Mackay aquaculture business able to maintain specialist staff and operations with COVID-19 Jobs Support Loan

Fishing and logistics business Ultra Coral is an innovative marine focussed primary production company on the great Barrier Reef at Mackay, collecting and supplying premium Australian corals for the global aquarium industry.

Operating for 10 years, the company also specialises in providing and delivering complex marine and research logistics to government and industry. 

A COVID-19 Jobs Support Loan allowed owners Nic and Ivy Dos Santos the ability to continue collecting coral, as well as secure employment for 15 specialised and highly skilled staff. 

The loan scheme administered by the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA), provides finance of up to $250,000 for businesses and non-profit organisations impacted by COVID-19 to assist with carry-on expenses such as employee wages, rent and rates and other expenditure. 

Ivy said Ultra Coral exported to more than 20 countries but the ability to sell into Chinese, Russian and Brazilian markets, among others, was severely impacted during COVID-19. 

Restrictions on live animal markets in China limited their ability to export into Chinese markets while restrictions on air freight meant it was difficult to get the coral where it needed to be within a specific time frame.  

“We are dealing with live export; it can’t be in a box beyond a specific time frame in which it needs to stay alive. The whole shipping process has been a huge hurdle for us,” she said.

“We have the product, it’s ready to go and customers want it, but we can’t risk having it die through freight limitations.” 

Ivy said the company had been able to break into the domestic Australian market, where overseas markets were unreachable.  

“We are now selling domestically which we never had before,” she said.  

Ivy said the COVID-19 Jobs Support Loan allowed 15 staff to maintain their jobs throughout COVID-19, which was especially important given the highly specialised skills needed to work in the industry.  

“Knowing we had this loan meant we could give our staff the confidence we were going to be ok, we knew we had that money to help us through the process,” she said.  

“The staff felt so blessed and so lucky to still be here and still have a job, to be doing what they love.   
“We are very thankful to have been able to get this loan because it has certainly helped with the cash flow and to maintain operations.  

“Because coral is such a niche industry, and in a little region like Mackay, we don’t have so many people who know the coral here locally. To have the skills to know what we do and be able to identify and sell coral is essential. When we are dealing on a global scale, we need our staff to be bilingual so it was good to have the security to keep those people on.  
“It was such a relief; it was a blessing to have that confidence through what was a really tough time, to know we are going to be alright.” 

Ivy said the business could continue focusing on plans to transition from a wild harvest business to a sustainable, coral farming business. 

“Our next step is to commercialise coral farming on a large scale,” she said.  

“We are looking at moving away from wild harvest to farming coral and selling to the aquarium trade but also supplying coral for reef restoration across the world.” 

Existing COVID-19 Jobs Support Loan clients can find important information about the ongoing management of their loans on the COVID-19 Jobs Support Loan page.

QRIDA is delivering the $1 billion COVID-19 Jobs Support Loan Scheme on behalf of the Queensland Government.