Science Centres: Fisheries

Graeme Moss (NIWA) and Wally Turvey (Hongoeka Development Ltd) inspect a frame containing very young seaweed at the Hongoeka facility. (Photo: Alan Blacklock, NIWA)

A unique land-based polyculture system is up and running near Porirua, creating an exciting new enterprise for the local iwi.

The venture is a collaboration between NIWA and Hongoeka Development Ltd., a company set up to represent local Māori landowners. After four years of research, funded by the Foundation for Research, Science & Technology, a system based on paua and karengo (a red seaweed) was selected. Iwi members built the NIWA-designed unit on coastal land near Plimmerton, and have been trained by NIWA to manage the system, with 30 000 baby paua now installed and growing well, and seaweed spores in culture at the site.

Hongoeka is the first NZ polyculture system to use paua as the main producer of waste; the karengo acts as a waste remover, extracting dissolved ammonia and nitrates from water before it is recycled.

The long-term goal is for the facility to be self-sufficient, provide employment, and eventually re-seed depleted wild paua stocks. The hope also is that the venture will evolve into a marine education facility, both for other Māori interested in aquaculture, and the general public.