Aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

started to take off in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in the 1980s. It is dominated by

mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...

s and

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

:
National Aquaculture Sector Overview: New Zealand
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome. In 2007, aquaculture generated about

NZ$ The New Zealand dollar ( mi, tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $, NZ$; code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New Zea ...

360 million in sales on an area of 7,700 hectares. $240 million was earned in exports.Aquaculture in New Zealand
aquaculture.govt.nz In 2006, the aquaculture industry in New Zealand developed a strategy aimed at achieving a sustainable annual billion NZ dollar business by 2025. In 2007, the government reacted by offering more support to the growing industry. __TOC__

Overview

is the general term given to the cultivation of any fresh or salt water plant or animal. It takes place in New Zealand in coastal marine areas (

mariculture Mariculture or marine farming is a specialized branch of aquaculture (which includes freshwater aquaculture) involving the cultivation of marine organisms for food and other animal products, in enclosed sections of the open ocean ( offshore mari ...

) and in inland tanks or enclosures. Aquaculture in New Zealand currently (2008) occupies 14,188 ha. Of that area, 7,713 ha is in established growing areas and is owned by the aquaculture industry, 4,010 ha is used to enhance the wild scallop fishery and belongs to the Challenger Scallop Enhancement Company, and 2,465 ha is an exposed site six kilometres offshore from Napier where trials are being undertaken by a private company to test the site's economic viability. In 2005 the aquaculture industry provided direct employment for about 2,500 full-time equivalents, mostly in the processing sector. A similar amount of indirect employment resulted from flow-on effects. The aquaculture industry is important for some coastal areas around New Zealand where there is limited employment. This applies particularly to some

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

communities with traditional links to coastal settlements. Marine aquaculture,

, occurs in the sea, generally in sheltered bays along the coast. In New Zealand, about 70 percent of marine aquaculture occurs in the top of the South Island. In the North Island, the

Firth of Thames The Firth of Thames ( mi, Tikapa Moana-o-Hauraki) is a large bay located in the north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the firth of the rivers Waihou and Piako, the former of which was formerly named the Thames River, and the town o ...

is productive.

Cultured species

There are three main species in the New Zealand aquaculture industry: the

green-lipped mussel ''Perna canaliculus'', the New Zealand green-lipped mussel, also known as the New Zealand mussel, the greenshell mussel, ''kuku'', and ''kutai'', is a bivalve mollusc in the family Mytilidae (the true mussels). ''P. canaliculus'' has economic i ...

, the

Pacific oyster The Pacific oyster, Japanese oyster, or Miyagi oyster (''Magallana gigas''), is an oyster native to the Pacific coast of Asia. It has become an introduced species in North America, Australia, Europe, and New Zealand. Etymology The genus ''Mag ...

and

king salmon The Chinook salmon (''Oncorhynchus tshawytscha'') is the largest and most valuable species of Pacific salmon in North America, as well as the largest in the genus ''Oncorhynchus''. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other ve ...

. In 2006 these three species generated $357 million in sales. Mussel accounted for 63 percent of this value, Pacific oysters 9 percent and king salmon 28 percent. Over two-thirds of New Zealand's aquaculture product comes from mussels and oysters. These shellfish are cultivated in two distinct stages; first spat needs to be collected, then the spat is grown in a grow-out facility. * Spat, also called seed, is the free-swimming

larval A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The l ...

stage of a shellfish. Spat is cultured in

hatcheries A hatchery is a facility where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions, especially those of fish, poultry or even turtles. It may be used for ex-situ conservation purposes, i.e. to breed rare or endangered species under controlled condit ...

, and can be grown in tanks on land. Hatcheries can also be associated with research facilities where spat can be selectively bred to specifications, as

broodstock Broodstock, or broodfish, are a group of mature individuals used in aquaculture for breeding purposes. Broodstock can be a population of animals maintained in captivity as a source of replacement for, or enhancement of, seed and fry numbers.Waple ...

. * A grow-out facility is the place where the spat are raised to market size, usually in enclosures anchored in coastal waters.

