Aquna Murray Cod Australia aims for Victorian offshoot

A Murray cod producer has its sights set on Victoria after huge growth took the company from five to 80 employees.

An aquaculture company has its sights set on Victoria, following rapid expansion of its Riverina base in recent years.

Aquna Murray Cod started six years ago with five employees and now has a workforce between 80 and 90.

The Griffith-based company, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, says it has the potential to open a second site south of the Murray.

But Aquna Murray Cod chairman Ross Anderson told The Weekly Times that Victoria wasn’t the only option for the company, with South Australia and Queensland also in play.

“Obviously we have to invest a lot of capital over the next few years in a variety of infrastructure,” Mr Anderson said.

“We’ve got 50 ponds now in NSW, we looking to expand to 500 in years to come.

“With a species (Murray cod) like ours, it has to be produced inside the Murray Darling Basin – so that means NSW, Victoria, Queensland or South Australia.”

Aquna Murray Cod Chairman Ross Anderson. Picture: David Swift.

Murray cod has experienced a popularity boom in recent years across Australia’s culinary scene.

The company’s produce has gained the attention of British celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal, among others, and features in a number of top Sydney and Melbourne restaurants.

Mr Anderson said interstate expansion was conditional in part on government co-investment.

He said the site would not necessarily need to be close to the Murray River, although the Goulburn Valley was a natural option.

“If any government support was forthcoming, we’d be very amenable to talking. We’ve had discussions with the Victorian Government, very preliminary discussions, but we can’t talk publicly about that at this stage,” he said.

There are 12 Murray cod producers in NSW but only three operational in Victoria. Subsidiary businesses also exist in Queensland and South Australia with cumulative sales around $10 million.