Professional Documents
Culture Documents
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005
$5.00
Seahorse farms
- conserve wild stocks
Breakthrough
in breeding
shortfin eels
The latest
news and views
CONTENTS
10
13
EDITORIAL
Lack of access to coastal space hampers growth
NEWS
A look at whats happening in the industry
SEPTEMB
ER/OCTO
BER 2005
$5.00
Seahor
Cover photo
courtesy of The
Seahorse Farm
- conserverse farms
wild stocks
Breakt
hrou
in bree gh
shortfi ding
n eels
The lat
news
and vieest
ws
An informative journal
for the aquaculture industry
Published by:
VIP PUBLICATIONS LTD
4 Prince Regent Drive,
Half Moon Bay, Pakuranga 1706
Ph 09 533 4336 Fax 09 533 4337
email keith@skipper.co.nz
advertising@skipper.co.nz
www.nzaquaculture.co.nz
ASSISTANT EDITOR:
Mark Barratt-Boyes
CONTRIBUTORS:
Andrew Morgan, Scott Peddie,
Charles Mitchell, Tagried Kurwie,
David Cooper
ADVERTISING:
Hamish Stewart
DESIGNER:
Rachel Walker
PRE PRESS/CTP:
BPG Digital
PRINTERS:
Business Print Group
DISTRIBUTION:
By subscription
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relevant to the aquaculture industry are welcomed and industry participants are especially encouraged to contribute. Articles and information printed in
New Zealand Aquaculture do not necessarily reflect the opinions or formal position or the publishers unless otherwise indicated. All material published in
New Zealand Aquaculture is done so with all due care as regards to accuracy and factual content, however, the publishers cannot accept responsibility
for any errors and omissions which may occur. New Zealand Aquaculture is produced bi-monthly.
NZ AQUACULTURE SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 05
EDITORIAL
without accountability.
The cost of processing aquaculture applications and
developing AMAs is far beyond what ratepayers could
reasonably be expected to fund, we are told. Hence
procrastination reigns.
In saying this, the existing industry is very resilient, as the
majority of participants are dedicated entrepreneurs who
have committed their personal resources to invest in the
industry. Research has quietly progressed, with a recent
success being the ability to breed eels in captivity. This is the
first major step towards developing a new billion-dollar
industry in this country. To progress it will need the
confidence of investors to commit resources to the ongoing
development of breeding and growing eels to market size
in captivity.
This will not happen unless local authorities and the
government demonstrate sound leadership in facilitating a
cost-effective process to develop AMAs and farming sites.
Aquaculture has already proven itself to be an
environmentally friendly tourist attraction.The future
potential of this to grow is once again only constrained by
our ability to have access to water and coastal space.
On a recent visit to Napier we visited The Seahorse Farm,
where once again the mix of tourism and sound commercial
marketing is proving to be a success story for both the
operators and the local community.
While it is our intention to showcase the aquaculture
industry, we cannot do it alone. One of the problems facing us
all is the age-old shyness of not wanting to talk about
ourselves. If we are to change public perception and negative
attitudes towards aquaculture, we must be seen to be
promoting ourselves as good citizens within the community,
and a valuable asset to New Zealand. If you have a
story to tell, please contact the editor.
ac
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R/OCTOBE
R 2005
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Seahors
- conserverse farms
wild stocks
Breakt
hrou
in bree gh
shortfi ding
n eels
The lat
news
and vieest
ws
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 05 NZ AQUACULTURE
NEWS
IRONSAND MINING
COULD THREATEN
MUSSELS
The New Zealand Greenshell mussel
industry has reacted strongly to an
announcement that a company is to prospect
for black ironsands along the western coast
of the North Island.
Iron Ore NZ Ltds permit covers 1270km
of seabed, and initial prospecting started in
July. If the prospecting confirmed sufficient
material, an offshore ironsand mining industry
could become established.
Lorna Holton, the Executive Officer of the
New Zealand Mussel Industry Council, says
prospecting and large-scale ironsand mining
along the seabed from Taranaki to north of
Kaipara could devastate the industry, which
produces 78,000 tonnes of farmed mussels
worth about $250 million each year.
Production is expected to reach 100,000
tonnes by 2010.
The industry relies on wild mussel spat,
with over 80 percent of the juvenile mussel
stock coming from Ninety Mile Beach, and is
vulnerable to environmental damage that
occurs along the seafloor.
Holton says that in March the council
commissioned a report from the National
Institute for Water and Atmospheric
Research on the sensitive and complex
marine environment along the western
coast of the North Island.The report
identified several wild adult mussel beds up
to 1km offshore in depths up to 30m from
Manukau Harbour north to North Cape. It
is highly likely these adult populations are
NZ AQUACULTURE SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 05
ac
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 05 NZ AQUACULTURE
FARMING SEAHORSES
an environmental saviour
PHOTOS BY KEITH INGRAM & COURTESY OF THE SEAHORSE FARM
BY KEITH INGRAM
The nursery
Juvenile seahorses
n recent years the demand for seahorses to satisfy the evergrowing Chinese medicinal market has cause huge local
depletions worldwide of this friendly critter of the sea.
