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NZ aquaculture gets funding boost
New Zealand could soon add kingfish, groper, kina, lobsters, and eels to its list of successful aquaculture exports.
New Zealand could soon add kingfish, groper, kina, lobsters, and eels to its list of successful aquaculture exports. Aquaculture research at NIWA has received $1.5 million a year in funding for six years from the Foundation of Research, Science & Technology.
âThis research will be done in collaboration with leading industry partners and developed into viable and profitable commercial culture,â said NIWA Principal Scientist Andrew Jeffs. âWe expect this research and development to be generating more than $10 million of new products each year. About 80% of this income would be from exports and we believe that the commercial growth of these species will continue to increase exponentially. We have seen this with the greenshell mussel industry, which is now worth nearly $200 million a year to New Zealand.â
The focus on five high-value species was a deliberate strategy to reduce reliance on New Zealandâs three main species â greenshell mussels, chinook salmon, and Pacific oysters. âAquaculture is New Zealandâs fastest growing rural industry, but the overall value of our product is only about $1500 a tonne, whereas the value of the Australian aquaculture product is about $30,000 a tonne because they culture higher value species, such as tuna and prawns.â
Dr Jeffs said finfish farming could generate up to 800 tonnes of fish per hectare. This would be worth about $10 million, and would create more than 50 jobs.
NIWA will work closely with more than 30 industry and MÄori groups to carry out this research and commercial development. NIWAâs state-of-the-art $3 million aquaculture research facility at Bream Bay near Whangarei will be used extensively in the programme. The facility is already producing kingfish, mussels, and oysters, and is the site of what will be New Zealandâs largest paua farm. The kina research will be focused at NIWAâs cold water facility at Mahanga Bay in Wellington.
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