Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Interested in a general guide for when each species in Oz (West and East) would normally be available. Say;

Silver Perch
Trout
Barra

for starters. Also, when would be the earliest you'd obtain 100g fish say, compared to fingerlings.

Chatty

Very season dependant, however:

Silver Perch - Between November and Feb, fingerlings. You can get some in overwintered fish in October, and these are often over the 120mm mark. They get to 100g pretty quick from this size. $1 - $2.50

Trout - March, April, May, from fingerling to 120mm size. This has been a good year for Trout, so they are going to be big. $1.30 and up.

Barra - Meh, never had them, its too cold here.

So where in WA can you obtain the fingerlings?
I called a place in Jandakot this week and they wanted $4 for a 4in silver perch.
I want 100 or so.
At that sort of price I might as well just but fish from the shops ready to eat.

There seems to be a great many people now selling AP systems but few or no fingerling suppliers in WA?

They place I spoke to in Jandakot are meant to be a hatchery, but dont seem to be able to meet demand, or possibly false advertising.

I've though of trying import from eastern states, but I'm concerned about survival rate and shipping costs.
Any ideas anybody?

Swampman, supplies of fingerlings this year are low due to the drought. There were large losses of Trout over the summer and this was followed up with a very poor Silver Perch breeding season.
Many of the hatcheries over east also had bad years with floods and cyclones taking their toll, like all farming your at the mercy of what nature throws at you. In a normal year there will always be plenty of fish around.

A hatchery in Jandakot? Can you tell me who that supplier is Swampman? Hadn't heard of anyone right near us before..

Systems supply and fish supply are two very different things, although you may think they are the same. It's a bit like car manufacturers not selling fuel, and fuel suppliers not selling cars..

To sell fish people should have an aquaculture licence, Troutman has one, Golden ponds does, Carey Nagel etc... Some of these other people/places selling fish are doing so without licenses, and as such, selling illegally. Thats something we decided a while back that we weren't going to do, and aquaculture licenses can take many years to get sometimes..

As Troutman says, it was an exceptionally bad year this year, things will be looking better in the near future...

Oh and bringing fish in from the east, theoretically requires fisheries approval...

And they must have a current "health" certificate.... and it costs $100's to get one...

Why do they require fisheries approval?
Is it because they are a food fish?

I have brought aquarium fish over from the east before, you just need to advise AQIS so they can check for plant matter and snails.

The aquarium trade.. and fish... are a different proposition to "native" fish....

And I think you'll find with the recent changes to the "Noxious Species" rules.... that things may have changed with regard to "aquarium" fish.... well by law anyway....

I know that some of the Koi farms which are now selling other fish have licences but not so sure about the Hydroponic shops which seem to be jumping on the bandwagon.

To bring fish in from the east legally you firstly need to obtain Translocation approval which involves answering 48 questions and costs $145 to apply but there is no guarantee it will be granted. Then as Rup says you need a health certificate or the fish can be placed in quarantine on arrival and a sample (usually 150 fish) are tested for disease. Failure to follow this procedure can result in fines up to $10 000 which would make for some pretty expensive fish!!

It's the old thing isn't it, you can buy from reputable licensed suppliers, or take a gamble.. Unfortunately it isn't that well policed from what I've seen, but still risky..

And yes, suppliers in the east will send you fish without question, because it's the buyers responsibility to ensure they have all their paperwork in order.

The noxious species rule hasnt changed much.
As far as I am concerned, all the fish added to the list should have been placed on there.
THe Boulengerochromis microlepis is a fish that grows 3ft long and attacks turtles. Why the hell would you want one if those in an aquarium?

I brought some fish over a month ago, and that was all I had to do.
And I asked around alot before doing so, it was a $1500 order, it would be pretty upsetting to lose them all!
None of them were on the noxious list, however most werent on the allowable imports list.
AQIS didnt care what the fish were, they just checked for the plant material.

Whats to say you havent ordered 150 fish for an aquarium?

Dont get me wrong, the freight is expensive, about $60 per poly box, and I am all for supporting local breeders, but when there are no stocks here, I dont see the issue with bringing some over.

Like I said... aquarium fish.. ornanmentals.. are a different kettle of fish... than native fish...

Not that they should be....

the aquarium industry often seems to fly under the radar...

I guess the thing is that AP sort of falls under fisheries, perhaps the aquarium trade doesn't, but it was pointed out on the forum a few years back by the fisheries trancolation officer, that all imports into, or around the state of non endemic fish species required translocation permit application and approval before hand. I don;t understand how the aquarium industry can do it and only seem to answer to aqis? I know someone who wanted to bring silvers in for his AP system, he asked fisheries, they said NO... I know someone else who used to be on here that applied to bring in Jade perch for his home system, dunno how he went, I believe he got a visit from fisheries wanting to check out his system.. I know of others that have bought in fish without saying a thing to anyone...

We were told the same thing by fisheries department people over in Melbourne when we visited Wilsons system. They said ANY fish movements required translocation approvals before hand... Poeple started saying yeah but what about the aquarium industry? What about people buying goldfish and taking them home etc.. What if you put aquarium species in your AP system? Where was the line in the sand? Seemed like a very grey area...

But what is to stop a native fish from being an ornamental fish?
I can go to FNQ, catch wild Rainbow fish and ship them over without any licenses or permits.

I deal with govt policy alot, I am a tax accountant, and have found that they have a habit of wording things that allow loopholes.
Generally it all comes down to intention.

Fisheries Ministerial Policy no 5, which is the translocation policy, states that you need a licence if the intention of importing the non-native fish (so Barra is out for us in WA) is for aquaculture or rec. fishing stock enhancement.
So what if my intention is not to eat the Silver Perch, it is only to use them to supply the required water for my aquaponics system?
The policy also states that the permit is required from translocation "into and within Western Australia".
Do we all get translocation permits to by fish off local breeders?
If not, why do we have to for interstate translocation?

I wouldnt consider, for most of us anyway, what we do as aquaculture, as for most of us it is not a commercial venture, so it would be classed as a hobby. So, again, you shouldnt need a permit.

I could be totally wrong, but that is the way I read it...

Andrew

Yep, went through all of that with fisheries in the past.. Don't know if things have changed now, but the the translocation officer at the time said "we had to draw a line in the sand somewhere, so AP falls under the same rules and regs and aquaculture".. We don't do AP, we do fish tanks with biological filters..

I tried to point out how silly it was, but didn't get far.. The same guy also suggested to the person that he had refused bringing silvers into WA, that perhaps he should grow tilapia because he had heard they grown tilapia in AP systems.. That was about 6 months before tilapia made it on the noxious list here in w.a...