Even our local waters are not exempt, as a steady private
market practice has been happening under our very noses for
years.With the increase in new arrivals to New Zealand, many
of these folk have recognised an opportunity to catch and
quietly export them as dried seahorses.The sad part about this
is that while customs and other management agencies knew it
was happening - no one recognised the risk.This factor and
recent focus on the CITES agreement encouraged us to look
deeper at the opportunity to farm seahorses as a viable
aquaculture activity.
Situated on the southern end of Napiers Marine Parade as
one heads towards Clive, in what was an old wool scourers
building, is one of New Zealands two seahorse farms.
It is owned and operated by HBA Aquaculture Ltd, who
originally developed the site in 1996 for on-growing wild rock
lobsters.The spiny red lobster pueruli (Jasus edwardsii) was
NZ AQUACULTURE SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 05
Spiky and
Yellish are two
of the popular
resident
critters
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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 05 NZ AQUACULTURE
Adults on
display
of which three-quarters are the potbelly variety and the rest kuda.
Broodstock from mature seahorses are kept separate and are
all over 12 months old.The potbelly seahorse can live to 10
years in the wild and breed three times a year, although in
captivity they have a life expectancy of around six years.
The female produces the eggs, and when she is ready she
releases a chemical scent into the water to tell the male that
she is hot to trot.
On receiving this scent, the males start displaying and strutting
their stuff, after which she will choose her mate. During the
two-day courtship the male opens the top of his pouch and the
female sits on it and injects the eggs during an upward mating
spiral. He then fertilises the eggs internally, and around 30 to 35
days later he gives birth to up to 900 live babies, or fry.
These are then transferred to the nursery for on-growing.
ac
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NZ AQUACULTURE SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 05
Dr Tagried
Kurwie
ac
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Five years of study into the New Zealand short-finned eel has
yielded a rich reward for Dr Tagried Kurwie and her team at
Mahurangi Technical Institute.
She has finally achieved her goal ofsuccessfully breeding the
New Zealand shortfin eel,Anguilla australis, repeatedly producing
viable ova and hatching them in commercial quantities.
In some ways it has been a labour of love, for she leaves her
husband and three sons behind in England several times a year
to fly to New Zealand and lead the research at the institute.
Dr Kurwie emigrated to New Zealand with her family in
1997 after fleeing Saddam Husseins regime in Iraq. She earned
her doctorate at Aston University in Birmingham in fish
nutrition, in particular the common carp, salmon and rainbow
trout.Tagried is now based in England, and leaves her husband
and family several times a year to fly to New Zealand for
extended periods each eel season.
Japanese aquaculture researchers had previously tried to
breed freshwater eels. In Japan they were fed with dried shark
eggs. It comes as no surprise to hear that these are very
difficult to obtain in New Zealand, so they had to try a
different formula.They experimented with different food
products but found the eels difficult to keep alive, due to the
shape of their mouths.
Another problem was trying to synchronise male and female
eels so they were both sexually productive at the same time. It
took two years to achieve this breakthrough, but last year they
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 05 NZ AQUACULTURE
BREAKTHROUGH
FROM LEFT:
David
Cooper,
Dr Tagried
Kurwie and
Kim Pierce
10
NZ AQUACULTURE SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 05
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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 05 NZ AQUACULTURE
11
THE IMPORTANCE OF
Figure 1: Examples of critical control points and the preventative actions required
12
NZ AQUACULTURE SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 05
A farmer
disinfects his
waterproof
clothing
before
entering a
marine
farming unit.
Dr Mark
Sheppard,
Sakana
Veterinary
Services Ltd,
Canada
ac
UNISEAL
RECORD KEEPING
Comprehensive records should be kept containing details of
the cleaning and disinfection procedures undertaken (ie the
staff involved, timing, chemicals used and outcomes).This stage
is essential to ensure effective auditing.
CLEANING AND DISINFECTING
Effective cleaning and disinfecting procedures are central to a
good biosecurity programme.As the efficacy of a disinfectant is
markedly reduced in the presence of organic matter, the first
step is always to thoroughly clean surfaces and equipment with
an appropriate detergent. Detergents work by
wettening - decreasing surface tension
dispersing - split up dirt particles
emulsifying - floating oil and fat
suspending - floating dirt particles
carrying - of the dirt to waste, and
sequestring - dissolving salts.
As a rule of thumb, removing dirt and debris allows for an
85 percent reduction in the number of micro-organisms
present in any given situation. Once cleaning has taken place,
the disinfectant can act effectively to remove the remaining
pathogens.The mode of action of the disinfectant depends on
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PLEASE CONTACT:
SHIPWRIGHT
AGENCIES LIMITED
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NZ AQUACULTURE SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 05
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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 05 NZ AQUACULTURE
15
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