Indigenous community hatches native prawn plan

By KEIRA JENKINS

The giant freshwater prawn has been a tasty meal for multiple generations but a new First Nations aquaculture project aims to share it with the country.

Catching a native prawn and throwing it on the fire to make a meal is something that’s been done along Australia’s coastlines for thousands of years.

But when the staff at the Hope Vale Foundation in far north Queensland did just this, an idea began to form.

Aquaculture exploration

Innovation and commercialisation manager Tony Matchett had witnessed the process and recognised an opportunity worth seizing with the cherabin or giant freshwater prawn.

“It was just a normal everyday thing,” according to the foundation’s general manager Rachelle McIvor.

“It’s one of those moments in time where everything lined up; it was just going down to get something to eat and that’s where the idea grew from.”

Tony Matchett first identified the cherabin as a commercial opportunity.

Hope Vale Foundation had been exploring aquaculture and aquaponics projects, beginning with the blacklip oyster.

It’s since established a research and development farm just outside Cooktown.

The hope is it will be able to commercialise the native cherabin in Australia for the first time.

The foundation is working on establishing a hatchery where juvenile cherabins will be bred and raised to market size.

Scientific backup

The hatchery-to-grow-out model being developed is low emission, water-efficient and, importantly, grounded in culture.

The project is being developed alongside the University of the Sunshine Coast, which Ms McIvor said puts a scientific lens on traditional practices.

“If we’ve got the research and science behind it … we’ve got the evidence to back it,” she said.

Adding further weight to the importance of the project, Ms McIvor said Hope Vale Foundation had been invited to the upcoming EvokeAg conference in Melbourne next month.

The event brings together innovators across the agriculture sector both within Australia and internationally.

Hope Vale’s work is about putting a scientific lens on traditional practices.

Ms McIvor said this represented a rare chance for the foundation to showcase its achievements.

“It’s an amazing opportunity that legitimises our farming model and our farming practices,” she said.

“It’s new, it’s native and gives Australia a look at what we have.

“It’s also a way to define our identity coming up to the Olympics.”

Ultimately, the foundation’s board has a vision for economic development, employment, food security and generational opportunity for their region, Ms McIvor said.

She hopes the humble prawn will help realise this long-held goal.

“We’re in a position to help others build their own wealth and build opportunities for the next generation,” she said.

AAP