Our Mission at TDC is to develop all commercial opportunities on behalf of the clan members throughout the Region to advance our key aims of providing local jobs for local people and, in the long term, ensuring every child has a chance of a full life.

Samantha Noland , Senior Aquaculture Scientist and Mitchell Beagley, Senior Technician from the Darwin Aquaculture Centre (DAC), came out to Wadeye for two days this week to work with the Traditional Owners on finding a suitable site for the Black-Lip Oyster aqua-culture project. The project is being driven by the Nganbe family who are keen to produce oysters on and around Docherty Island.

One of the key indicators of suitable growing conditions is existing inhabitants. The group found two species of rock oysters and collected ten oysters for genetic testing and ten for metals testing. DAC will do an assessment and provide more information on the site characteristics and potential and next steps in a report for our consideration.

Black-lip oysters can be grown across the northern Australia coastline and oyster farming can provide local economic development and employment opportunities that align with Traditional Owner aspirations of working on country and using natural resources.

Oyster farming is the process of collecting or producing spat (juvenile oysters) and growing them to market size. It is an ideal low technology , low investment , low technology , low maintenance, introduction to aquaculture farming.

A local group will be attending the International Tropical Rock Oyster Workshop at the World Aquaculture Conference being held in Darwin for the first time in May, and visiting the South Goulburn Island site later this year. We are all very excited to see this project kick off.