Science Centres: Fisheries

New Zealand will soon be adding kingfish, kina, lobsters, eels, and groper to its list of aquaculture exports. This is the target of the new aquaculture species research to be carried out for the Foundation of Research, Science & Technology under a new $1.5 million a year research contract awarded to NIWA.

Research leader Dr Peter Lee says the research is aiming for the commercial culture of these new species to generate up to $10 million annually within the next 6 years. About 80% of this production is destined for export. "We expect to see a great jump in commercial aquaculture of these species, once we have overcome the technical hurdles, as has been the case with other species, such as the greenshell mussel," he says. "This research is about solving these technical problems quickly so that we can get to work on commercialising the results." The new programme builds on NIWA’s recent research that has developed the hatchery technology for kingfish from scratch in only a few years, and has created a new kina roe enhancement diet that rivals the best in the world.

The focus on five high value aquaculture species is a deliberate move away from New Zealand’s current reliance on greenshell mussels, chinook salmon, and Pacific oysters. "Aquaculture is New Zealand’s fastest growing rural industry. However, its production overall is valued at only $1500/t compared with $30,000/t in Australia, where much higher value species, such as tuna and prawns, are being cultured."

Peter believes that finfish farming in New Zealand could produce up to 800 t of fish per hectare, provide more than 50 jobs, and generate exports to the value of $10 million a year.

NIWA is working closely with more than 30 industry and Maori groups on research and commercial development. The research programme will be run from NIWA’s research facilities at Bream Bay, near Whangarei, and Mahanga Bay, Wellington. The Mahanga Bay Research Station has been the site of numerous aquaculture research programmes, dating back to its days with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, and is currently a significant paua seed supplier. The state-of-the-art facility at Bream Bay is already producing significant quantities of seed kingfish, greenshell mussels, Pacific oysters, and Bluff oysters for the aquaculture industry, and is also the site of New Zealand’s largest paua farm.