Bill Keast

Bill is President of the Queensland Crayfish Farmers Association, also the president of the Queensland Aquaculture Industries federation Inc.

Bill has developed one of Queensland’s best RedClaw farms near Gympie. Bill has played a major role in the development of this new industry and the establishment of this native species of fresh water crayfish as an exciting new addition to the gourmet fish business.

After 20 years in various technical positions in the chemical industry Bill Keast purchased a property near Gympie in 1997 to establish a Redclaw farm. In 1998 Bill took on the position of treasurer of the South Queensland Crayfish Farmers Association. Since that time Bill has held numerous positions within both the South Queensland and state crayfish organisations, QADAC (Queensland Aquaculture Development Advisory Council) and other committees. Bill is currently president of the Queensland Crayfish Farmers Association, president of the Queensland Aquaculture Industries Federation, deputy chair of Seafood Training Queensland and the aquaculture industry representative on the Queensland Fishing Industry Development Council.

What Is In It For Me?

Every year when I write out the cheque to continue my membership of the Crayfish Farmers Association I hesitate and wonder whether I should give more of my hard-earned money away. I would like to share my thoughts on why I do continue to be a member. Why do we need to pay for representation at the federal level? Why do we need to pay for representation at the state level? Why do we need to pay for representation for our sector?

Just as we always must ask ourselves why is representation necessary, it is equally important to ask how should this representation be best achieved. One of the issues that has been in the background for a while is the efficacy of having more than one body representing the freshwater aquaculture sector. With so many common issues it begs the question whether the AAQ and the QCFA should save resources by combining their efforts. There are clearly a number of benefits with this but there are also a number of issues that we need to consider.