More oysters please
Exploring new fisheries: surf clams and deepwater crabs
More value from kina
Cancer-fighting sponges get a boost
Hoki stocks holding up
Lithodes longispinus (long-spined king crab).
Surf clams (with marks to measure growth).
NIWA is gathering information for the development of new surf clam and deepwater crab fisheries for two new quota-owning companies, SurfCo and CrabCo.
These fisheries have recently been opened by MFish and have the potential for increased catch limits.
The new companies are interested in developing surf clam fisheries on the North Island’s east coast, and fisheries for king and red crabs off northern North Island.
NIWA conducts vital research for the Ministry of Fisheries on the status of hoki stocks, which support New Zealand’s largest fishery.
Our latest assessment of the western hoki stock shows that current hoki biomass is hovering around 20% of the ‘unfished’ biomass (i.e., the theoretical biomass if the stock wasn’t fished). Anything below 20% is considered undesirable.
NIWA’s collaboration with kiwi firm Sea Urchin New Zealand (SUNZ) has led to improvements in the quantity and quality of kina (sea urchin) roe, giving fishers a better income for the same number of animals.
Roe yields in wild-caught kina have been consistently doubled by feeding them a protein-rich diet developed from fishing byproduct by NIWA.
Oyster spat growing on shell reef material.
NIWA scientists are collaborating with the Challenger Oyster Management Company (COMC) to develop techniques for enhancing the productivity of the Tasman Bay oyster fishery.
‘Research combining NIWA’s scientific expertise with local fishing industry knowledge and experience is generating benefits for this fishery and for the general ecology of Tasman and Golden Bays’, says Russell Mincher of COMC.
Nelson is home to the second largest fishery for New Zealand’s iconic seasonal seafood delicacy, the native flat oyster, also kno
Harvesting Mycale hentscheli sponges from mussel lines.
NIWA, together with Victoria University and the Marlborough Mussel Company (MMC), are developing ways of growing sponges containing high concentrations of the anti-tumour compound Peloruside A.
NIWA’s aquaculture expertise has been brought in to find ways of producing more Peloruside A from the native sponge Mycale hentscheli, as the compound is currently too expensive to synthesise.
NIWA has now successfully transferred pieces of cultured sponge to mussel lines on MMC sites in Pelorus Sound.
