Latest news with #RossAnderson
The Age
09-05-2025
- General
- The Age
Salmon critics say fish farms should be on land. How it works for Murray cod
The ponds at one of several aquaculture sites near Griffith are rectangles of murky green water fringed with reeds in a flat landscape of orange clay. The pelicans perusing the perimeter and kites circling above see what the untrained human eye cannot – beneath a protective net, the water is teeming with Murray cod. The ponds are part of the operations of Murray Cod Australia, trading as Aquna Sustainable Murray Cod. Chief executive Ross Anderson explains the colour of the water is by design – it's because the staff promote the growth of beneficial native algae. Together with the water plants around the ponds' edges, the algae absorbs the nutrients from the fish poo and releases oxygen into the water by night. This results in less water usage and reduced need to mechanically oxygenate the water; an energy saving. Another benefit: the algae creates a living culture that consumes other byproducts of the fish, preventing the build-up of chemical compounds that change the flavour of the fish. 'It's quite counter-intuitive, but from this muddy, green looking water, you get a clean, white-tasting fish,' Anderson says. 'Whereas in an artificial system in a tank … from that crystal clear water, you'll often end up with a muddy-tasting fish.' While Anderson refrains from discussing the environmental woes facing the Tasmanian salmon industry, the contrasts are obvious. Farmed salmon are fed ground-up wild fish – putting pressure on other ecosystems such as Antarctica – and antibiotics. Aquna feeds its Murray cod sustainable fish feed made from crops such as lupin, chickpeas and soybean and offcuts from chicken, beef and lamb – and their water quality control means they don't need to use antibiotics. Salmon are farmed in open pens in the sea, releasing effluent into the water. In an unprecedented mortality event this summer, thousands of tonnes of dead salmon washed up on beaches in south-east Tasmania. Murray cod are farmed on land in ponds with no connection to natural waterways, using a relatively small amount of water from the Snowy Hydro scheme that later irrigates land including crops. Salmon is threatening the critically endangered Maugean skate in Macquarie Harbour in western Tasmania. Aquna is helping state governments restock the vulnerable native Murray cod in the Murray-Darling basin. The mass fish kill in Tasmania was caused by a bacterial outbreak against the backdrop of a marine heatwave, a problem that will probably recur as climate change worsens, unless the industry can adapt. Murray cod have evolved to withstand a wide range of temperatures and swings between drought and flood. Aquna co-founder Mathew Ryan says he was drawn to aquaculture because the world needs to increase protein production using fewer resources, and specifically Murray cod because he wanted to stay in the Riverina and provide local jobs. 'Aquaculture was something that always fascinated me because the amount of production that you can get from a hectare of land [used for aquaculture] or from a megalitre of water is quite phenomenal,' Ryan says. Murray cod is technically a perch but has an oily, white flesh like cod – I tried the Aquna product and found it had a delicate flavour and a satisfying meatiness. Some consumers are buying it instead of salmon, while in restaurants it competes with coral trout and Patagonian toothfish. The company now has multiple properties near Griffith, with hatchlings in indoor tanks, juveniles in nursery ponds, and bigger fish in grow-out ponds. Anderson explains the fish have to be kept with others of the same size otherwise the bigger fish will eat or injure the smaller fish. At the grow-out site with ponds dug out of the local clay soil, Ryan estimates 100-200 megalitres of water a year will produce 1000 tonnes of fish. By contrast, it takes 3800-4400 megalitres of water to produce 1000 tonnes of almonds, not including the shells, based on figures from the Almond Board of Australia and analysed by this masthead. The company leans heavily into the sustainability of its operation in its pitch to consumers, marketing its product as fish 'for foodies who care where their fish comes from'. It does have the backing of the Australian Marine Conservation Society's GoodFish guide, which endorses farmed Murray cod from NSW and Victoria as well as farmed barramundi (but not wild caught) from all over Australia. As the salmon industry grapples with social licence not just in Tasmania but around the world, many critics are calling for the fish to be farmed on land. Industry group Salmon Tasmania has rejects this as fanciful, saying it would require too much land, water and energy and be five to 10 times more expensive. Independent aquaculture experts confirm there are significant logistical challenges. 