Company Information for Clean Seas Tuna Limited

Company stock charts - 6 Month chart

ASX; CSS View full financial data

Company Statement

Clean Seas Tuna Limited is an innovative state-of-the-art South Australian aquaculture enterprise, with strong links into the Tuna Fishing and fish farming industries.  Clean Seas’ operations are situated in Port Lincoln, Fitzgerald Bay, Port Augusta and Arno Bay where our main onshore complex operates on a 400 hectare site.  Clean Seas’ core business is the propagation of commercially bred Southern Bluefin Tuna, Mulloway and Kingfish for the domestic market and international consumption.

Using what is believed to be the only captive broodstock in the world, the team at Clean Seas are developing a commercial on-shore breeding facility. This is a major step towards realising the company’s long held goal of closing the life cycle of Southern Bluefin Tuna. When successful, within a decade this process could double the Southern Bluefin Tuna catch, without impacting on wild tuna stocks.

Clean Seas Tuna Limited has mature Southern Bluefin Tuna broodstock and direct access to the skills and expertise of its parent company and main shareholder -The Stehr Group.  The Stehr Group was established in the early 1970’s and is recognised as an Australian leader and International pioneer in tuna fishing, ranching and offshore fish farming.

In 2004/2005 The Stehr Group produced in excess of:

    * 650 tonnes of farmed Southern Bluefin Tuna.
    * 600 tonnes of aquaculture-bred Kingfish.
    * 200 tonnes of aquaculture-bred Mulloway.

Clean Seas Tuna is the first company in the world to successfully transfer large Southern Bluefin Tuna over large distances to its on shore facilities in Arno Bay.

Assets and Capabilities
Clean Seas assets include:

    * 400 hectare site at Arno Bay.
    * Mature Southern Bluefin Tuna broodstock, Kingfish and Mulloway.
    * Kingfish and Mulloway broodstock facilities.
    * 2 large finfish hatcheries capable of producing up to 1.2 million fingerlings
per annum
    * Seawater supply system which includes a 4 megalitre retention dam.
    * Two x 50 metre x 20 metre x 2 metre flow-through grow out ponds.
    * Standby generators.
    * Four employee houses.
    * Office complex.
    * 2 large industrial storage sheds used to store thousands of tonnes of feed.
    * 10 hectare Southern Bluefin Tuna holding licence.
    * 20 hectare 300 tonnes grow-out licence for either Kingfish or Mulloway.
    * State-of-the-art Tuna broodstock facilities.

OUr Markets
Clean Seas Products are exported across the world to countries including:

    * United States
    * United Kingdom
    * France
    * Italy
    * Switzerland
    * Netherlands
    * Spain
    * Germany
    * Japan

The demand for Clean Seas’ product is greater than its ability to supply fish.  This is due to the declining world-wide fish stocks and a growing global preference for Australia’s “Clean and Green” seafood.

Current Operations

Southern Bluefin Tina Program
Introduction
Found in the Southern Hemisphere, Southern Bluefin Tuna are a large and fast-swimming pelagic fish.  Southern Bluefin Tuna exist largely in the world’s southern oceans and congregate in the costal waters off southern Australia.

They spawn between September and April each year in the only known spawning grounds in the Indian Ocean, between the north-west Coast of Australia and Indonesia. The eggs are estimated to hatch within two to three days.

At approximately 20 days, the Southern Bluefin Tuna larvae become fingerlings, which feast on a wide range of food, including fish larvae and juvenile fish.

Southern Bluefin Tuna usually reach approximately 15 kilograms over the next two years and this size is the principal wild catch of the Australian Southern Bluefin Tuna industry.

Clean Seas believes that Southern Bluefin Tuna become sexually mature between 9 and 12 years of age in the wild.

History of Southern Bluefin Tuna Catch
The population has decreased over the past 50 years due to the increasing demand from overseas markets.  Improved refrigeration techniques in the mid 1960’s paved the way for the transportation of fresh Southern Bluefin Tuna across the world.

Until the late 1960’s, the majority of Australian Southern Bluefin Tuna were either caught  the Eden/Ulladulla region of New South Wales or in Port Lincoln, South Australia. During the 1970’s almost all of the Southern Bluefin Tuna fishing companies moved permanently to Port Lincoln.

