​Aquaculture trials in the Pilbara, Kimberley, Abrolhos Islands and Cockburn Sound will be the beneficiaries of the first consignment of around 500,000 rock oyster spat, grown at the new Albany Shellfish Hatchery.

The state-of-the-art hatchery is supporting jobs growth and the development of commercial shellfish farming in Western Australia, as well as working towards supplying spat to aquaculture operations in other States.

Successful commercial-scale farming of shellfish, such as edible oysters, mussels, scallops and Akoya pearl oysters, depend on a reliable supply of very large quantities spat, and Albany’s hatchery is now supporting this demand. ​At full production the Albany Shellfish Hatchery will produce about 600 million mussel spat and 80 million rock oyster spat annually.

The hatchery site was chosen for its access to exceptionally high-quality seawater from Albany’s King George Sound and existing infrastructure in Frenchmans Bay, which was redeveloped and upgraded to specifically suit shellfish hatchery operations.