LILYDALE’S resident aquaculturist Dave Neuendorf is certainly living every man’s dream after opening his own intensive fish-farming business in a quiet corner of the Lockyer Valley.
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“I think every man has a bit of an interest in fish and going fishing,” Dave said, adding it was time for farmers to start thinking outside the square when it came to alternative farming practices.
“We’re certainly looking at diversifying on the farm. We used to grow vegetables, and I think there’s an opportunity to do something different here.
“We’ve got plenty of water at the moment and people have got sheds to hold tanks – so why not?”
Along with the support of his wife Bronwyn and their children, the former Lockyer Valley Regional
Council member is now focusing his energy on growing 9DORF, a dynamic company supplying live fish to Brisbane and Sydney wholesalers.
“The water level is dropped and we put the fish into a transporter which feeds the fish liquid oxygen and they’re transported live to Asian restaurants,” Dave said.
“There’s a great market out there for it and it was just a matter of our buyers having confidence in our product.”
Born and bred in the Lockyer Valley, Dave left his position at council to further a career in politics and to secure 9DORF’s position in the growing market for native Australian fish.
“I’ve lived here all my 50 years and I’ve been involved in council for 12 of those and I thought it was time to branch out,” Dave said.
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for the Neuendorfs, with the farm seeing a massive loss of fish after beginning operation in October 2011.
“We lost a lot of fish due to a lack of oxygen and disease, but we’ve certainly learned from it and we’re going along quite well now,” Dave said.
Dave said these problems weren’t uncommon for start-up businesses, with many fish farms failing within the first 12 months.
“Bronwyn and I certainly looked into it when we first started – the problem is, farmers are having to
wait for the first season of fish to sell before they see any cash flow, so dealing with the initial outlay with such a long wait for a return can be the biggest challenge.
“If you can get it functioning, there’s plenty of rewards in it financially.”
The Neuendorf family are confident their aquaculture business will succeed in the current market and are already preparing to increase
productivity.
“We have all the equipment to lift production by 100 tonnes – we’re just waiting to be settled and on our feet,” Bronwyn said.
The complex operation currently has the capacity to produce 25t of fish within the first year, the equivalent of what is being produced on a North
Queensland open-air pond system which is on 20 acres.
“Ours is obviously a far more intensive process and scientifically it’s more complex, but we have to have it down to a fine art,” Bronwyn said.
Liquid oxygen is pumped into the tanks and the water is recycled through the system 1.5 times every hour, which filters out any impurities.
The filtered water then flows back into the tanks, creating a natural flow which the fish move against, keeping them lean.
Along with running a full household, Dave says Bronwyn played an integral part in setting up the aquaculture business.
“I was still in council when we got the idea for the farm so Bronwyn has done a lot of work in getting it to where it is today,” Dave said.
The family use a CCTV monitoring system to keep an eye on the tanks, which sit about 400 metres away from the main house.
“It’s the first thing I do in the morning and it’s great to see the water wrinkling – it means we’ve got happy fish in the tanks.”
The shed currently holds 10 water tanks, each filled with up to 3000 happy and healthy barramundi and
Murray cod.
“I would eventually like to move towards producing a greater quantity of Murray cod,” Dave said.
“There’s a real shortage of the breed in Australia because they’re a little bit harder to grow, but I think Australian producers underestimate the value we have in our own native fish species.”
Working alongside your family may not be everyone’s idea of a good time, but for Dave, he couldn’t think of anything better.
“I love it – there’s nothing better than working with the people you love and having that support around you,” Dave said, with Bronwyn adding, “When everything’s running smoothly it’s great – especially when they do as they’re told.”