The world Southern Bluefin Tuna catch was approximately 80,000 tonnes per year in the early 1960’s – and by the mid 1960’s it had plummeted to 60,000 tonnes. During 1980, the catch had declined even further to 40,000 tonnes a year.

This sharp decline was soon recognised by the fishing countries of Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and a voluntary catch quota was enforced.

Despite these protective measures, numbers still continued to decline and in 1989 the three countries reduced the quotas even further to their current levels of 11,750 tonnes between them.

The arrangement between the countries was formalised in 1994, when the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) was formed.

The current quota for CCSBT members are 14,030 tonnes per year of Southern Bluefin Tuna.

Current Southern Bluefin Tuna Production
Juvenile Southern Bluefin Tuna fish weigh an average of 15 Kilograms and are caught from December to April each year.  The Southern Bluefin Tuna are then “grown-out” in sea pontoon cages for three to eight months, reaching an average of 30 to 40 kilograms.  The fish are then exported either fresh or frozen to Japan. With the future propagation of Southern Bluefin Tuna at its Arno Bay hatchery, Clean Seas is poised to capitalise on many lucrative international markets through its specialised aquaculture endeavour.  The successful closing of the Southern Bluefin Tuna life cycle by Clean Seas to produce unrestricted large additional tonnages of this valuable fish to supply a growing global demand for Southern Bluefin Tuna and other high quality aquaculture based products.

Australian Supply of Southern Bluefin Tuna
The majority of Australia’s Southern Bluefin Tuna quota is farmed in waters of Port Lincoln. Boasting a farm gate value of $242 million, the total weight of Port Lincoln tuna farmed output increased to 9,290 tonnes of tuna in 2003-2004.

The Hatchery
State-of-the-art, world-class and innovative – Clean Seas’ Arno Bay hatchery impresses all who have passed through its doors. Clean Seas acquired the hatchery in November, 2000 and undertook a $2.5 million upgrade.

During this process Kingfish and Mulloway broodstock facilities were constructed, along with a live-feed production plant.  The hatchery is staffed by highly trained technicians all with a great passion to succeed.

What Next?
Clean Seas is confident of the future potential for the aquaculture industry across the world.  This view is evident by:

• Global decline in the wild catch supply
• Growth of aquaculture-bred fish throughout the world
• Shift in the value of healthy eating habits and the role fish plays in a balanced diet.

Kingfish and Mulloway
Clean Seas was established with a long-held goal of closing the lifecycle of Southern Bluefin Tuna.

However, the company already has a sound business in the captive breeding of kingfish and mulloway. Kingfish and mulloway were identified by the company as surrogate species for Southern Bluefin Tuna, with potential for lifecycle closure.

The Stehr Group - of which Clean Seas is a subsidiary - conducted grow-out trials of kingfish during the summers of 1998/1999 and 1999/2000. The trials were a success, convincing the Stehr Group of the potential kingfish had for intensive aquaculture production. Mulloway was chosen as a back-up species to kingfish and extensive trials were also undertaken with this species.

In 2006, Clean Seas took control of the Australian kingfish market with an agreement to purchase the business and assets of the SAAM Group of Companies, which operates a licensed finfish hatchery and 1,600 tonne grow-out facility north of Clean Seas' Arno Bay facility in South Australia's Spencer Gulf.

The acquisition is likely to result in:

• Total kingfish production in South Australia jumping from approximately 1,500 tonnes in 2005/06 to about 2,600 tonnes in 2006/07;
• Clean Seas production of kingfish jumping from 400 tonnes last financial year to 2000 tonnes in 2006/07 as a result of the agreement.

This has provided a significant windfall for the company and will see the production of kingfish jump by 500 per cent by the end of the 2006/07 financial year.

Clean Seas has also expanded its kingfish export operations into Eastern Europe, sending trial portions of Port Lincoln-farmed kingfish to white tablecloth restaurants across Moscow. This move is part of a major assault by the Australian aquaculture industry on the European market, which is seeking new sources of fish to compensate for declining wild seafood stocks in the northern hemisphere.

