Giant Clam Aquaculture, and Ecotourism by Djulin Marine

Aboriginal Corporation in North Queensland.

Arthur Johnson, Michael Johnson, Brian Johnson, Russell Butler Snr., Russell Butler Jr., Daren Butler, Dr. Richard

Braley , Dr. Andrew Lewis, and Dr. John Paterson

Executive Summary• Aquacultured giant clams over 20 yr. old will be used as 1st generation broodstock to produce 2nd

generation offspring which can be traded internationally. Sale of clams to the aquarium market

can begin 2-3 years after starting up, and a percentage of stock will be harvested for meat and

shell at different ages. High production rates (29 tonnes of meat / ha / yr) for the largest species,

Tridacna gigas are due to the symbiosis with a dinoflagellate algae which rightly gives giant

clams the term “solar animals”. In 5-7 years the value of the clams will be very profitable. The

development of farms in the Palm Island group is and integral part of this plan, and in its

development there will be training opportunities for the local farmers.

• Ecotourism on Magnetic Island, the Palm Islands and the Bandjin sea country and islands will be

able to run even before a hatchery and nursery are built. Overseas tourists are keen to be

involved in ecotourism which involves Indigenous people and themes.

• We believe that an investor who studies the great potential of this project will not only obtain a

large return on their investment but will also see this as a true sunrise industry.

Project Overview

Stage Location Focus of Activity

1 (Feasibility) Magnetic Island, Palm Islands (Fantome Island

preferred)

Eco-tourism at Magnetic Island; At Palm Islands a medium -scale hatchery &

nursery (multi-species, MSH)

2 (Feasibility) Great Palm Island & Fantome Island

Ocean nursery & growout

3 (commercialisation) Fantome Island, Juno Bay Possible large-scale hatchery & nursery +

ocean nursery & growout

4 (commercialisation) Fantome, Ingham, Townsville

Processing plant5

5 (commercialisation) Dunk Island to Gould Island (Bandjin country)

Further mass culture, ocean nursery and

growout

Locations

Bandjin sea country potential farm sites (Stage 5)

Orpheus Island Research Station (JCU). Source of F1 giant clam broodstock (Stage 1)

Palm Islands: hatchery / nursery & farm sites, Eco-tourism (Stages 1 - 3)

White Lady Bay, Magnetic Island, Eco-tourism (Stage 1)

Magnetic Island (Stage 1)Eco-tourism lead by an indigenous guide would be a great asset to Magnetic Island tourism. Currently there is little coastal indigenous tourism in north Queensland so this would help put Magnetic Island on the map. The local Wulgurukaba tribe were known as the canoe people and Magnetic Island has a place in the traditional stories which ties it to the Palm Island group.

Great Palm Island - Stages 1-3

Palm Island provides room for grow-out & mass cultures of clams, oysters and snails.

Best potential sites along western side, within view of some of the community

Available reef grow-out areas >25 ha

Eco-tourism has great potential here, both on land & in the sea.

Fantome Island (Stages 1-3)Land site – good for medium to large-scale hatchery & nursery facility.

Reef flat suitable as ocean growout

Former Leper Hospital site, northern Fantome Is.; note 300-m mark for reference in Juno Bay.

.Traditional Owners from Palm Is. will need to be involved such as Walter & Alan Palm Island.

Eco-tourism is well-suited to this site for land and sea.

Processing plant on the mainland (Stage 4)

• While meats can be harvested at the grow-out farm, they must be brought to the mainland on ice for processing. A boat that can carry the chilled meat to Lucinda port and a refrigerated truck will take the meat to the processing plant. The plant may be built in Ingham or Townsville so it is not far from the Townsville airport.

• The processing plant will be used to clean, size, package and freeze meats

Dunk Island, Bandjin Sea Country, northern end of Rockingham Bay (Stage 5)

Note 100-m mark for reference

Reef grow-out area > 20 ha; Eco-tourism is also suited for Dunk Island

Gould Island, Bandjin Sea Country, Missionary Bay (Stage 5)

Note 100-m mark for reference

Reef grow-out area > 15 ha

White Lady Bay (Stage 1), Eco-Tourism

beach looking toward that south end of WLB (right)

beach looking toward the north end of WLB (right)

White Lady Bay has a beautiful beach strewn with coral rubble; the reef flat has some of the best coral in the Horseshoe bay area. It has a history of oyster farming over the last half-century and cultured giant clams (100 kg each) can be seen on the reef flats. There are granite rock formations and bush to be explored as well.

Reef Flat – White Lady Bay

Since 1990-91 a cohort of giant clams [cultured by R. Braley at Seafarm PL ] were relocated from Orpheus Is. as mimics of high density natural populations for long-term observations.

These clams have been monitored for growth, mortality, bleaching, and fouling.

Photos:

Reef flat (top riight)

Looking toward Horseshoe Bay (Bottom).

