New opportunities
in marine farming
| This material has been produced by the Royal Society of New Zealand (RSNZ)
under contract to the Ministry of Education. It has been written to assist teachers
and schools in their delivery of the technology/ hangarau curriculum statements.
The project is jointly coordinated by personnel from the Technology Education
New Zealand (TENZ)
and National Association of Māori Mathematicians, Scientists and Technologists
(NAMMSAT) networks. Monitoring and evaluation of the material is carried out
by a national project advisory group. |
News
Marine farming is becoming one of New Zealands most important
growth industries with a turnover predicated to top $ 1 billion by the year
2020.
In the year 2000 exports of paua earned almost $60 million -
making it New Zealand's fifth most valuable seafood species behind hoki, rock
lobster, orange roughy and mussels. We may know these marine molluscs as paua,
but they more commonly go under the name of abalone overseas. Paua (or abalone)
has always been a prized species in Asian markets but demand has recently
increased in USA and Mexico following the collapse of major local fisheries
in these regions. In addition, a potentially lucrative cultured paua pearl
industry is opening up in New Zealand. The iridescent hemispherical pearl
which the paua produces has always been valued by jewellers but the challenge
now presented is how to perfect an efficient process which will result in
the formation of the more valuable fully spherical pearls.
This potential commercial opportunity is limited by a restriction
on fishermen - the allowable quota is only around 1000 tonnes of wild paua
per annum. A solution to this problem is the commercial farming of paua. Mussel
farming in New Zealand produces around 75 000 tonnes green weight a year generating
almost $200 million in export revenue. This success has encouraged a rapidly
growing group of paua farmers - but it is an expensive business setting up
a large paua farm and it can be a lengthy period before a return on the investment
is received.
Much of the annual mussel crop in New Zealand is converted into
mussel extracts, powders and other marine by-products
which are exported to
Europe and South-east Asia. Seatone, a world-renowned anti-inflammatory product
used to ease the pain of arthritis sufferers, is manufactured in Auckland
and has now become the top selling mussel extract product in Britain.
Seafood companies in New Zealand are constantly working to produce
new delicacies for the local and export markets. Our traditional black-lipped
pacific oyster industry has suffered internationally through consumer preference
for a lighter variety of oyster. However, recent developments mean that the
rare and very desirable 'golden oyster' can now be bred in quantity in New
Zealand waters and this species will soon be gracing our tables in increasing
numbers. It will also provide a high value boost for the lucrative Japanese
and American export markets.
In traditional marine farming areas such as the West Coast,
Southland, Banks Peninsula, Firth of Thames , Golden Bay and Tasman Bay the
shallow water available for farming is being quickly used up and so aquaculturalists
are having to move further out into ever deeper water. However, while deep
water offers the attraction of more space to the marine farmer it also brings
a new element of danger to the divers carrying out the installation of the
anchoring systems required. This movement into ever deeper water has highlighted
important safety and decompression issues for the divers and addressing this
problem became the focus of a Marlborough diving company. The outcome of their
development work has been a new diverless spiral anchoring system. To date
more than 6500 of these spiral anchors have been installed on hundreds of
mussel, salmon and oyster farms around the coastline of New Zealand.
Although spiral anchors have been around for a long time the
new technique means that the Marlborough company can now install its spiral
anchors remotely and thus more safely from a work boat. Customers are astonished
at the speed of installation and the cost saving when compared to other traditional
anchor systems
These deep water farming sites provide a higher energy environment
than that experienced in the shallow water sites. This means that the anchoring
system required has to be more robust and able to be installed to a greater
depth within the seabed
The new spiral anchor system is screwed several metres into
the seabed and thus can hold heavier loads than the traditional drag anchors
which were fixed to the sea floor by divers. Spiral anchors can be placed
with great precision, which helps marine farms to fit more precisely into
their permitted boundaries. Only a square metre of sea bed is disturbed and
this only for a short period of time during the installation process. This
is of significant help in minimising the environmental disruption caused by
the anchoring process
While the company has specialised in anchoring systems designed
for marine farms they believe that there is potential for use of the new system
to be extended to marinas and moorings where boats could be secured more safely
than with existing conventional anchoring systems.
Ideas for classroom use
The ongoing demand for improved productivity has stimulated continual innovation
in products and processes in the traditional area of land-based farming. This
article shows the less well known area of marine farming to be equally rich
in opportunities for innovation and growth.
1. Paua is one of our most valuable seafood resources, but harvesting of this
species in the wild has been restricted to ensure sustainabilty. The development
of efficient marine farming techniques and processes has opened up the possibility
of rapid market growth. Looking at the implications of this type of technological
growth provides an excellent topic for classroom discussion.
2. Getting New Zealand `Golden oysters' onto the menu in international oyster
bars has been the goal of a carefully planned and managed NZ research and development
project. Once the success of the new breeding technology which was necessary
had been confirmed the process of scale-up to commercial production could be
addressed. What issues would have to be considered during this part of the process?
3. The rapid increase in deep-water marine farming around the coast of NZ can
provide a meaningful context for classroom technological activity in many schools.
4. The recent development of the diverless spiral anchor system provides an
example of a technological innovation which has clearly exceeded the minimum
requirements of the initial brief. Not only has the need for safety been effectively
addressed in the system produced, it is more environmentally friendly and cost-effective
to install than the systems it will replace. It is suggested that the system
has the potential to be used in moorings and marinas. This opportunity could
be explored in a local context.
