New Zealand''s Seafood Industry Council (Seafic) and the Crown Crop & Food Research agency have set up Seafood Innovations Ltd to develop the seafood industry''s value-added strategy.
It will build on the work of the Foundation for Research and Technology which funds research projects, according to Owen Symmans, chief executive of the Wellington-based Seafic.
A statement said this is the first major industry initiative in the value-added sector for fisheries and aquaculture. The focus will be on increasing the value of existing harvests, reducing harvesting and processing costs and enhancing consumer driven products. "The seafood industry spends about $NZ20 million (NZ$1 = 0.54€) on research annually," he told World Fishing, "but that's largely around stock assessment and sustainability issues. There's been very little industry-wide research into the value-added side of the industry, particularly if you compare seafood with other New Zealand primary industries such as dairy, sheepmeat, beef and horticulture.
"Under our new initiative, the Foundation for Research and Technology will contribute 50 per cent funding, Crop and Food Research 20 per cent and the industry partners 30 per cent."
Meanwhile, writing a guest editorial in the New Zealand Seafood Industry Council's monthly magazine recently, the ceo of Crop and Food Research, Paul Tocker, science and business need to work together so that seafood gets to the market fresher and copy the agricultural sector to add value so raw materials are worth more when they go offshore.
NZ's huge investment has been made in science and technology throughout New Zealand but this has largely passed seafood by, he added.