Mussels

Until the early 1960s, mussels were harvested by hand from

intertidal The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of Marine habitat, habitats with var ...

rocks.

Dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

was then introduced, and within a few years the mussel beds in

Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere Tasman Bay (; officially Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere), originally known in English as Blind Bay, is a large V-shaped bay at the north end of New Zealand's South Island. Located in the centre of the island's northern coast, it stretches along ...

and the

Hauraki Gulf The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,Wassilieff, Magg
"Aquaculture: Green-lipped mussels"
''Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand'', updated 21 September 2007 In the late 1960s, following this collapse, the aquaculture of the New Zealand mussel began. The endemic Perna canaliculus, green lipped mussel was used to trial growing mussel spat (young mussels) on ropes suspended from rafts. The Hauraki Gulf and the

Marlborough Sounds The Marlborough Sounds are an extensive network of sea-drowned valleys at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. The Marlborough Sounds were created by a combination of land subsidence and rising sea levels. According to Māori m ...

provided sheltered environments, with clean water rich in

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) that are unable to propel themselves against a Ocean current, current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankt ...

. The cultured mussels were ready for harvest after 12 to 18 months, and first went on sale in 1971. More growers entered the industry. The labour-intensive raft method was replaced with a modified Japanese longline system. Biodegradable stockings were packed with spat and tied to parallel rows of looped ropes, supported by

buoy A buoy () is a floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. Types Navigational buoys * Race course marker buoys are used for buoy racing, the most prevalent form of yac ...

s. Young mussels grow through the stockings, anchoring themselves to the ropes with their strong

byssal thread A byssus () is a bundle of filaments secreted by many species of bivalve mollusc that function to attach the mollusc to a solid surface. Species from several families of clams have a byssus, including pen shells (Pinnidae), true mussels (Mytilid ...

s (beards). The farms are usually located in sheltered or semi-sheltered areas where there is sufficient depth of water at low tide to keep the longline droppers off the bottom. Recent research has been investigating offshore mussel farming in exposed areas several kilometres from shore, such as farms offshore from

Napier Napier may refer to: People * Napier (surname), including a list of people with that name * Napier baronets, five baronetcies and lists of the title holders Given name * Napier Shaw (1854–1945), British meteorologist * Napier Waller (1893–19 ...

and Opotiki. Initially the ropes were allowed to reseed naturally, after harvest, from the spat already present in coastal waters. However, this method was unreliable. In 1974 a marine scientist discovered mussel spat encrusted on drift

kelp Kelps are large brown algae seaweeds that make up the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera. Despite its appearance, kelp is not a plant - it is a heterokont, a completely unrelated group of organisms. Kelp grows in "underwat ...

on Ninety Mile Beach. Locals collected the seaweed and air freighted it to mussel farmers.

Kaitaia Kaitaia ( mi, Kaitāia) is a town in the Far North District of New Zealand, at the base of the Aupouri Peninsula, about 160 km northwest of Whangārei. It is the last major settlement on New Zealand State Highway 1, State Highway 1. Ahipara ...

spat, as it became known, is now the prime source of seed mussels. There are some experimental hatcheries. Improved techniques have led to rapid production increases, and bulk handling methods have been introduced to meet growing demand for export to more than 60 countries. By 2006 there were over 900 mussel farms in New Zealand covering about 6500 hectares, and worth about $224 million in annual sales. About $180 million were exports, usually sold as frozen mussels in half shells, patented with the trade name NZ Greenshell Mussels.

