RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Keith Bell of K&C Fisheries undertakes a range of research and development activities, these activities have been utilized to develop innovative techniques, processes or machinery to improve the process of K&C Fisheries Pty Ltd.

2001 - 2002

• Developing Roe Separator & Washing Machine - design and manufacture of the machine to progress from using 200 year old techniques, to a cost effective separation and washing process, producing a quality exportable product. K&C Fisheries were a finalist in the 2004 Hugh McKay Award for Innovation, for the development of its Roe Separator & Washer Machine.
• Developing Carp Harvesting techniques in remote areas - encompassing catching techniques and the transport of resource from up to 2000klm's away within 24 hours from catch time.

2002 - 2003

• Developing Salted Carp Roe & Chilling techniques - following the washing & separating process, there were issues of color, consistency and stability of the Roe product, development of chilling and curing techniques resulted in a quality export product with longer shelf life than other products.
• Developing Out Of Season Fish Harvesting techniques - Spawning is seasonal, with 12 weeks of the year being peak operational time for hatchery work at K&C Fisheries. To maximize the use of infrastructure and reduce the downtime of personnel, K&C Fisheries are developing techniques to spawn fish all year round.
• Assisted the Murray Darling Association Inc with research & development information for inclusion in the Mobile Carp Processing Feasibility Study - the results increased the resource available to K&C Fisheries and the industry, harvesting in remote locations and quality of resource

2003 - 2004

• Innovative state of the art Aquaculture Development Centre built. The Centre has specialist breeding tanks and controlled atmospheres. The design and manufacture of the breeding tanks are a direct result of 30 years industry experience and research and development undertaken by Keith Bell of K&C Fisheries.
• Breeding Fish out of Season
• Filleting Machine -design and manufacture of the machine to progress from using costly double handling manual labor techniques, to a cost effective filleting machine, which has increased fillet production and improved the quality of the product.

2004 - 2005

• Breeding Fish out of Season
• Fish Habitat
• Filleting Machine

Industry Projects, Partnerships & Alliances:

K&C Fisheries have a demonstrated long term commitment to Australian innovation through it's alliances, joint ventures and infrastructure investment in its Aquaculture Development Centre. Joint ventures and alliances include:

• 1994 to 2004 worked in partnership with Uncle Ben's to introduce Carp to its pet food line for export markets. This included research into harvesting, large scale aquaculture of the product and machinery development to utilize the product in their factory.
• 2002 Research Study Tour to China with Uncle Ben's to investigate Carp Aquaculture & feasibility of establishing an Export Processing Facility.
• As a stakeholder in the Pest Animal CRC - Daughterless Carp Project, in the long term if genetically modified daughterless carp are successfully introduced into the environment, there will be no way to distinguish between the natural and the modified carp. K&C Fisheries will no longer have an export product and therefore have situated themselves for future market position to be the leaders in their field in the delivery of Research & Development, Expertise and Consultancy Services.
• Undertaking consultancy work for PIRVIC Queenscliff (Primary Industry Research Victoria) to research & develop large scale Carp Aquaculture in waste water treatment plants (project title - Agricultural Harmony). This project work secures K&C Fisheries position as a provider of resource, expertise, research & development capabilities

Keith Bell - Mobile: +61 428 517 157      Cate Bell - Mobile: +61 428 331 933
Export Licence No 3435     ABN 73 080 059 294