Original story by Caitlin Guilfoyle, the Cairns Post
MORE than 10 jobs will be lost when the State Government closes all research programs at the Cairns Northern Fisheries Centre in September.
The research and development centre is the only supplier of protected Queensland grouper fingerlings in the region and also supplies a number of local aquafarm businesses with live feed.
Job Loss: 10 Jobs will go as fish research stops.
Five research and technical staff and six temporary staff were told at the end of June they would no longer be required, with the Tropical Marine Finfish (Queensland grouper) program to finish on September 30 following the Tropical Rock Lobster program closure in March.
Northern Fisheries Centre (top) and the Aquaculture and Stock Enhancement Facility (located across the street from the Northern Fisheries Centre).
Little Mulgrave's Paradise Aquafarm owner Dave McIlvenie, who will be forced to source live feed essential for his business from New South Wales or Tasmania after the closure, said it felt like the Government had given up on them.
"It will push our costs up," he said. "It's like the Queensland Government has turned its back on agriculture in North Queensland. We feel left out in the cold, they have taken all our support away."
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry John McVeigh said the closure was part of last year's budget and businesses would be able to continue sourcing grouper if a new supplier emerged.
"As part of last year's State budget, a decision was made to close DAFF's Tropical Marine Fin Fish program and Tropical Rock Lobster programs conducted from the Northern Fisheries Centre in Cairns unless all costs could be transferred fully to a commercial entity," he said.
"The programs were ready for commercialisation, hence the department no longer deemed it necessary to continue the research. Those businesses that currently source grouper fingerlings through the Northern Fisheries Centre will be able to continue to do so if a new supplier emerges, or can source a number of other fish species that are more readily available in the marketplace."
The news comes just months after the facility received a $100,000 heating and electrical upgrade but Mr McVeigh said the department was in discussion with external businesses interested in using the facilities for their own aquaculture purposes.
Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch penned a letter to the minister on Monday saying he was "extremely concerned" about the closure because the centre was at the "forefront of Queensland grouper commercial development".
Member for Mulgrave Curtis Pitt said the State Government had walked away from aquaculture in North Queensland and he was concerned about local business.
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