Oysters

There are two types of wild oysters in New Zealand,

Bluff oyster The dredge oyster, bluff oyster or Chilean oyster (''Ostrea chilensis''), is also known in Chile as ''ostra verde'', is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Ostreidae. This species of flat oyster is a marine bivalve mollusc of the fami ...

s and

rock oyster Rock oysters are true oysters of the genus ''Saccostrea'', belonging to the subfamily Saccostreinae of the family Ostreidae . MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Saccostrea Dollfus & Dautzenberg, 1920. Accessed through: World Register of Ma ...

s. Both have been commercially harvested since the mid-19th century. Bluff oysters have never been cultivated, but various attempts were made to cultivate the rock oyster. Rock oysters are found naturally in the

zone in the north of the North Island, and were subject to early cultivation experiments. During the 1960s, commercial farmers grew rock oysters on sticks coated with cement, and laid in racks in the lower intertidal regions of harbours and inlets around the northern North Island.Wassilieff, Magg
''Aquaculture: Oysters and scallops''
Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 21 September 2007 Then in 1970 another oyster started outgrowing the native rock oyster. This newcomer was the

, which had probably been introduced into New Zealand waters in the 1950s from a Japanese vessel hull or in their ballast water. At first, farmers tried to remove it from their collecting sticks, but year by year Pacific oyster spat increased, out-competing the native rock oyster. Eventually commercial growers began to cultivate the Pacific oyster, and by the mid-1970s, it had become the main farm-raised oyster. Pacific oysters have well-established international markets, grow three times faster than native rock oysters, reach a larger size, have several spawnings each year and produce more consistent quantities of spat. In 1977 Pacific oysters appeared in the

, and farming began there in the 1990s. Instead of using the North Island method of cultivating oysters on racks, Marlborough farmers used hanging longlines, a system developed in Australia. By 2006 there were over 230 oyster farms in New Zealand using over 900 hectares, and worth about $32 million in annual sales. About $18 million were exports. Hatchery reared seed is not suitable for the rack systems which are still used by much of the industry. Pacific oysters on these racks are cultured from wild spat, most of which is gathered in the

Kaipara Harbour Kaipara Harbour is a large enclosed harbour estuary complex on the north western side of the North Island of New Zealand. The northern part of the harbour is administered by the Kaipara District and the southern part is administered by the Auckl ...

. However, other systems are increasingly being used, including hanging longlines and plastic trays. The Cawthron Institute is the main provider of hatchery spat, and can selectively breed spat to specifications.

Salmon

Around 1900, different salmon were introduced as

sport fish Game fish, sport fish or quarry refer to popular fish pursued by recreational anglers, and can be freshwater or saltwater fish Saltwater fish, also called marine fish or sea fish, are fish that live in seawater. Saltwater fish can swim and live ...

. Only the

(Chinook) adapted to the environment.Farmed Species
aquaculture.govt.nz. Retrieved 2 February 2009 For decades, the development of salmon and trout aquaculture in New Zealand was opposed by recreational fishers, on the grounds that disease would spread from fish farms into recreational fisheries, and that wild fish would be poached if they could be sold. In 1973 the government compromised by making

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

farms illegal, but salmon farms legal.Wassilieff, Magg
"Aquaculture: Salmon"
''Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand'', updated 21 September 2007 New Zealand is probably the only country in the world where trout farming is illegal, despite commercial interest from companies already farming salmon. In 1976, the first salmon farm was established at Pupu Springs,

Tasman Tasman most often refers to Abel Tasman (1603–1659), Dutch explorer. Tasman may also refer to: Animals and plants * Tasman booby * Tasman flax-lily * Tasman parakeet (disambiguation) * Tasman starling * Tasman whale People * Tasman (name), ...

. Salmon were raised in fresh water, growing to 25 centimetres over two years. The venture was originally aimed at ocean ranching, where juvenile salmon would be released into the sea with the expectation that some would return as adults. But few did return, so the Pupu Springs facility was converted to a

hatchery A hatchery is a facility where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions, especially those of fish, poultry or even turtles. It may be used for ex-situ conservation purposes, i.e. to breed rare or endangered species under controlled condit ...

, supplying stock to sea farms. In 1983, the first sea-cage

salmon farm The aquaculture of salmonids is the farming and harvesting of salmonids under controlled conditions for both commercial and recreational purposes. Salmonids (particularly salmon and rainbow trout), along with carp, and tilapia are the three most ...

was established in Big Glory Bay,

Stewart Island Stewart Island ( mi, Rakiura, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across the Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a total land ar ...

