Australia: A cutting-edge brine shrimp aquaculture project near Geraldton, Western Australia, spearheaded by the Department of Fisheries has won the 2010 Premier's Award for the Developing the Economy category.
The prestigious award recognises the research and development work by a team lead by the Department of Fisheries' principal aquaculture scientist Dr Sagiv Kolkovski, in partnership with global nutritional company, Cognis.
Part-funded by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC), the project has resulted in a world-first aquaculture facility that is expected to bring in millions of dollars to the Western Australia economy.
The facility, based at Cognis Australia's Hutt Lagoon micro-algae farm in the state's mid-west region, is now producing thousands of tonnes of Artemia (brine shrimp).
It will help the Australian aquaculture industry develop and grow by providing sustainable supplies of the brine shrimp – a critical feed source for the cultivation of fish and prawn larvae.
The facility produces Artemia in a series of large closed tanks fed by controlled supplies of the micro-algae produced at Cognis's Hutt Lagoon plant near Geraldton.
Waste from the Artemia production is fed back into the micro-algae salt lakes through a unique filtration system devised by Dr Kolkovski and his team, in turn helping fertilise the micro-algae and making the operation wholly sustainable and waste-free.
