not so simple. There are four main issues for aquaculture and particular farmed species are much worse than others.
Fish Feed
Like any farmed creature, aquaculture fish require feeding. This feed usually comes in the form of pellets that contain all the nutrients required to grow a fish. For meat eating fish, such food needs to include fishmeal and fish oil. This becomes an issue because the fishmeal and oil contained in the pellets are harvested from a finite supply of small wild fish, such as anchovies, sardines and pilchards.
For this reason it is important to be aware of the Fish In : Fish Out ratio (FIFO). This calculates how much wild fish is required to produce 1kg of farmed fish. For example, the two worst offenders are farmed tuna and salmon, which have FIFO ratios of 10:1 and 5:1 respectively. This means 10kgs of wild fish is required to produce just 1kg of tuna and 5kgs to produce 1kg of salmon! For this reason, the lower the FIFO ratio the more sustainable the farming.
Untreated Waste
A lot of fish farms are located in open water with the fish living in sea cages. These are big nets that have lots of fish living side by side. With so many fish living so close to each other in sea cages or ponds, a problem arises: where do the go to the toilet? If not managed properly such a concentrated amount of waste leaking into waterways can cause lots of nasty problems for the surrounding environment. In 2008, the Israeli Government closed sea bream farms in the Red Sea as the waste produced from them was causing algal growth that was harming coral reefs.
Escapee Fish
As fish farms do not always grow the fish that would usually live in the nearby environment, what happens when one gets adventurous and tries to escape? This can cause damage to the environment and upset the native fish to the area. This creates extra competition for food and habitats and can lead to the displacement of native fish. Escapees could also have diseases and parasites that the native fish cannot cope with. In one incident in a Norwegian salmon farm nearly 1.5 million fish escaped from a sea cage. This has caused the displacement of wild fish where it is estimated now that 90% of salmon in rivers in Norway are fugitives and their offspring.
Land Conversion
Just like land based farming often requires converting forests and other valuable landscapes into farms, so too do some forms of aquaculture. Fish farms are often located in coastal land like which play vital roles in the for natural systems. Converting too much of this land into farms can therefore have irreversible impacts on the natural environment. The number one threat to mangrove forests are shrimp farms. Mangrove forests are coastal wetlands that provide vital habitat for tropical fish and act as a protection for coastlines from damaging storms and hurricanes. Their destruction is irreversible.
The Good News
Feeling depressed about the state of our oceans as a result of wild fisheries? How about the capacity to provide a sustainable food source through wild fisheries and other farmed species?
Never fear ... welcome to The Good News! Australian farmed barramundi is the smart choice to make next time you buy fish. Let’s find out why.
A large issue with other farmed species is the Fish In : Fish Out ratio (FIFO). Now with Australian farmed barramundi this not a concern. Barramundi have a very low FIFO ratio—even though they are a carnivorous species—with the amount of farmed barramundi produced approximately equal to or less than the amount of fish caught from the wild for the feed to produce the farmed fish. Even the food they are being fed is becoming more sustainable, with many companies producing feed that has lower quantities of wild caught fish. Not only this, but the use of wild caught fish for barramundi feed is declining. This means that in terms of their food source, the barramundi farmed across Australia are being produced in a way that is sustainable. Now that is good news!
Barramundi can also be farmed in a range of different ways, which means that it is an adaptable and resilient species—both good traits for a sustainable, healthy fish species. Barramundi are grown in large indoor tanks in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland. In Queensland and the Northern Territory, they are grown in sea cages. In South Australia, barramundi are also farmed in warm artesian spring waters. Throughout Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, they are also farmed in freshwater, estuarine, or saltwater cages or ponds. Such a diverse range of farming options for these species.
There are many environmental benefits to growing barramundi in land-based systems—namely closed or recirculating aquaculture systems and pond systems—when compared to other fishing systems. With these land-based systems, there is no chance for disease transfer to other fish populations, as can often be a problem with wild caught barramundi and other wild caught species. These land-based systems also allow for waste—which can be a really big problem in some forms of aquaculture—to be managed effectively, which helps to reduce the environmental impacts of these fish farms. Bycatch, which is the term used for species that interact with fishing gear and/or vessels that are not kept by the fishers, is also not a problem in closed systems, as the only fish in these systems are species that are meant to be there.
So, land-based systems used for barramundi are environmentally-friendly, and reduce or eliminate disease-transfer and bycatch, which is helping to produce sustainable barramundi. There is more good news though—the off-shore cage systems used for Australian barramundi are also managed in a sustainable manner. There is careful planning and management so that the placement of these farming systems has a minimal environmental impact. The waste from these systems, which are located mostly in Queensland and Western Australia, is relatively small. There is also a very limited chance of disease transfer in these cage systems.
Within Australia, however it is farmed, barramundi is a clean and green, sustainable industry. The farmers keep a close eye on the barramundi in their care, they monitor animal welfare daily, as well as always harvesting and packing the fish in hygienic conditions. The world’s largest barramundi producer, Australis, is the operator of some of the most highly innovative and environmentally-friendly fish farms throughout the world. This speaks volumes about the sustainable future ahead for Australian barramundi, with flagship producers promoting healthy barramundi farming methods, both for the fish and the greater natural environment.
Barramundi is an Australian favourite, and with environmentally-friendly farming practises in place and only improving, it is the smart way to shop. Buy Australian farmed barramundi, the sustainable choice.