'There is no single company with a major salmon farming initiative on land that is profitable, so it is, as yet, an undeveloped concept,' says Professor Tim Dempster, an expert in marine biology and aquaculture at Deakin University. That's not the case for other species. Land-based aquaculture is the dominant form of fish farming globally, practised for centuries, especially in Asia. But is it more sustainable? The main knock-on effect of farming salmon in the sea in Tasmania is the effluent that pollutes the marine environment. Dempster says New Zealand only avoids this problem because the industry is much smaller and more spread out. In the salmon-producing countries of the northern hemisphere, such as Canada, Norway and Scotland, the main environmental concern is lice from farmed fish infecting wild salmon and reducing stocks, Dempster says. Canada has decided to remove open-net salmon farming from British Columbia by June 2029 and told the industry it must transition to land-based systems. Dempster doubts this will happen – he says the industry will probably move elsewhere. Norway is experimenting with farming salmon onshore, but it is not a model for Tasmania because it is releasing the untreated seawater back out into the fjords, with the goal to direct the water to places where lice are least likely to infest wild fish. There is also a fully self-contained approach – a 'recirculating aquaculture system' where the water is treated and reused. Atlantic Sapphire has spent $US1 billion ($1.55 billion) since 2011 pursuing this in Florida and is still bleeding money. Farming salmon on land removes some environmental harms, but it is vastly more carbon intensive – both to build the tanks, and maintain the cool, clear water with high oxygen levels that salmon require. Dempster says a salmon pen in the ocean in Tasmania might contain 50,000 cubic litres of water and produce 500 tonnes of fish. Salmon production in the state is 75,000 tonnes a year, according to Salmon Tasmania, so the volumes of water are vast. Dempster says there are about 200 species globally that are farmed on land – mostly freshwater fish that can cope with lower water quality and higher temperatures, and don't require wild fish in their diet. (Marine fish need a source of Omega 3). In Australia, there are several native fish that are suitable. Besides Murray cod there is the perennial pub favourite barramundi, which is both wild caught and farmed in tanks, ponds or occasionally the ocean, throughout Australia and Asia. Dempster says the environmental impacts are small. Loading Globally, most land-based aquaculture around the world is done in tanks, and some of it is not environmentally sustainable at all. 'In some countries, say in China, where they are farming a lot of carp, they pour a lot of fertiliser in to fertilise those water bodies because the carp [eat plankton], and that then leads to that a lot of those nutrients exiting into the environment,' Dempster says. 'It depends on the species, the location and the farming system as to how good that system is for the environment.'
Sydney Morning Herald
09-05-2025
- General
- Sydney Morning Herald
Salmon critics say fish farms should be on land. How it works for Murray cod
The ponds at one of several aquaculture sites near Griffith are rectangles of murky green water fringed with reeds in a flat landscape of orange clay. The pelicans perusing the perimeter and kites circling above see what the untrained human eye cannot – beneath a protective net, the water is teeming with Murray cod. The ponds are part of the operations of Murray Cod Australia, trading as Aquna Sustainable Murray Cod. Chief executive Ross Anderson explains the colour of the water is by design – it's because the staff promote the growth of beneficial native algae. Together with the water plants around the ponds' edges, the algae absorbs the nutrients from the fish poo and releases oxygen into the water by night. This results in less water usage and reduced need to mechanically oxygenate the water; an energy saving. Another benefit: the algae creates a living culture that consumes other byproducts of the fish, preventing the build-up of chemical compounds that change the flavour of the fish. 'It's quite counter-intuitive, but from this muddy, green looking water, you get a clean, white-tasting fish,' Anderson says. 'Whereas in an artificial system in a tank … from that crystal clear water, you'll often end up with a muddy-tasting fish.' While Anderson refrains from discussing the environmental woes facing the Tasmanian salmon industry, the contrasts are obvious. Farmed salmon are fed ground-up wild fish – putting pressure on other ecosystems such as Antarctica – and antibiotics. Aquna feeds its Murray cod sustainable fish feed made from crops such as lupin, chickpeas and soybean and offcuts from chicken, beef and lamb – and their water quality control means they don't need to use antibiotics. Salmon are farmed in open pens in the sea, releasing effluent into the water. In an unprecedented mortality event this summer, thousands of tonnes of dead salmon washed up on beaches in south-east Tasmania. Murray cod are farmed on land in ponds with no connection to natural waterways, using a relatively small amount of water from the Snowy Hydro scheme that later irrigates land including crops. Salmon is threatening the critically endangered Maugean skate in Macquarie Harbour in western Tasmania. Aquna is helping state governments restock the vulnerable native Murray cod in the Murray-Darling basin. The mass fish kill in Tasmania was caused by a bacterial outbreak against the backdrop of a marine heatwave, a problem that will probably recur as climate change worsens, unless the industry can adapt. Murray cod have evolved to withstand a wide range of temperatures and swings between drought and flood. Aquna co-founder Mathew Ryan says he was drawn to aquaculture because the world needs to increase protein production using fewer resources, and specifically Murray cod because he wanted to stay in the Riverina and provide local jobs. 