Sharing knowledge of bath-sponge aquaculture and market potential with marine farmers
Science Centres: Fisheries
An article in Aquaculture Update 25 introduced bath-sponge farming as an aquaculture prospect for New Zealand. Last year, Dr Michelle Kelly, NIWA, led a workshop in Nelson for iwi representatives (Ngati Koata and Ngati Rarua), Sanford South Island Ltd, and independent marine farmers on this “new” marine resource and the feasibility of bath-sponge farming in New Zealand.
Over the last year, NIWA has conducted PGSF-funded research at pilot farms to study the growth rate and ecological requirements of the most common New Zealand bath-sponge, Spongia manipulatus. Although the New Zealand market for bath-sponges is small, the United States and European markets have huge potential. To perform well on the international stage, the New Zealand grown resource must be natural, sustainably produced, environmentally friendly, durable, correctly priced, and of high quality. If these requirements are met, there is great potential for a successful boutique industry in this country. We are encouraged by a recent assessment of the potential of S. manipulatus as a domestic bath-sponge by Mr Frank Mihailou, Mediterranean Natural Sponges, Sydney. Mr Mihailou ranked the New Zealand bath-sponge as highly as the commercial Mediterranean and Caribbean species. International Sourcing Inc. (ISI), New York, and several German cosmetic companies have verbally committed to purchasing sponges that we produce. We are currently working with Australian companies, evaluating value-added products from New Zealand bath-sponges, and sourcing further markets.
Participants at the Nelson workshop were supportive of sponge aquaculture and keen to participate in bath-sponge aquaculture research by providing marine farm space, developing farming methods, and collecting. NIWA is continuing to establish robust, commercially usable techniques for culturing bath-sponges in the Marlborough Sounds and the Coromandel Peninsula, and to assist potential farmers with setting up experimental and pilot production farms.