Tracking snapper in the Gulf
Climate drives poor mussel yields
Rock lobster travel routes
Sea cucumbers - valuable waste disposers
Beneficial oils from marine microbes
Marlborough mussel farm (Photo Barb Hayden, NIWA)
Recent NIWA research has shown that poor mussel yields in Pelorus Sound between 1999 and 2002 were the result of climatic influences on food supply, not overcrowding.
NIWA has been working with the New Zealand Mussel Industry Council (NZMIC) and the wider mussel industry for the past 11 years to assess what drives variation in mussel meat yield.
Our analysis of long-term data has shown that poor yields in 1999-2002 were linked with climatic changes, not the exhaustion of food supplies by mussel farm expansion.
During the period, southeast win
Modelled settlement patterns of rock lobster larvae hatched in Quota Management Area CRA8
Data on ocean currents have been used to model the sources and destinations of rock lobster (‘crayfish’) larvae around New Zealand, with implications for fisheries management.
Because the phyllosoma larval stage lasts 12–24 months in rock lobster, the pueruli (settlement stage) may settle far from where the larvae originate.
NIWA is searching for new species of marine microbes that are potential sources of omega-3 oils and other health-giving natural compounds.
The importance of omega-3 oils in human and animal nutrition is well known.
Sleeping snapper. If you catch a tagged snapper, you could be in to win a rod and reel combo. (Photo: Richard Taylor, University of Auckland)
NIWA launched a major study of snapper movements in the Hauraki Gulf this month to help understand what keeps this recreational fishery so productive.
We’re tagging up to 4000 snapper with external streamer tags from two commercial longliners in the inner gulf.
Ginseng of the Sea (Photo: Kimberley Maxwell, NIWA).
Sea cucumbers may offer a way to reduce organic waste in aquaculture systems, while providing a lucrative added revenue stream.
NIWA student Kimberley Maxwell (Whakatōhea, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Ngāti Porou, Tainui) has been investigating sea cucumber energetics at our Mahanga Bay aquaculture facility in Wellington as part of a pilot polyculture study.
Polyculture involves growing multiple commercial species in a single system to maximise the use of space, food, and water while reducing waste products.
