Hatchery in hot water

Rent price hike puts fish farm in jeopardy

A REEF fish aquaculture and export company fears it could be driven out of its State Government-owned facility in Cairns after their rent was more than tripled.

Chinese owned The Company One, which took over Finfish Enterprise Pty Ltd last year, is renegotiating a lease for the Portsmith fish farm with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF).

The business began as part of the government’s Northern Fisheries Centre, until budget cuts in 2013 forced the government to withdraw, making most of the staff redundant.

The Company One director Dr Richard Knuckey, who has been at the facility for nearly 20 years, said he was surprised the department had asked for a rent increase of 330 per cent for the site under their latest lease agreement.

“We’re trying to negotiate with them something that is a bit more reasonable,” he said.

“We accept we have to pay for the facility, but our independent analysis of the facility was that the rental return was half of what they want to charge us.

“We’ve got to reach a point that is fair and equitable.”

The Company One exported 500,000 Queensland groper fingerlings overseas last year. It has ambitious plans to double production at the hatchery to supply the protected reef fish, internationally and domestically.

Dr Knuckey said the aquaculture business was not one that could easily relocate anywhere else in Cairns.

A DAF spokesman said the department recognised the value of Queensland’s aquaculture industry, and had offered considerable support – past and present – to The Company One, which was a foreign-owned enterprise.

The spokesman did not respond when questioned about whether the department had other plans for the facility that did not include The Company One.

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