Five New Zealand aquaculture projects have been given grants by the Sustainable Farming Fund.
Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy said, “New Zealand seafood is a premium product and it’s great to see groups looking to improve their production and value by developing aquaculture.”
The projects, commencing on 1 July 2013 and running for between one and three years, include $119,420 for Koura Aquaculture, by Wai-Koura South; $600,000 for Farming Premium Salmon, by the Salmon Improvement Group; $20,000 for Management of the GLM9 Greenlipped Mussel Spat Resource, by GML9 Advisory Group; $600,000 for Tuna (Shortfin-eel) Aquaculture, by Te Ohu Tiaki o Rangitane Te Ika a Mauri Trust (MIO); and $115,686 for Aquaculture custom bacterial vaccines, by Aquaculture New Zealand.
Mr Guy said that addressing information gaps is a focus for four of the projects and will include investigating how to reduce skeletal deformities in farmed salmon, develop best-practice guides for raising freshwater crayfish and manage the wild greenlipped mussel spat resource.
The eel project will focus on learning more about young glass short-fin eels so that they can be raised successfully and sustainably, and the other project will focus on developing New Zealand’s capability with regards to manufacturing vaccines for Chinook salmon.
