We’re excited to announce that Aquna Sustainable Murray Cod (Aquna) has been recognised for our commitment to sustainability, winning the Excellence in Sustainability Award – one of 14 categories at the NSW Business Chamber Murray-Riverina Awards.

Announced at a gala event in Temora, the award win is a tribute to the whole Aquna team who are dedicated to setting the environmental sustainability benchmark globally for the aquaculture industry.

For Director Roger Commins, it was an honour to accept the award.

“At Aquna, we want to have a positive impact on people’s plates and the planet,” Mr Commins said. “We are very proud to be recognised for such a prestigious award amongst a pool of incredible and diverse finalists.”

Aquna Managing Director Mat Ryan said that since listing on the stock exchange in January 2017, the entire Aquna team have set their sights on finding a better way to deliver food security through sustainable aquaculture.

“In a relatively short period of time, we have managed to implement world-leading sustainable practices across our entire business,” he said.

Aquna’s recent sustainability achievements include:

Hatchery

• In our hatchery, breeding fish for our aquaculture program is now sourced from our own farm-raised stock. This means we’re self-sufficient – no fish are taken from the wild.
• We’re participating in a state government-restocking program. We breed and raise the Murray cod fingerlings in our hatchery, which are released into the Murray-Darling Basin. More than one million of our fingerlings have been released into the river system.

Ponds (grow out farms)

• Our land-based production model uses the same irrigation water twice – once through our fish ponds, then for crop irrigation or pastures on farms. As far as we’re aware, we’re the only pond-based aquaculture business in the world using a 100 per cent water recycling system.
• Our feeding strategy is producing a Feeding Conversion Ratio (FCR) of 1.2:1. This is an exceptional result and means we grow efficient fish, which use the least amount of protein (feed) to produce the most amount of protein.

Processing plant

• Our local processing plant aims to produce zero-waste. This is achieved through a partnership with a local organic recycler, who recycles and reuses all fish waste created at the facility.

Community

• Our sustainable vision extends to the communities that we operate in. With reports of more than one million fish deaths along a 40-kilometre stretch of the Darling River in early 2019, Aquna joined forces with the community to prevent further fish kills. We donated aerators that were installed on separate properties to force oxygen into the sick river and assist with preventing further fish deaths.

Aquna will now proceed to the NSW finals, which will be announced at a Gala Dinner on Friday 22 November at ICC Sydney.