In control, from pond to plate
Mat Ryan’s Murray Cod operation is growing fast.
A VENTURE into aquaculture has former grain grower Mat Ryan hook, line and sinker.
The pioneering Murray cod farmer from Bilbul, near Griffith in the NSW Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, has raised the bar for production of the fish, securing lucrative export markets, constructing a processing facility to value-add product, which is marketed under the Aquna Sustainable Murray Cod label.
The establishment of the Murray Cod Australia company by Mat, and fellow innovative irrigators, has added aquaculture to the MIA’s well-known mix of wine grapes, citrus, rice, cotton and vegetable production.
MAT RYAN
BILBUL, NSW
FORMER grain grower and Murray cod farmer
TRADES under the Aquna brand
PRODUCES three to five tonnes of fish a week
EXPORT to the US, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore
The enterprise got its start in 2016 with the merger of three existing aquaculture businesses — namely Mat’s and his wife Bonnie’s farm, a hatchery and a nursery.
Mat said as a vertically integrated producer of Australia’s premium native fish, Aquna had full control over quality from “pond to plate”.
“We are currently exporting to the US, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. We’ve done some preliminary testing in Europe. We have a good distributor there,” Mat said.
Exports have become enabled in recent years thanks to a large scale expansion of ponds to produce more cod. Sales are on the up and rising.
“We have gone from a couple of hundred kilograms of fish a week to three to five tonnes,” Mat said.
“We have expanded from four grow-out ponds in 2017 to 20 ponds today and 11 contract growers.
“We are just about to build a super site at Whitton, to put in 35 new ponds which will increase the total to 50 plus ponds. Construction will start soon and we will fill the ponds next summer. We have 700,000 fish in the water.”
BRANCHING OUT
THE number of employees has increased from three to 28, in line with the expansion, which has also provided welcome work in the drought for local contractors engaged to build the processing facility and the ponds.
The new building, opened in Griffith last month, signals the company’s move into the retail sector with a shop where locals can sample and buy fish products.
The range includes hot smoked Murray cod, belly fillets and tail fillets, both with the skin on, and sashimi grade trimmed loin.
“We built the processing facility to value-add to the fish and to diversify into different parts of the market with different products.”
Mat said Aquna’s rapid expansion since listing on the ASX in January 2017 had led to the development of new domestic and international markets and a retail store was a natural step.
Most domestic sales are to high-end restaurants, initially in Sydney and Melbourne and now also in Adelaide and Brisbane, and to wholesalers.
The retail store doubles as a showcase for a swag of awards.
Most recently, Aquna Sustainable Murray Cod took out the prestigious Australian Business Chamber NSW Excellence in Sustainability award at a gala dinner in Sydney.
“I’m not big on awards even though they are very important to our business. I just like to hide out on the farm and grow fish. That’s what I do,” Mat said.
Mat’s staff are all young and tech-savvy and share his enthusiasm for the fast-developing enterprise whose production methods are setting the industry benchmark.
FUTURE PROOF
THE mantra of Mat and his team is “sustainable farming”. All water is recycled through the ponds. A number of Aquna’s contract growers recycle water from their ponds to irrigate crops and pastures.
No water is wasted.
“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,” Mat said.
Aquna has a 205-megalitre water entitlement, a mix of high security and general security water and, as needed, buys water on the temporary market.
Water commands a high price. Mat said surprisingly it was not one of the major costs.
Fish feed was the biggest input followed by electricity, which powers the aeration pumps for the ponds, and wages.
Mat said they currently offer limited tours of the fish farm and retail store.
Strict quarantine measures are in place to protect the fish with the processing and filleting facility restricted to staff only.
Besides viewing the fish ponds, visitors to the farm are likely to spot a sizeable gathering of pelicans on the banks, their fishing efforts foiled by untold metres of netting covering the ponds. Answering the question asked by journalists and other visitors, Mat said his favourite Murray cod dish was fillets rolled in a little rice flour shallow fried in a pan and served with a fresh salad.
It is popular too with Bonnie and the couple’s four young sons.
It’s easy to prepare, he said, and packed with protein.
So what is on the radar now?
“To sink more ponds and keep growing the business,” Mat said.
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