. It was followed by farms in the Marlborough Sounds and at

Akaroa Harbour Akaroa Harbour, is part of Banks Peninsula in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. The harbour enters from the southern coast of the peninsula, heading in a predominantly northerly direction. It is one of two major inlets in Banks Peninsula, ...

Banks Peninsula Banks Peninsula is a peninsula of volcanic origin on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It has an area of approximately and encompasses two large harbours and many smaller bays and coves. The South Island's largest cit ...

. These areas accounted for over 90 percent of the 8,500 tonnes of salmon produced in 2001. Today, New Zealand accounts for over half of the world production of king salmon (7,400 tonnes in 2005). Farming in the sea (

) for king salmon is sometimes called sea-cage ranching. Sea-cage ranching takes place in large floating net cages, about 25 metres across and 15 metres deep, moored to the sea floor in clean, fast-flowing coastal waters. Smolt (young fish) from freshwater hatcheries are transferred to cages containing several thousand salmon, and remain there for the rest of their life. They are fed

fishmeal Fish meal is a commercial product made from whole wild-caught fish, bycatch and fish by-products to feed farm animals, e.g., pigs, poultry, and farmed fish.R. D. Miles and F. A. Chapman.FA122: The Benefits of Fish Meal in Aquaculture DietsFisherie ...

pellets high in protein and oil. Most of this fishmeal is imported from Australia. The salmon are harvested when they are about two years old, weighing 2.5 to 4 kilograms. Sea cages are located in the

and

. Farming in freshwater for king salmon uses net cages placed in rivers, using techniques similar to those used for sea-farmed salmon. Freshwater raceways are located in several

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

rivers such as the Clutha and

Waimakariri River The Waimakariri River is one of the largest rivers in Canterbury, on the eastern coast of New Zealand's South Island. It flows for in a generally southeastward direction from the Southern Alps across the Canterbury Plains to the Pacific Ocean. ...

s. In the 1990s, a unique form of freshwater salmon farming was developed in hydroelectric canals in the

Mackenzie Basin The Mackenzie Basin (), popularly and traditionally known as the Mackenzie Country, is an elliptical intermontane basin located in the Mackenzie and Waitaki Districts, near the centre of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest suc ...

. Young salmon are enclosed in pens in the Ohau and Tekapo canals. The Tekapo site, fed by fast cold waters from the

Southern Alps The Southern Alps (; officially Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana) is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the range's western side. The name "Southern ...

, is the highest salmon farm in the world, 677 metres above sea level. Before they are killed, cage salmon are anaesthetised with a herbal extract. They are then spiked in the brain. The heart beats for a time as the animal is bled from its sliced gills. Relaxing the salmon like this when it is killed produces firm, long-keeping flesh. Lack of disease in wild populations and low stocking densities used in the cages means that New Zealand salmon farmers do not use antibiotics and chemicals that are often needed elsewhere. The New Zealand industry has grown into the largest producers of farmed king salmon in the world, accounting for about half of world production. Th
New Zealand King Salmon Company
dominates the production of king salmon in New Zealand. The company has its own selective breeding programmes integrated with quality control and production. Other salmon producers rely on stock from hatcheries where selective breeding is less well developed.

Other species

* The culture of ornamental cold water species, such as goldfish, are valued at about $18 million. * A small-scale

freshwater prawn farm A freshwater prawn farm is an aquaculture business designed to raise and produce freshwater prawns or shrimp for human consumption. Freshwater prawn farming shares many characteristics with, and many of the same problems as, marine shrimp farming ...

was established in 1991 at

Wairakei Wairakei is a small settlement, and geothermal area a few kilometres north of Taupō, in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand, on the Waikato River. It is part of the Taupō Volcanic Zone and features several natural geysers, hot pool ...

, near Taupo, producing tropical giant river prawns. Heat from a geothermal source is used to heat water in prawn-rearing ponds (see geothermal energy and aquaculture). Other species which have potential, but are currently small-scale or are still in research or pre-commercial stages, are discussed under Prospects below.