Objective 1: AQUACULTUREProduction - clams

• Giant clams are CITES-listed (Appendix 2) threatened species, JCU has F1 cultured clams as valuable breeding stock at Orpheus Island + F1s at White Lady Bay. F2 clams would be targetted for export.

Objective 1: AQUACULTURE Giant Clams –species of interest

Tridacna gigas (left) is the main species of interest for meat, shell and some aquarium trade; production rate of 29 tonnes/ha/yr wet meat weight; several thousand F1 clams are on Orpheus Is. T. crocea & T. maxima (bottom left, centre) are best for aquarium trade; while Hippopus hippopus (below right) includes 100 + F1 clams at Orpheus Is.

Objective 1: AQUACULTURE Hatchery Facilities

A multi-reef species hatchery facility leads to commercial development. Other target organisms possible:

pearl oysters & rock oysters

trochus

abalone

Beche-de-mer (sea cucumbers)

Coral broodstock from fragments

Objective 1: AQUACULTURE Production – trochus

The immediate use of cultured trochus juveniles is in polyculture with giant clams. The post-larval trochus eat filamentous algae and diatoms that cover the substrate the clams grow upon, therefore keeping the clams clean of algal overgrowth.

The commercial trochus shell, Trochus niloticus, is used in button-making. Hatchery phase is simple, land nursery at 8-12 mo.& ocean nursery / growout takes another 2-4 years. Farmers then remove meats, dry shells and either sell to wholesale buyer or the business could begin to process the shell with a button blanking factory before sending to Korea or Japan for finishing.

Objective 1: AQUACULTURE Production – pearl oysters and rock oysters

(later Stage)

Pinctada maxima, the silverlip pearl oyster

Photomicrograph of Pinctada maxima spat with visible gills

Pinctada margaritifera, the blacklip pearl oyster

Blacklip rock oyster, Crassostrea echinata culture

Objective 1: AQUACULTURE Nursery & Growout - clams

• Initial land-based nursery at Fanome Island.

• Initiate negotiations and start up for ocean nursery and growout of cultured clams in Palm Islands, including Fantome Island.

Objective 1: AQUACULTURE Land Nurseries

Land nurseries maintain seed clams for 5-6 mo. before the ocean nursery phase.

A small system can also be developed & operated in the Palm Islands to hold some seed clams.

Objective 1-2: AQUACULTURE Ocean Nurseries - clams

Ocean nurseries may be subtidal, on racks (right, top & bottom) or low intertidal (below, centre & left). The Palm Islands would be ideal. Protection from octopus, tuskfish, etc. required for 2-3 years in ocean nurseries. Scheduled checks, cleaning, measurements needed.

A small ocean nursery may be developed at Dunk Island.

Objective 1: AQUACULTURE Ocean Growout

(mainly in Phases 2-3)

Ocean growout begins when protective covers are removed and clams left to grow until harvested. T. gigas takes 7-8 yrs. [meat & shell], but 2-3 yrs. for aquarium trade. Little effort needed by farm workers at this stage.

After F1s have been growing at Pioneer Bay over 20 yr. no disease has been seen to kill the clams but bleaching events have caused some mortality. Diseases, parasites and pests were studied and published in ACIAR Monogr. 15 (Braley, ed., 1992)

Objective 2: Eco-Tourism

• The Tropical Island locations with potential for hatchery and grow-out sites have high eco-tourism values in their own right.

• We anticipate a strong demand for an eco-tourism product that combines:• Visiting an indigenous aquaculture operation• Marine and terrestrial ecotours at tropical island locations in North Queensland• Interaction with Indigenous guides and information on the cultural heritage related to each

island location.

• Djulin technical staff would be involved in the development of these ecotourism products and training of indigenous tour leaders.

Objective 2: Eco-Tourism

Aquaculture: Overview of Project – Phases 2-3

• After 2 years of phase 1, a review of the success to date will be required to more accurately estimate production and profitability. If all indicators are positive then expansion takes place for:

• The multi-species hatchery• Grow-out farms in the Palm Islands & Bandjin

sea country

Aquaculture: Markets – clams & trochus

•Export live clams for Aquarium trade

•Clam meat, Clam shells

•Trochus meat and shells

Aquaculture: Profitability – meat and shell, clam culture

Estimate of value of sales of Tg shell, adductor, and mantle + other soft tissues

Assume Adductor value = Aus$30 / kg, Mantle value = Aus$2 / kg, Shell value = Aus$5 - 8 / shell at 5 or 7 yr. Note number of shells required at 5 & 7 yr.