'Aquaculture was something that always fascinated me because the amount of production that you can get from a hectare of land [used for aquaculture] or from a megalitre of water is quite phenomenal,' Ryan says. Murray cod is technically a perch but has an oily, white flesh like cod – I tried the Aquna product and found it had a delicate flavour and a satisfying meatiness. Some consumers are buying it instead of salmon, while in restaurants it competes with coral trout and Patagonian toothfish. The company now has multiple properties near Griffith, with hatchlings in indoor tanks, juveniles in nursery ponds, and bigger fish in grow-out ponds. Anderson explains the fish have to be kept with others of the same size otherwise the bigger fish will eat or injure the smaller fish. At the grow-out site with ponds dug out of the local clay soil, Ryan estimates 100-200 megalitres of water a year will produce 1000 tonnes of fish. By contrast, it takes 3800-4400 megalitres of water to produce 1000 tonnes of almonds, not including the shells, based on figures from the Almond Board of Australia and analysed by this masthead. The company leans heavily into the sustainability of its operation in its pitch to consumers, marketing its product as fish 'for foodies who care where their fish comes from'. It does have the backing of the Australian Marine Conservation Society's GoodFish guide, which endorses farmed Murray cod from NSW and Victoria as well as farmed barramundi (but not wild caught) from all over Australia. As the salmon industry grapples with social licence not just in Tasmania but around the world, many critics are calling for the fish to be farmed on land. Industry group Salmon Tasmania has rejects this as fanciful, saying it would require too much land, water and energy and be five to 10 times more expensive. Independent aquaculture experts confirm there are significant logistical challenges. 'There is no single company with a major salmon farming initiative on land that is profitable, so it is, as yet, an undeveloped concept,' says Professor Tim Dempster, an expert in marine biology and aquaculture at Deakin University. That's not the case for other species. Land-based aquaculture is the dominant form of fish farming globally, practised for centuries, especially in Asia. But is it more sustainable? The main knock-on effect of farming salmon in the sea in Tasmania is the effluent that pollutes the marine environment. Dempster says New Zealand only avoids this problem because the industry is much smaller and more spread out. In the salmon-producing countries of the northern hemisphere, such as Canada, Norway and Scotland, the main environmental concern is lice from farmed fish infecting wild salmon and reducing stocks, Dempster says. Canada has decided to remove open-net salmon farming from British Columbia by June 2029 and told the industry it must transition to land-based systems. Dempster doubts this will happen – he says the industry will probably move elsewhere. Norway is experimenting with farming salmon onshore, but it is not a model for Tasmania because it is releasing the untreated seawater back out into the fjords, with the goal to direct the water to places where lice are least likely to infest wild fish. There is also a fully self-contained approach – a 'recirculating aquaculture system' where the water is treated and reused. Atlantic Sapphire has spent $US1 billion ($1.55 billion) since 2011 pursuing this in Florida and is still bleeding money. Farming salmon on land removes some environmental harms, but it is vastly more carbon intensive – both to build the tanks, and maintain the cool, clear water with high oxygen levels that salmon require. Dempster says a salmon pen in the ocean in Tasmania might contain 50,000 cubic litres of water and produce 500 tonnes of fish. Salmon production in the state is 75,000 tonnes a year, according to Salmon Tasmania, so the volumes of water are vast. Dempster says there are about 200 species globally that are farmed on land – mostly freshwater fish that can cope with lower water quality and higher temperatures, and don't require wild fish in their diet. (Marine fish need a source of Omega 3). In Australia, there are several native fish that are suitable. Besides Murray cod there is the perennial pub favourite barramundi, which is both wild caught and farmed in tanks, ponds or occasionally the ocean, throughout Australia and Asia. Dempster says the environmental impacts are small. Loading Globally, most land-based aquaculture around the world is done in tanks, and some of it is not environmentally sustainable at all. 'In some countries, say in China, where they are farming a lot of carp, they pour a lot of fertiliser in to fertilise those water bodies because the carp [eat plankton], and that then leads to that a lot of those nutrients exiting into the environment,' Dempster says. 'It depends on the species, the location and the farming system as to how good that system is for the environment.'