Scallop enhancement

Enhancement is the name given to techniques designed to boost the natural recruitment or survival of young animals or seaweed in the wild. In New Zealand, scallop enhancement has worked well in

and

Golden Bay Golden Bay may refer to: * Golden Bay / Mohua, a bay at the northern end of New Zealand's South Island * Golden Bay (Malta), a bay and beach on the coastline of Malta * Golden Bay High School, a high school in Takaka, New Zealand * Golden Bay, Wes ...

. The New Zealand scallop is a large fan-shaped shellfish, flat on one side and convex on the other. It lives on the bottom of coastal waters from low tide level to over 90 metres deep, though typically from 10 to 25 metres deep. Scallop spat-collecting bags are suspended during summer in coastal areas with high natural scallop settlement. The scallop larvae settle out of the plankton onto the fine feathery surface of the plastic mesh bags. The larvae are allowed to grow to a suitable size and are then released onto known natural scallop beds at densities of about six per square metre of sea floor. There, they are later harvested on a rotational basis by

dredges Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

. This technique has resulted in a marked increase and stabilising of the available annual catch. The

scallop fishery, near collapse in the 1980s, recovered with re-seeding to a level where 747 tonnes were harvested in 2004.

Legislation and administration

Marine farmers usually look for sheltered and unpolluted waters rich in nutrients. Often these areas are also desirable for other purposes. In the late 1990s, demand for coastal aquaculture space upsurged, increasing fivefold.Aquaculture
NZ Ministry for the Environment. Retrieved 2 February 2009. Aquaculture consents developed haphazardly, with regional councils unsure about how marine farms might impact coastal environments. By 2001, some councils were inundated with marine farm applications, and were operating with inadequate guidelines for sustainably managing the coast.Wassilieff, Magg
"Aquaculture: Protecting the environment"
''Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand'', updated 21 September 2007 As the Ministry for the Environment put it: "Attempts to minimise local or cumulative environmental effects resulted in bottlenecks, delays and high costs in processing applications for new marine farms, local moratoria, submitter fatigue and poor environmental outcomes. Marine farmers, local communities, and the government wanted change." In 2002, the government stopped issuing consents for more new marine farms while they reformed the legislation. The consents had operated under a system overseen by both the

Ministry of Fisheries An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

and the regional councils. The reforms aimed to streamline these applications for both freshwater and marine farms. Industry farmers objected to the moratorium, on the grounds that delaying expansion and diversification could not be in the interest of the industry. Māori groups considered they were especially affected since they were the main applicants for coastal farms. This took three years, and in early 2005, Parliament passed the Aquaculture Reform Act 2004, which introduced the new legislation. The act amends five existing acts to cope with the new environmental demands, and creates two new acts, the Māori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Act 2004 and the Aquaculture Reform (Repeals and Transitional Provisions) Act 2004.Aquaculture reform
NZ Ministry for the Environment. The legislation and administration of aquaculture in New Zealand is complex for such a small industry. A more comprehensive overview can be foun
here
Aquaculture is administered in New Zealand through labyrinth bureaucracies, with consequent diluted responsibilities. No single ministerial portfolio or government agency is responsible. As an example, in 2007 the government released a strategy on aquaculture. This strategy was endorsed by six government ministers with the following portfolios: fisheries, environment, conservation, local government, Māori affairs, industry and regional development. Further, there were five government departments directly involved in the preparation of the strategy. As another example, the access to marine and freshwater aquaculture sites are under the control of 17 regional local government agencies with yet more oversight by various central government agencies. Despite many further consultations and incentives, no new aquaculture space was created under the new legislation for another four years. This coincided with a change in government at the end of 2008, which announced that the aquaculture reforms are to be overhauled.Aquaculture reforms to be overhauled
beehive.govt.nzDecade long struggle highlights need for change
beehive.govt.nz

Training and research

In recent years, skill levels in the New Zealand aquaculture industry has considerably improved. This has been largely due t
Seafood Industry Training Organization
(SITO), an integral part of the seafood industry. SITO have developed tailored aquaculture training programmes based on their prior experience with industry-based training for wild fisheries. They now offer nationally recognised training programmes based on the needs of companies involved in aquaculture. At the tertiary level, the

Auckland University of Technology Auckland University of Technology (AUT) ( mi, Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau) is a university in New Zealand, formed on 1 January 2000 when a former technical college (originally established in 1895) was granted university status. AUT ...

offers an undergraduate degree in aquaculture. Other tertiary training centres offering aquaculture courses include the

Bay of Plenty Polytechnic Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology is a New Zealand tertiary education institute with campuses in Rotorua, Tauranga, and other towns in the Bay of Plenty and South Waikato regions. It was formed in May 2016 after the amalgamation of Bay of Plenty ...

