Science Centres: Fisheries

Bringing home Bluff’s oysters – emptying a dredge at sea in the Foveaux Strait. (Photo: Alan Blacklock, NIWA)

Bluff oysters are a much-loved Kiwi delicacy. But changes in the oyster population from the bonamia parasite have led to new challenges for NIWA fisheries scientists.

NIWA is working with the Bluff Oyster Management Company in a Seafood Innovations Ltd project to increase understanding of the factors that drive oyster production. NIWA’s undersea multibeam mapping has shown a range of habitat types in Foveaux Strait, and detailed knowledge of the local ecosystem may hold the key to understanding oyster productivity.

"Once we know more about exactly how oyster productivity is affected by environment, it may be possible to manage different undersea areas accordingly, just like a farmer manages different parts of the farm," says NIWA’s Keith Michael.

NIWA scientists are evaluating alternative new dredge designs, looking at ways to make dredging more efficient as well as friendlier to organisms on the seabed. In addition, NIWA’s biotechnology team is developing advanced molecular techniques to identify bonamia in oyster populations, allowing a better understanding of how to minimise the impact of this disease, which can cause up to 1 billion oyster deaths per year.