THE reinvention of Perth technology companies has continued, but rather than mining or agriculture, this time it’s aquaculture that has breathed new life into a struggling business.
THE reinvention of Perth technology companies has continued, but rather than mining or agriculture, this time it’s aquaculture that has breathed new life into a struggling business.
Technology Incubation Group Limited (TIL) has re-emerged as a venture capitalist with an interest in tiger prawns. The company now hopes to double the Australian tiger prawn production within the next decade.
TIL, which was until December last year known as Whittle Technology Limited, has increased its shareholding in Tiger Inter-national Hatchery Pty from 25 per cent to 49 per cent. In turn, TIG, which has a cash reserve in excess of $700,000, has agreed to commit a further $250,000 to fund semi-commercial trials of a tiger prawn hatchery at Broome, in Western Australia’s Kimberley region.
While Tiger is yet to receive a hatchery licence from the Department of Fisheries, work is already under way sourcing wild tiger prawn broodstock off the WA coast in preparation for the second semi-commercial trial, which will commence in September.
By year’s end the company expects some results from its trial.
If positive, Tiger will undertake a full feasibility study to establish the first large-scale commercial black tiger prawn hatchery in WA.
The international tiger prawn industry is worth an estimated $9 billion a year. Production is dominated by Thailand, which accounts for about 50 per cent of the farm gate value of production, followed by Vietnam and India.
According to the Australian Prawn Farmers Association, Australia has 40 producers based mainly in North Queensland with a combined output of about 3,500 tonnes a year.
Annual farm gate production has grown by 60 per cent over the past four years and is worth an estimated $70 million a year.
TIL consultant John Hutton said he was looking for sites in the Kimberley and Northern Territory that had the potential to double Australian production within the next 10 years.
TIL initially took a 25 per cent interest in the project in November last year, providing initial seed capital of $75,000.
The Department of Fisheries also conducted its own trials in Broome last year, which held some promise.
Department of Fisheries Broome -based aquaculture development officer Mark Johnston said the results showed that tiger prawns could be grown in WA.
He said the farming of black tiger prawns – also known as monodon – was of interest to the aquaculture industry, with two production facilities already licensed in the Kimberley.
Tiger has been working closely with the Department of Fisheries by utilising its research.
According to Tiger, the WA tiger prawn and its larvae are free of the gill-associated virus and the genetic mid-crop mortality syndrome that infects international and Australian east coast tiger prawns.
Dr Tor Theunissen has taken on the role of TIL executive chairman as the company moves into the new aquaculture venture. He has replaced Miles Kennedy, chairman of the Kimberley Diamond Company, who remains on the board as a non-executive director.
Prior to the name change in Dec-ember last year, Whittle Technology sold its wholly owned subsidiary Whittle Programming Pty Ltd to Canadian firm Gemcom Software International Inc.
Whittle Technology, which was floated in October 2000 after raising $3.5 million for its mine optimisation and resource estimation software, reported a $3.2 million operating loss last year.
