The New Zealand Government's aquaculture strategy could increase profits from Greenshell mussels to NZD 1 billion (EUR 552 million - USD 588 million) per year.
Photo: Dmitry Naumov / Adobe Stock.
New Zealand's commitment to aquaculture continues. Shane Jones, Minister for Oceans and Fisheries, announced the Coalition Government is investing in a mussel spat project to increase the survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry.
Enabling cost-effective feeding and culture for New Zealand's mussel aquaculture industry, the project will develop an innovative nursery culture system that will promote the growth of mussels at their most vulnerable stage. "This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity," said Jones.
This initiative joins others like the super snapper project or plans such as those in the Southland or Waikato regions that New Zealand's national and regional authorities are implementing to boost aquaculture in the country.
Announcing the Government's support for the mussel spat project, the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries said that the industry in New Zealand currently relies heavily on wild-caught mussels, which have extremely low survival rates.
"Less than 5 per cent of wild-caught spat survives after being transferred to mussel farms, forgoing millions in lost production each year. This project aims to grow spat to a robust size before they are transferred," Shane Jones explained.
"Significant areas of consented mussel farming space are vacant, in part due to the spat supply issue," he added. "This project will address those spat supply issues which are severely restricting the productivity and growth of the industry in New Zealand."
In terms of funding, the New Zealand Government will co-invest NZD 410,000 (EUR 226,000 - USD 241,000) over three years in the NZD 1.04 million (EUR 575,000 - USD 611,000) project, which will be led by the Marine Farming Association in partnership with Aquaculture New Zealand, Coromandel Marine Farmers' Association, University of Auckland, Greenshell Spat Co, and Sanford.
"This project could be key to a more sustainable industry and has the potential to lift the sales revenue of our mussels by tens of millions of dollars per year," highlighted Minister Jones.
The Coalition Government's aquaculture strategy in New Zealand aims to triple aquaculture sales revenue to NZD 3 billion (EUR 1.65 billion - USD 1.76 billion) by 2035. This includes increasing Greenshell mussel revenues to NZD 1 billion (EUR 552 million - USD 588 million) per year.