Bight Abalone

Australian Bight Abalone

This is a case where one of the most environmentally friendly aquaculture processes in the world is being threatened by a small group of protestors on supposedly environmental grounds. A large amount of misinformation has been provided to the press and to some politicians. The long established local community are very supportive of a sustainable new industry in their small town.

The abalone are farmed in the sea in very innovative floating cages that effectively act as a reef growing its own algae to feed the abalone so there are no additional inputs into the water. The company works closely with Parks and Wildlife personnel to ensure there are no adverse marine mammal interactions and have emergency training and procedures in place to manage this unlikely event.

During the early setup phase, a storm dislodged some rigid plastic abalone homes from partially constructed cages and these were inevitably washed up on beaches and reefs. Although they were recovered as rapidly as possible some people believed that these structures posed a threat to a nearby seal colony. This problem was quickly rectified and design modifications made to ensure this couldn’t happen again. The root cause was identified and corrective action promptly taken.

Australian Bight Abalone has demonstrated its environment credentials by implementing ISO 14001 as part of a fully integrated management system also including OH&S, Quality and HACCP. Implementing a fully integrated management system at an early stage of the company development will allow the company growth to be managed and remain environmentally friendly.