HUON Aquaculture and the NSW government are preparing to restart a controversial kingfish farm trial off the coast of Port Stephens.
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Three of the project’s “fortress pen” seacages were moved out of Newcastle Harbour from Kooragang Island on Thursday to Oyster Cove.
For the past few months, workers have been upgrading and reinforcing the nets and pen infrastructure, following a mass kingfish escape in January.
Two sea cages were badly damaged in heavy seas between January 14 and 18 at the Marine Aquaculture Research Lease (MARL), seven kilometres off Hawks Nest.
One lost its entire population of 20,000 predatory yellowtail kingfish, sparking outrage from conservation groups and local tourism operators who called for the multi-million project to be shutdown.
A Department of Primary Industries spokeswoman said Huon and the government remained committed to the aquaculture project that is two years into a five-year trial.
“In NSW, we currently import approximately 85 per cent of the seafood we consume and we need viable commercial fisheries and aquaculture industries to help supply this growing demand for seafood,” she said.
It’s expected five seacages will eventually be moved back to the lease area. The spokeswoman said the timing was yet to be confirmed and the community would be notified.
“Following the recent refurbishment of the sea pens, Huon Aquaculture will be relocating three sea pens...to the commercial waterfront precinct at Oyster Cove in the back of Port Stephens,” she said. “The two remaining sea pens in Newcastle may also be relocated to Oyster Cove in a few weeks depending upon tides.”
An interim incident report of the Januray mass escape identified serious maintenance issues at the farm. Predator nets on two of the pens had not been cleaned since they were installed, or more than a year, leading to a large buildup of barnacles and weed causing structural problems in heavy seas.
Net cleaning is meant to be carried out either weekly or every two weeks depending on the size of the mesh used.