, the

Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) is a public tertiary education institution at the top of the South Island in New Zealand. NMIT's main campus is in Nelson with other campuses in Blenheim, Marlborough, Woodbourne and Richmond. I ...

, and th
Mahurangi Technical Institute
Government funding for aquaculture research is about two percent of the annual sales of the industry. These funds are mostly delivered through a competitive bidding process, organised and controlled by th
Foundation for Research, Science and Technology
* The principal aquaculture research group is the

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research or NIWA ( mi, Taihoro Nukurangi), is a Crown Research Institute of New Zealand. Established in 1992, NIWA conducts research across a broad range of disciplines in the environmental scien ...

(NIWA). NIWA is structured as a profit-making private company, though it is owned by the government. It operates three aquaculture research facilities
Bream Bay Aquaculture ParkMahanga Bay Aquaculture Research Facility
an
Silverstream Hatchery
The Bream Bay Aquaculture Park includes other private aquaculture companies organised as an industrial-technology park. NIWA produces

yellowtail kingfish The yellowtail amberjack, yellowtail kingfish, hiramasa or great amberjack (''Seriola lalandi'') is a large fish found in the Southern Ocean. Although previously thought to be found in all oceans and seas, recent genetic analysis restricts ''S. ...

spat, seed

abalone Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any of a group of small to very large marine gastropod molluscs in the family (biology), family Haliotidae. Other common name In biology, a common name of a taxon o ...

and salmon smolts, which it sells to on-growers. * The

Cawthron Institute The Cawthron Institute is New Zealand's largest independent science organisation, specialising in science that supports the environment and development within primary industries. Cawthron has its main facilities in Nelson. It works with regional ...

is a non-profit organisation which does regional research around

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

. It operates a nearby saltwater research facility called th
Cawthron Aquaculture Park
* The tertiary education sector undertakes a small amount of aquaculture research. In 2007 an aquaculture centre was opened at Mahurangi Technical Institute in Warkworth. Scientists at the institute are aiming to breed short-fin eels within two years with a goal of producing commercial quantities of eels in captivity, which would be a world first.

Role of Māori

In pre-European times, the indigenous

of New Zealand undertook rudimentary aquaculture activities, such as placing suitable rocks into the intertidal settlement zones of oyster larvae.Jeffs, Andrew (2003
''Assessment of the potential for aquaculture development in Northland''
NIWA Report #AKL2003-012. They were also thought to have transplanted abalone and other shellfish between different areas.Best, Elsdon (1929
''Fishing methods and devices of the Maori''
Government Printer, Wellington. Māori currently have a significant presence in the New Zealand aquaculture industry, and this is likely to increase over time as the requirements to allocate aquaculture space through the Māori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Act 2004 are met. However, inappropriate aquaculture locations and unsustainable practices have the potential to compromise values and resources important to coastal whanau, hapu and

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

. In 2008, a settlement of $97 million was made to Māori for Crown obligations for aquaculture space that was approved between 1992 and 2004.Maori aquaculture settlement signed
– beehive.govt.nz NIWA operates a Māori research and development unit
Te Kūwaha o Taihoro Nukurangi
The unit has a team of Māori scientists who undertake research and provide consultancy services, based particularly around

with environmental and commercial issues.

