1. Mariculture and aquaculture livelihood options for the Pacific Islands region Cathy Hair and Paul Southgate – James Cook University, Townsville

2. ACIAR Project Background Development of aquaculture based livelihoods in the Pacific Islands region and tropical Australia  James Cook University (Partners: Secretariat of the Pacific Community, WorldFish Center, Uni of the South Pacific)  Duration: October 2007 to October 2011  Primary objective is to carry out “mini-projects” – small, targeted interventions to address bottlenecks to sustainable aquaculture.  ACIAR target countries for Phase II mini-projects:  Fiji, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu

3. Mini-project features  Target PICT aquaculture bottlenecks  Flexibility  Rapid implementation  Country partner ownership  Institutional collaboration  Private sector and NGO involvement  Focus on achieving real benefits to PICTs, including follow-up where necessary  Ability to “test the water”

4. Phase I mini-projects (2004-07) Pond study TilapiaWhite teatfish reseeding Microalgae training Tilapia restocking MIRC facilities Eel survey Microalgae training Sponge farming Cage culture Shrimp viral study Feeds study Mabe pearl M. lar trials 14 projects AU$184,000

5. Phase II mini-projects (2007-11) Sandfish culture Clownfish culture Pteria trials Siganid cage culture Shrimp viral study Macrobrachium lar Mabe pearl Spat collection Herring fishmeal Tilapia grow- out 12 projects commenced Live rock and coral culture

6. Example 1: Sandfish culture & ranching in Fiji  Large mini-project (>AU$40,000)  2.5 years duration  Project partners – Fiji Fisheries, J. Hunter Pearls, NGO (USP FLMMA), USP ACIAR student, community GOAL – To investigate the potential for sea cucumber culture and sea ranching in Fiji.

7. Sandfish culture and ranching in Fiji - Objectives  Transfer sandfish hatchery technology to the government (MFF) and private sector (J Hunter Pearls)  Produce large numbers of 3-5 g sandfish  Evaluate the ease of transferring culture techniques to a pearl hatchery

8.  Evaluate growth and survival of juveniles sea ranched in community managed qoliqoli  Improve capacity of Fijian counterparts (hatchery technicians, fishery officers, students)  Explore management options for future sandfish sea-ranching Sandfish culture and ranching in Fiji - Objectives

9.  Trained hatchery staff  3 successful larval production runs  Limited number of juveniles produced  Experimental sea ranching activity  Staff trained in monitoring and data collection  Community engagement in project Sandfish culture and ranching in Fiji - Results to date

10. Example 2: Live rock and coral culture, Tonga  Medium mini-project (~AU$25,000)  1.5 years duration  Project partners – Tonga Fisheries, Walt Smith International (aquarium exporters) GOAL – Produce cultured live rocks and corals to augment the supply of marine ornamentals for export.

11. Live rock and coral culture, Tonga - Objectives  Develop protocols to farm artificial live rocks and compare different habitats  Identify suitable species of corals for farming and develop simple culture protocols  Facilitate technology uptake by private sector and community farms for these commodities

12.  Protocols developed, staff trained in coral culture and live rock production  Sea and land-based trials commenced  Identified suitable grow-out sites  Ongoing trials Live rock and coral culture, Tonga - Results to date

13. Example 3: Pearl oyster spat Collection, Fiji  Small mini-project (~AU$10,000)  1.5 years duration  Project partners –J. Hunter Pearls, USP-ACIAR post-grad student  Spatial/temporal distribution of spat  Industry-oriented, improved methods of spat collection

14. Example 4: Fly River Herring fishmeal, PNG  Small mini-project (~AU$15,000)  6 months duration  Project partners – Ok Tedi Development Fund  Determine quality of fishmeal to support aquaculture initiatives (barramundi cage culture) in the Fly River

15.  Fish samples collected under experimental conditions  Fish sample proximates and biogenic amines analysed in Australia  Preliminary test results show that herring samples can be left unrefrigerated for more than 8 hours and still be suitable for fishmeal production  Implications for livelihoods: local artisanal fishers can access this market without needing to ice their catch Fly River Herring fishmeal, PNG - Results to date

16. Summary  Mini-projects are a novel way to support sustainable aquaculture livelihoods in the Pacific Islands region  Provide important capacity-building opportunities  Allow many commodities and techniques to be trialled, and problems to be addressed quickly and economically  Value-add to larger projects by “filling in gaps”  Indicate where larger, more expensive interventions are needed

17. Thank you