2022-04-12-P&E Agenda - Item 6 - Attachment 1 - TNC Noosa_Oyster Project _6_Monthly_Report

Figure 12: Ozfish Noosa River RUV footage


Hatchery partnership
TNC is working with the Bribie Island Research Centre (BIRC) in a project, which will spawn a handful of adult rock oysters
(called ‘brood stock’) under controlled conditions in tanks and settle the oyster larvae onto the project’s cured oyster shell
(called ‘cultch’). The oyster larvae attach to the oyster shell and form oyster ‘spat’. The oyster cultch set with oyster spat is
called ‘seeded oyster cultch’. An oyster seeding event is called a ‘set’. A set takes 2-3months to orchestrate.

The TNC-BIRC partnership is new and cutting edge. It is involving many personnel, as spawning rock oysters for restoration
purposes is highly technical and has not been undertaken before. Even though TNC would typically partner with the private
sector to undertake the hatchery work, there are few commercial shellfish hatcheries in South-East Queensland and none
with the current capacity to support oyster ecosystem restoration.

The TNC-BIRC partnership will support the Noosa project, aligns with the Queensland Government’s strategy for marine
habitat restoration and will deepen the Queensland Government’s involvement in delivering on that strategy. The partnership
will also benefit the rock oyster aquaculture industry throughout Queensland, as TNC’s support of BIRC has helped
reinvigorate BIRCs investment in oyster research and industry development.

Handling oysters and oyster shell - biosecurity
TNC is a registered as a ‘resource provider’ with the Department of Environment and Science, as per the Queensland End of
Waste Code - Oyster shells (ENEW07278317) and Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011.



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