Prospects

In 2006, the New Zealand aquaculture industry publishe
''The New Zealand Aquaculture Strategy''
setting itself an annual sales target of one billion NZ dollars by 2025. The strategy sets out ten areas of activity needed to achieve this target. The New Zealand Aquaculture Council has introduced a levy on aquaculture producers so this strategy can be implemented. In 2007, the New Zealand government responded to this industry initiative by releasing an aquaculture development strategy highlighting existing actions and proposing new initiatives. In addition, the government has offered additional funding around five key objectives, with the main focus on improving the implementation of the new 2004 regulations. At the end of 2008 there was a change in government, which announced that the aquaculture reforms will be overhauled, but reaffirmed the government commitment to the industry billion dollar target. Paua

The New Zealand industry currently relies on low-value

filter-feeding Filter feeders are a sub-group of suspension feeding animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feedin ...

shellfish (mussels and oysters) which are fast growing and relatively easy to culture. There is potential for the industry to diversify into higher value species such as

pāua Pāua is the Māori name given to three New Zealand species of large edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs which belong to the family Haliotidae (in which there is only one genus, ''Haliotis''), known in the United States and Austral ...

, kingfish and

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, mu ...

. These species need special food supplies and are more expensive to farm, but they command higher prices. * The native blackfoot

, ''Haliotis iris'', is a form of

. They are large sea snails which survive strong tidal surges by clinging to rocks using their large muscular foot. Wild pāua has been harvested since 1944, usually by skindivers,. Pāua aquaculture started in 1980, but has been slow moving beyond development. They are difficult to grow, and grow more slowly than salmon, mussels or oysters. Their larva and juveniles need to be grown separately.Wassilieff, Magg
"Aquaculture: Industry developments"
''Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand'', updated 21 September 2007 Most pāua farmers get juveniles from hatcheries, and feed them fresh

in land-based tanks. In

, one farmer grows pāua on plastic barrels tethered to

s. In 2002, farmers produced five tonnes of pāua meat, worth $400,000. * Another New Zealand pioneer pāua farmer cultivates blue pearls by placing some grit between the flesh of the pāua and its shell, where it acts as an irritant. The pāua responds by coating the grit with

nacre Nacre ( , ), also known as mother of pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer; it is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent. Nacre is f ...

(mother-of-pearl). This develops as a blue pearl. * For some years there has been research on the best ways of growing the red seaweed, ''Gigartina atropurpurea'', in New Zealand. Seaweed spores are grown on three-metre strings at NIWA's Mahanga Bay aquaculture research facility, and are then transferred to a mussel farm in the Marlborough Sounds. If successful, a new seaweed growing industry could spread to the mussel farms in the Marlborough Sounds. * Bluff oysters are harvested from the wild in

Foveaux Strait The Foveaux Strait, (, or , ) separates Stewart Island, New Zealand's third largest island, from the South Island. The strait is about 130 km long (from Ruapuke Island to Little Solander Island), and it widens (from 14 km at Ruapuk ...

. However, they breed more easily in Northland, and NIWA is examining their aquaculture possibilities. * Shortfin and longfin eels have been trialled by NIWA. Established worldwide markets in cultured eels are worth over US$1 billion, and a decline in some stocks has opened up opportunities for New Zealand.NIWA
''Aquaculture species: Eel''
National Centre for Fisheries & Aquaculture. Retrieved 28 February 2009 * The big-bellied seahorse is a native seahorse. Seahorses are valued aquarium fish. They are also used medicinally, particularly in traditional Chinese medicine. Wild seahorses have been over-harvested worldwide, opening markets to their aquaculture. * A New Zealand

sea sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through t ...

, ''Mycale hentscheli'', which grows in

Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere is the largest of the Sound (geography), sounds which make up the Marlborough Sounds at the north of the South Island, New Zealand. The Marlborough Sounds is a system of drowned river valleys, which were formed after th ...

