Demand for Ceduna Area School's barramundi is so high that the local pub's menu has had to change to accommodate it.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 6 minutes 6 seconds 6 m Students satisfied with hands on barramundi program ( Brooke Neindorf ) Download 5.6 MB

The school, situated on South Australia's far west coast, runs a 'farm to plate' program which sees the students growing and processing barramundi for sale.

Aquaculture teacher Andrew Malcolm said the program, now in its sixth year, has also seen its highest number of students getting involved.

"All 22 of these students chose the subject as an elective, competing with subjects like physical education, and this year the numbers really spoke for themselves," he said.

"The year ten class in particular has drawn more attention to the program and it is starting to permeate amongst the school.

"I think also with the STEM [science, technology, engineering and maths] facility that we are building here, the project has endless opportunities."

Year 10 student Ty Mullan feeds the farmed barramundi. ( ABC Rural: Brooke Neindorf )

The students are part of the process from the very beginning to the end.

Our best stories in your inbox Subscribe to Rural RoundUp: Get our best stories from rural and regional Australia every Friday.

They pick up the tiny fingerlings that arrive at the town's airport, they feed them a few times a week, and then they are in charge of filleting and selling the proceeds to the local hotel.

The barramundi are about 30 centimetres long and six months old when they are processed.

Year 10 student Ty Mullan said the process is satisfying, seeing the fish being grown and then to be sold by the students.

"I remember my first lot when we went to the airport to pick them up and then put them in the tanks," Ty said.

"To watch them grow is pretty good and it's not too heartbreaking [when they are processed]."

Pub demand high for school barra

The business connection with the local Ceduna Foreshore Hotel started with some former students who had the enthusiasm with wanting to process fish.

Mr Malcolm said the school set up a smoked fish program, the proceeds of which was then given free to people in the community.

The local Ceduna hotel has been serving the school's barramundi ( Supplied; Ceduna Area School )

"We then wanted to establish a bit more of a consistent processing facility after the smoked program and since then the pub has bought from us," he said.

The barramundi is now in such high demand that the school can not keep up with supply, so the menu at the pub had to change.

"Originally it was five to ten kilograms of fillets a week, and we could maintain that, but it would go within a couple of days," Mr Malcolm said.

"We can't meet the demand anymore, so the dishes on the menu changed slightly and we are being used as a composite-type product — I think it is a prawn and barramundi fritter, which sounds interesting.

"We get a lot of fly-in fly-out workers into Ceduna and when they are working here they always choose barramundi off the menu. A lot are from the top end, so they love their barramundi."

Year 11 student Thomas Andrasic-Smith said the most satisfying part of the program was getting to taste the school's own product.

"Getting to see what we have grown when we go down to the pub is great," Thomas said.

"I have spoken to a few people who have eaten it over the last few years and they seem to like it as well."

Year 10 student Ty Mullan agrees.

"I just love being able to get hands-on and being involved in the filleting process," Ty said.

"It's great seeing the chef's face when you give them the fresh fish. They are pretty excited, so that's probably the best part."