Our kingfish is already available in Italy, Holland, Germany, France, the UK and Switzerland, and we are expanding our production of farmed kingfish to take advantage of strong demand for the South Australian-grown fish in European markets.

In addition, Clean Seas has secured a new partnership with Danish aquaculture technology expert, Uni-Aqua, which has the potential to halve the grow-out phase of our products to further assist with the efficient propagation of kingfish and Southern Bluefin Tuna. The agreement could see specially-bred South Australian fish progress from fingerling to the finest restaurants of the world in just 10 months.

Clean Seas' mulloway propagation program has also been nothing short of a success story. Caught up in the fish and chip craze some 20 years ago - Australia's mulloway stocks came close to disappearing. Mulloway, also known as butterfish, is now on the international gourmet fish menu following the development of Australia's only commercial propagation program - undertaken by Clean Seas.

In what can only be described as the beginning of an exciting new phase for mulloway, we have one million-plus fish for harvesting over the next few years and we are already selling four to five tonnes a week in the domestic markets alone.

The success we are experiencing through the propagation of kingfish and mulloway leaves us in no doubt about the potential for Southern Bluefin Tuna.

OUR FISH
- The Species
Southern Bluefin Tuna
Originating from the waters off Port Lincoln in South Australia, Southern Bluefin Tuna has medium flavoured flesh, which is in demand for sashimi and sushi. Southern Bluefin Tuna is harvested from February to September each year using the low stress 'Ike Jime' harvest method for maximum flesh quality. Minimal handling from the ocean pens to an export-approved EU-certified processing plant ensures high quality and improved shelf life.

Kingfish
Kingfish has white, firm flesh and is renowned for its high level of Omega 3 and other beneficial fatty acids. It is a large, pelagic fish, which presented many of the challenges and potential solutions to breeding Southern Bluefin Tuna.

In southern Japan, approximately 180,000 tonnes per annum of the three principal species of kingfish are farmed. Seriloa lalandi - the species produced in Australia - is purseined as juveniles in the South China Sea and are then transported to southern Japan for grow-out. The farmed Japanese kingfish are then sold into the sashimi and fine-dining restaurant markets.

Mulloway
Mulloway - a natural inhabitant of South Australia - is a firm white-fleshed fish that can be cooked, smoked or eaten raw sashimi-style. It was sold into the Australian domestic market in the 1930s prior to locks being introduced to the lower River Murray, decimating their natural environment.

Also known as butterfish, mulloway came close to disappearing some 20 years ago following its over-use for fish and chip consumption. It is now in-demand from top chefs and fine dining restaurants across the world.

 

Geographical Spread

Clean Seas Products are exported across the world to countries including:

Australia
United States
United Kingdom
France
Italy
Switzerland
Netherlands
Spain
Germany
Japan

The demand for Clean Seas' product is greater than it's ability to supply fish. This is due to the declining world-wide fish stocks and a growing global preference for Australia's "Clean and Green” seafood.

Board of Directors and Key Management

Mr Hagen Stehr AO	Chairman
Mr Marcus Stehr	Managing Director
Sir Tipene O'Regan	Non-Executive Director
Mr Ian McLachlan AO	Non-Executive Director
Mr Paul Robinson	Non-Executive Director
Mr Frank Knight	Company Secretary

Company Address Port Lincoln South Australia, Australia , South Australia, Australia Telephone: +61 8 8621 2910 Facsimile: +61 8 8621 2990 Email: info[at]cleanseastuna.com.au Website: http://www.cleanseastuna.com.au

Additional Address/Key Contact Stehr Group Pty Ltd PO Box 159 7 North Quay Boulevard Port Lincoln 5606 South Australia, Australia Telephone +61 8 8682 2922 Facsimile +61 8 8682 5090 Email stehr@stehrgroup.net

Related News

01/10/07 - Clean Seas Chases The Tuna Grail

Most Recent Statement

07/01/09 - Tuna spawning progress update
31/10/08 - Appendix 4C - Sep 2008
24/10/08 - Annual report - year ended June 2008
30/09/08 - Business update
30/09/08 - Financials for year ended 30 June 2008
23/09/08 - Collaboration agreement with Kinki University