, may hold the key to an anti-cancer drug. Scientists are working to see how peloruside, a substance produced by the sponges, might be used as a cancer-fighting drug. Victoria University and NIWA are working with Marlborough marine farmers to develop a method for growing the sponge on an existing mussel farm. Other prospects which are being researched or trialled include *

European perch The European perch (''Perca fluviatilis''), also known as the common perch, redfin perch, big-scaled redfin, English perch, Euro perch, Eurasian perch, Eurasian river perch, Hatch, poor man’s rockfish or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply th ...

grass carp The grass carp (''Ctenopharyngodon idella'') is a species of large herbivorous freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae, native to the Pacific Far East, with a native range stretching from northern Vietnam to the Amur River on the Sino-Russian ...

hāpuku The hāpuku, hapuka or whapuku (''Polyprion oxygeneios''), also known as groper, is a wreckfish of the family Polyprionidae, found around southern Australia, southern South America, South Africa, Tristan da Cunha and New Zealand at depths between ...

, a native

wreckfish The wreckfish are a family, Polyprionidae in the suborder Percoidei of the order Perciformes. They are deep-water marine fish and can be found on the ocean bottom, where they inhabit caves and shipwrecks (thus their common name). Their scienti ...

, a native kingfish *

sea cucumber Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea (). They are marine animals with a leathery skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched gonad. Sea cucumbers are found on the sea floor worldwide. The number of holothuria ...

kina Kina can refer to: * Kina (animal), a sea urchin endemic to New Zealand * Kina (musician), American singer/songwriter, and former member of musical group Brownstone * Kina, an Italian music producer known for the single "Get You the Moon" * Kina ( ...

, a native

sea urchin Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells (tests) of ...

rock lobster "Rock Lobster" is a song written by Fred Schneider and Ricky Wilson, two members of the B-52's. It was twice recorded and released as a single, first by DB Records as their debut release in April 1978, and again the following year for the ban ...

* koura, a native freshwater

* ''Spongia manipulatus'', a native bath

sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through t ...

giant kelp ''Macrocystis pyrifera'', commonly known as giant kelp or bladder kelp, is a species of kelp (large brown algae), and one of four species in the genus ''Macrocystis''. Despite its appearance, it is not a plant; it is a heterokont. Giant kelp is ...

Timeline

* Pre-European: The indigenous

undertake rudimentary aquaculture activities, such as placing suitable rocks into the intertidal settlement zones of oyster larvae. They are also thought to have transplanted abalone and other shellfish between different areas. * Early 20th century: Salmon species are introduced to New Zealand as

, but only the Chinook, or

adapts to the environment. * 1950s: the

is introduced, possibly from a Japanese vessel hull or in their ballast water. * Early 1960s: Dredge fisheries start operating in the north of the South Island and around the

Hauraki Gulf The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,king salmon The Chinook salmon (''Oncorhynchus tshawytscha'') is the largest and most valuable species of Pacific salmon in North America, as well as the largest in the genus ''Oncorhynchus''. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other ve ...

begins. * Late 1990s: The aquaculture industry goes through a boom period, and demand for coastal space increases fivefold. * 2002: The government, in some disarray, imposes a moratorium on new marine farms while they attempt to develop better legislation aimed at dealing with the environmental demands of aquaculture and streamlining applications for marine and freshwater farms. * 2005: Parliament passes the Aquaculture Reform Act 2004, amending five existing acts so they can better cope with the environmental demands of aquaculture, and creating two new acts. However, the reform fails to streamline applications, and no further allocation of aquaculture space occurs over the next four years. * 2006: The New Zealand aquaculture industry publishes ''The New Zealand Aquaculture Strategy'',''The New Zealand Aquaculture Strategy''
setting itself an annual sales target of one billion NZ dollars by 2025. * 2007: The New Zealand government responds to the industry initiative by releasing an aquaculture development strategy highlighting existing actions and proposing new initiatives including funding incentives, mainly aimed at trying to action its reform legislation. * 2008: A settlement of $97 million is made to Māori for Crown obligations for aquaculture space that was approved between 1992 and 2004. * 2008: The government changes and announces that the aquaculture reforms will be overhauled. It reaffirms the government commitment to the industry billion dollar target.

References

External links

''New Zealand Aquaculture'' magazine
(online)
Aquaculture e-zine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aquaculture in New Zealand

Agriculture in New Zealand Fishing in New Zealand