Industry: Aquaculture (Trout & Salmon)
Gross value of production |
$0.71 m |
Number of growers |
6 |
Number employed |
16 |
Current annual production |
130 tonnes |
Projected 5 year annual production |
130-140 tonnes |
1. Description of Product:
Fresh table Trout
Fresh table Salmon
Value added products including; pate, mousse, smoked and cured products, sausages, gravlax.
Fish out tourist facilities
2. Location of the Industry:
Salmon & Trout farms are located in the upper end of river valleys to access the abundance of high quality water. In the North East region there are 6 farms. The Upper Murray farm in the Nariel Valley, two farms at Harrietville in the Ovens Valley, one at Eskdale, one farm at Beechworth and one at Black Range.
3. Employment and Labour Requirements:
a. Number of Producers:
6
b. Number Regularly Employed:
Most farms employ between 1 and 2 people. ie. manager plus one other, except for one farm which regularly employs between 5 & 8 people.
c. Special Requirements
Depending on the demand for fish out facilities, extras are needed from time to time.
4. Annual Production:
One farm produces 80 tonnes fresh fish, two produce @ 12 tonnes each, a third produces 10 tonnes and two other produce between 5 and 10 tonnes annually. Total production = 130 tonnes.
5. Value of Product:
Fish sold at fish market $5/kg.
Smaller producers supplying direct to retailer may get $6/kg.
Similarly fish out facilities $6/kg.
One farm markets 90% of fish on fish market at $5/kg = $360,000.
Remainder (58 tonnes) $6/kg = $348,000
Gross value of production = $708,000
6. Production Trends Over the Next Five Years:
a. Projected:
Most farms are producing to maximum capacity and total production in this period could be expected to remain stable. One grower is expecting to increase production by 20 tonnes, but this growth may be offset by declining production on other farms.
b. Potential:
One grower only is marketing on national fish markets, and this grower believes that given access to export markets he could increase production by 300%.
Extracted from the Bright Report
