Balancing the ecosystem around mussel farms
System design involving co-culture of kingfish, mussels, seaweed, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers.
NIWA is working the mussel farming industry to trial a ‘multi-trophic co-culture’ system, where fed species are cultured alongside ecologically complementary species that extract waste from the surrounding water. This system offers to diversify species and products in the New Zealand aquaculture sector while achieving ecological balance around mussel farms.
We are collaborating with Marlborough Mussels, Sanford Ltd, and the Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute (YSFRI) in China to set up a co-culture research site in Crail Bay (Marlborough Sounds), funded by the FRST International Investment Opportunity Fund. A key part of the international collaboration is exchange of expertise in animal husbandry (YSFRI) and ecological modelling (NIWA).
Our design involves co-culture of kingfish, mussels, seaweed, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers (see figure). We have successfully rope-seeded a brown kelp at our Mahanga Bay facility for out-planting at Crail Bay and tagged sea cucumbers for mark/recapture to determine the feasibility of seabed ranching. This month, we’ll begin monitoring nutrient flows and growth rates of our co-culture species at Crail Bay.