ProductRough % tot

5 yr 3448 shells Aus$

7 yr2000 shells Aus$

adductor muscle 2% 1 tonne 30,000 1 tonne 30,000

mantle & other tissue 18.90% 9.6 tonnes 6,896 9.6 tonnes 6,896

shell 79% 40 tonnes 17,240 40 tonnes 17,240

Totals 100% 50.6 tonnes 54,136 50.6 tonnes 54,136

Profitability of Large-Scale Giant Clam Culture for meat (e.g. T. gigas)

Year of age

Approx. size (cm)

Stocking density/ sq m

Annual survival rate

$ value per clam

Total per ha surviving

$ value of clams per ha

Total in surviving

$ value of clams per

Total in surviving

$ value of clams per

0.5 1.5 1000 0.25 0.75 2,500,000 1875000

1 2.5 500 0.3 1 1,500,000 1500000

2 9 50 0.4 2.75 200,000 550000 2,000,000 5500000 10000000 27500000

3 15 30 0.45 4 135,000 540000 1,350,000 5400000 6750000 27000000

4 21 20 0.53 5.5 106,000 583000 1,060,000 5830000 5300000 29150000

5 27 17 0.65 7 110,500 773500 1,105,000 7735000 5525000 38675000

6 32 13 0.72 8.5 93,600 795600 936,000 7956000 4680000 39780000

7 37 10 0.8 10 80,000 800000 800,000 8000000 4000000 40000000

8 41 5 0.86 12 43,000 516000 430,000 5160000 2150000 25800000

9 44 5 0.88 15 44,000 660000 440,000 6600000 2200000 33000000

10 49 3 0.91 18 27,300 491400 273,000 4914000 1365000 24570000

11 52 3 0.94 22 28,200 620400 282,000 6204000 1410000 31020000

12 55 2 0.94 27 18,800 507600 188,000 5076000 940000 25380000

13 60 2 0.95 32 19,000 608000 190,000 6080000 950000 30400000

14 64 1 0.95 40 9,500 380000 95,000 3800000 475000 19000000

15 69 1 0.96 50 9,600 480000 96,000 4800000 480000 24000000

16 73 1 0.96 60 9,600 576000 96,000 5760000 480000 28800000

17 75 0.7 0.97 70 6,790 475300 67,900 4753000 339500 23765000

18 77 0.7 0.97 80 6,790 543200 67,900 5432000 339500 27160000

Most likely market age 3-7 yr.

Aquaculture: Potential Profitability – Aquarium trade, giant clams

Aquarium trade estimates by major countries [clam species Tg, Td, Ts, Tm, Tc, Hh]

Country Clam spp. Nu. / year sold Aver. (size) Retail Aus$

Australia Tm,Tc, Ts 5,000 5-10 cm 15 - 18

JapanTm,Tc,Ts,Td 18,000 - 30,000 5-10 cm 32 - 75

USA & Europe all species up to 100,0005-10 & 10-15 cm 27 - 65

Board of Directors of DMAC

Scientific & Technical managers

Local Farm manager

Education / Edo-tourism Program

Farm Assistants & Trainees

CEO (Managing Director)

Suggested Structure of Business at Fantome Island between DMAC, Investor, Palm Island

Council and T.O.s

Investor Board of Directors & CEO

Palm Island Council & T.O.s

Conceptual Facility Design for Fantome Island

beach

pumphouse

Intake pipes

Central Lab

50 - 100 T reservoir

Module 3: Marine Fish

Module 1: Giant Clams & Trochus

Module 2: Pearl oysters

Module 1: Land nursery

Seawater delivery line

Seawater sump

Waterless toilets / showers

Kitchen, living area + 6 bedrooms

Funding Sources• Several potential funding programs

within Dept. of Employment and Workplace relations (DEWR):STEP (Structural Training and Employment Project)CDEP (Community Development Employment Project)ISEP (Indigenous Self Employment Program)ISBF (Indigenous Small Business Fund)ICAS (Indigenous Capital Assistance Scheme)IBDP (Indigenous Business Development Program)IBA (Indigenous Business Australia)

• Private funding– Commercialisation Australia– Venture Capital– Philanthropists

Year 1 BudgetStart up Budget for aquaculture operations:

Wages / salaries (business, trainee technicians & education) $170,000*

Ocean Nursery – WLB, Bandjin sea country or Palm Islands $ 22,000

Travel costs (business & education) $ 6,000

Permits and application costs $100,000**

Sub TOTAL $1,048,000

New hatchery / nursery built at WLB, Magnetic is. or Fantome Is.

(includes housing for staff & visitors)

$750,000

Budget for Eco-Tourism:

Magnetic Island $7500

GRAND TOTAL $ 1,055,500

Year 2 BudgetYear 2 Budget for aquaculture operations:

hatchery / nursery improvements & running cost $ 75,000Wages / salaries (business & education) $200,000Land Nursery – Palm Island $ 10,000Ocean Nursery – Palm Island & Bandjin sea country $ 8,000Travel costs (business & education) $ 5,000Permits and application costs $ 0

Total $298,000 Year 2 Budget for Eco-Tourism operations:

Magnetic Island $5000Palm Island $5000Bandjin Sea Country $5000 Total $15000

` 2 yr GRAND TOTAL $ 1,368,500

Estimated annual operating budget beyond Yr. 2 $250,000