Nothing too fishy about trout farm operation

When they did make the move to across the Indian Ocean, the Sydenhams found themselves on the NSW Central Coast running a retail computer business.

Nothing too country about that.

They eventually got their move to a country setting in January 2006 when they took on ownership of the 200-hectare Arc-en-Ciel Trout Farm at Hanging Rock near Tamworth.

They haven't looked back since.

"The farm began in the 1980s and has always produced rainbow trout," Russell said.

"We are probably one of the smallest producers in NSW, but with our unique conditions we feel we provide a great product.

"We have pristine water for our trout, owning the catchment and having a flow through water licence.

"That means water leaving the farm flows back into the creek and we are constantly managing that to make sure it leaves us in a way better condition than regulations stipulate.

"Also, being in a cool climate zone is very beneficial as the trout prosper in lower temperatures."

While the trout operation does not take up much of the room on the property, Russell said the remainder of the lands is mainly forestry which helps give the water a natural good quality.

An integral part of Arc-en-Ciel, which means rainbow in French, is the smokehouse.

Originally use just to smoke trout from the farm, the Sydenhams have taken an opportunity to branch out.

"We understood that the restaurants and retailers which purchased our trout would likely purchase other smoked foods as well," Russell said.

"As well as producing trout fillets, whole trout and pate, we also produce smoked duck breast, smoked chicken breast, smoked beef and smoked venison.

"The retailers buying our smoked meats are still buying our trout so it has only been a positive.

"COVID-19 has stopped many of our orders from restaurants, but these retailers have kept us afloat."

While current restrictions have prohibited visitors, in happier times Arc-en-Ciel welcome them.

"We conduct farm tours, welcome people looking to fish our dam, have a farm gate stall and have an onsite cafe which I would say is supplied around 95 percent of it's menu from our farm," Russell said.

"We also invested in other infrastructure improvements so that we can welcome buses full of visitors.

"Previously, if the weather was not good, we would have to cancel a bus visit, but now we have both a great outdoor area and a new indoor area to cater for them."

Producing tasty trout is not a very quick process.

Russell Sydenham at Arc-en-Ciel Trout Farm knows a bit about producing quality, winning Champion Trout Product award in 2017 at the Sydney Royal Fine Food Awards competition.

He believes you cannot rush growth if you want quality produce.

"From when we get the fertilised eggs in from a farm in Tasmania, it takes around 12 months before the trout are table size," Russell said.

"We place them in an enclosed hatchery with three hatching troughs.

"We place them in egg trays and monitor the hatching. Once they hatch, they go through an alevin stage, living off the sustenance of their own egg sac.

"Once they absorb that, they are at fry stage and free swimming, so we are able to start feeding them.

"We then monitor growth rate and once they reach a certain size they go into juvenile holding tanks.

"At this stage the critical animal husbandry starts with grading - moving the bigger fish to another tank so the smaller ones can catch up.

"Once they reach 20cm, they go in one of our four 80000 litre holding ponds where they go through a mechanical grader before entering a pre-harvest tank.

"This process on an average year produces around nine tonne."