The Courier
22-04-2025
- Business
- The Courier
High street round-up: Fife publican's 3rd venue, Dundee Overgate shop closure and Perth Costa opens
A Fife publican is opening her third venue, while changes at the Overgate in Dundee and in Perth city centre are among the other developments on local high streets. The Courier has rounded up the latest from pubs, restaurants and shops across Tayside, Fife and Stirling in one handy place. Our regular updates will bring you up to speed with what's going on in your local high streets and shopping centres. Lauren Hutchison, 26, who already runs The Steadings and Alfie's in Kirkcaldy, has taken over The Glen Tavern in Dunfermline – promising 'positive changes'. The Pittencrieff Street venue shut suddenly in February when the firm previously running it went into liquidation. A new tenant is being sought for a historic former Bridge of Allan pub and restaurant. The Old Bridge Inn on Inverallan Road, which dates from 1710, is being offered for lease as a 'rare opportunity'. Kirkcaldy's former Society nightclub has reopened as The Venue. Ross Anderson, 37, has taken over the Charlotte Street building alongside a group of silent investors with The Courier invited for a first look. An image of a new McDonald's restaurant planned for Dundee has been revealed as part of a public consultation. Readers of The Courier have also reacted to the plans for the firm's fourth city outlet. A new Costa store in Perth has opened despite damage to its store window. Costa Coffee has relocated from its Scott Street unit to High Street. A Dundee cafe is set to open a new coffee shop in St Andrews. Empire State Coffee is taking over the former Rocca Italian deli on the Fife town's Bell Street. A Stirlingshire cafe and deli is set to close after 12 'wonderful' years. Rhubarb Lime on Main Street in Kippen will shut on May 25 with owner Shona Sanders thanking customers. Pizza Hut has confirmed its new location in Stirling. The chain will move into the former Papa John's unit on Goosecroft Road in the coming weeks from its former home on Cowane Street. Restaurants across Tayside, Fife and Stirling have been recognised at the Scottish Curry Awards 2025. The 17th annual awards were held in Glasgow last week. A Highland Perthshire woman who beat cancer has opened a new coffee truck on the banks of Loch Tay. Santra Taylor, 41, opened Tay-Lawers Coffee in Ardeonaig on Friday. A shopkeeper in Dunkeld is urging the public to buy local after a closure scare. Munur Kara paused trading at the shop for several weeks, citing financial hurdles faced by small businesses, and says he can only survive with help from the public. The Regatta shop in Dundee's Overgate shopping centre is to shut. Signs advertising a closing-down sale appeared in the shop window last week. Fife Council has asked for more time to decide on plans for a new Lidl supermarket in Dunfermline. Details of some objections to the plans for the former King Malcolm Hotel site have also been revealed. Another retail building on the Murraygate in Dundee city centre has been put up for sale. The unit currently houses Horeb Food Company on the ground floor and The Hair Lounge on the two upper floors, which have long-term leases. A barbershop in Crieff that was run by the same owner for more than 50 years has come onto the market. Naismith's on East High Street – also known as Johnny the Barbers – has been put up for sale. A new beauty salon has opened in Dundee offering hairdressing, makeup and men's hair loss services. Niamh Kilcullen and Caitlin Harris, both 24, have opened Blend Studios in a former window showroom on Mains Road on the edge of Hilltown. Danish furniture and homeware brand Sostrene Grene is opening in the Thistles shopping centre in Stirling this summer. The firm – which has an outlet in Dundee's Overgate – will move into a unit next to Superdrug.
