The aquaculture project on Groote Eylandt could one day produce 2690 tonnes of fish per year.

Anindilyakwa Land Council plans to farm high-end seafood, such as cobia, clam and sea cucumber.

It is estimated that the adult cobia would grow to about 6.2 kilograms in a 12-month pond culture cycle.

The first stage of the project on Winchelsea Island includes 20 one hectare ponds, which would produce 538 tonnes of whole cobia a year.

With the facility extended to 50 ponds, production would increase to 2690 tonnes with a pond stocking density of 7000 fish per hectare.

To achieve the production levels, nearly double the number of fingerlings will be required to compensate for a juvenile survival rate of about 62 percent.

A fingerling hatchery capable of producing up to 700,000 live fingerlings a year will be required, which would compensate for the hatchery and pond mortality rates.