Arab News
17-04-2025
- Arab News
Time for the Gulf to let the train take the strain
Some decades ago, in a previous existence, I was required to make regular trips from my newspaper's head office in London more than 500 kilometers north to our outpost in Glasgow in the west of Scotland. Since Glasgow is my home city, the visits were always a pleasure; getting there was another matter. The trips began with a seemingly interminable trek from my home in east London to Heathrow Airport in the west. Then there was the airport nightmare itself. First, this being an era before online convenience, it was the queue to check in and obtain a boarding pass. Then the queue for security. Then security itself: 'Did you pack this bag yourself, sir?' — 'Do I look like someone who employs a personal bag packer?' — 'Very good, sir. Now take off your shoes. And take off your belt. Do you have any liquids in your hand baggage?' And how many terrorists did they catch with this nonsense? Not one. Ever. But onward to the flight itself, less than an hour — mercifully short, because my body is built for comfort rather than speed: it has never taken kindly to being shoe-horned into a straitjacket, unable to move forward, back or sideways. I don't so much sit in a short-haul commuter airline seat as wear it. After allowing for take-off and landing, the plane's time at cruising altitude was never more than 30 minutes, but instead of leaving us in peace the cabin crew insisted on running around like headless chickens serving vile airline 'food' that passengers picked at out of boredom — there being nothing else to do, and in any case no room to do it in. Those Gulf states that invest in their own passenger rail infrastructure would encourage the laggards, efficient public transport being a key driver in attracting people to live and work Ross Anderson I detested that journey. At one point I even considered driving instead, but it would have taken up a whole unproductive day and I would have arrived knackered at the end of it. Then, on the London Underground one day on my way, yet again, to Heathrow, it occurred to me that the solution was staring me in the face. Or rather, I was sitting in it: the train. And that was how I discovered the joys of the UK West Coast main line, which transformed my travel experience. Firstly, there was the ticket. My employers, who funded my travel, were delighted to discover that for about two-thirds of the cost of being herded like cattle in an airport and then squeezed into a British Airways sardine can for an hour, I could obtain a first-class return between London Euston and Glasgow Central. Then there was the accommodation: a seat both larger and more comfortable than business class on an Airbus A380; a capacious table for my laptop and assorted bits and pieces; a dedicated steward serving quality food and drinks on demand; and finally, when I wanted a break from work, my favorite part — the panoramic window. On a one-hour flight there is not even time to watch a movie. On a four-hour train journey, the movie takes place outside as you whizz by at 200kph: the back gardens of suburban north London, each with a story to tell, give way to rural England, golf courses and farmers' fields, then the majesty of the northwest Lake District, followed by the undulating southern uplands of Scotland, and finally gritty south Glasgow as the train speeds through the Gorbals — once the most notorious slum in Europe, now a desirable residential area. I loved that journey, and nowadays I am not alone. Cross-border passenger rail traffic in Europe increased by 7 percent in 2024 compared with 2023, as more people discovered that traveling by train — direct from city center to city center, without the time-consuming hassle of getting to and from an airport and the wasted hours there — can be almost as quick as flying and a lot more enjoyable. The Eurostar train through the Channel Tunnel transformed journeys between England and France when it was introduced in 1994. Boarding a train at St. Pancras in central London and disembarking at Gare du Nord in Paris is enormous fun, and aside from the many business travelers, more people than ever are making the trip for just that reason — fun. Passengers made 280,000 journeys on the London-Paris route in 2024, a record. There are now plans to connect to the wider European high-speed network, enabling direct journeys from London not just to Paris but on to Lyon, Avignon and Marseille, and Turin and Milan in northern Italy. You might be asking, what does any of this have to do with our part of the world? My answer is another question: where is the Middle East's integrated passenger rail network? Now, it may be argued that it is all very well for Europeans with their fancy railways, they've been doing it for 200 years. The first steam train carrying passengers on a public railway traveled between Stockton and Darlington in northeast England in 1825. But in truth, this region was not far behind. In 1900 the Ottomans began construction of the 1,320 kilometer Hijaz Railway from Syria to Saudi Arabia, and the first train from Damascus rolled into Madinah on Aug. 22, 1908. Sadly, there were not many more. The First World War and sabotage attacks during the Great Arab Revolt (thanks, Lawrence of Arabia) intervened and the line was effectively out of commission by 1920, although remnants still function internally in Syria, Jordan and Israel. Since then, rail transport in the Middle East has hit the buffers. The Gulf Railway — a proposed $250 billion line reaching nearly 2,200 kilometers from Kuwait to Oman via Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE — is no farther forward now than when it was approved at the GCC summit in December 2009. The original deadline for completion was 2018, so that's going well. It is a colossal failure of both imagination and cooperation. Last week Kuwait signed an $8 million design contract with a Turkish company for the Kuwaiti segment of the railway, covering 111 kilometers to the Saudi border. If previous progress is any guide, that will be where it ends — but at least the Kuwaitis are doing something. In January 2016, when the UAE suspended the tendering process for its section of the Gulf Railway, a government minister explained: 'You simply cannot build your part and wait for others to start.' I beg to differ: that everyone else is doing nothing is not a good reason to do nothing oneself. Saudi Arabia already has the small beginnings of a rail network, if limited. It should be expanded, with a Riyadh-Jeddah line a priority. The UAE has ambitious plans for Etihad Rail, although that has all the hallmarks of a network built for freight and the oil industry, with passenger capability bolted on as an afterthought. Nevertheless, those Gulf states that invest in their own passenger rail infrastructure would encourage the laggards, efficient public transport being a key driver in attracting people to live and work. And with trains running in all the GCC states, linking them up into a genuine Gulf Railway would be so much easier. Imagine the station announcement in Kuwait City: 'The next train departing from Platform 2 is the 14:50 to Muscat, calling at Ras Al-Khair, Dammam, Bahrain, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Al-Ain and Sohar … all aboard.' Well, why not? Get on with it!
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Snorkellers called out over destructive act at shipwreck: 'Common sense'
An urgent plea has been issued to visitors of a popular snorkelling spot in Perth, who have been seen flouting the rules and risking damage to the fragile site. Locals to Perth's Coogee Beach say they're fed up with reminding snorkellers to not sit, stand or jump off the Omeo shipwreck – a steamship that was driven ashore in 1905 and has since become a busy tourist attraction. Videos and photos show swimmers standing on the wreck to take a break or adjust their masks. In a clip taken this week, a figure can be seen adjusting themselves on the edge of the Omeo. A startling photo from last year shows seven adults all standing in a group on the end of the wreck. In another video, a child stands on the wreck while his family snorkel nearby. While it may appear harmless to some, under the surface the damage to the Omeo could be unrepairable. "I'm here almost every day. And every day I see people standing on the wreck," a local woman wrote alongside her video. "I know it's a 'bang head against the wall' situation but what else can be done? One would think it's common sense." Dr Ross Anderson, Curator of Maritime Heritage at the Western Australian Museum, told Yahoo News while one person alone might not cause much damage, 'hundreds of impacts over time will gradually cause long-term damage'. 🚽 Aussies forced to go to the toilet in bushes at popular park 🦟 Thousands warned as Aussies battle 'horrendous' issue: 'Debilitating' 🌊 Swimmers warned after woman's 'excruciating' injury in shallows 'People touching, standing on and physically impacting the wreck can damage the protective outer layers of marine concretion and attached marine life, leading to an increase in oxygen and corrosion of the wreck, or, in the worst cases, physical damage and breakage,' he said. The City of Cockburn is said the wreck's 'fragile' environment is 'easily damaged by climbing, touching and misuse'. They're encouraging visitors to 'explore with their eyes, not their hands' and use flotation devices such as pool noodles and kickboards to avoid resting on the wreck. 'We appeal for trail visitors to 'Protect the Wreck' and take care of this historic site and all the sea life that have made it their home,' the City's Environmental Education Officer Vicky Hartill said. 'We've installed temporary 'responsible snorkelling' signage on the dive stairs and another portable sign displaying the same message will soon be placed out each weekend in the area, which has high pedestrian traffic.' Late last year, a pontoon was installed offshore to give swimmers a place to rest instead of using the wreck, however it was removed after needing repairs. The council is aiming to have the pontoon back in place later this month. The Omeo is protected by the Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018, which could see fines or even jail terms handed down for those caught engaging in behaviour likely to damage the wreck. 'This is very much dependent on the severity of the offence,' Dr Anderson explained. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
