Potential techniques for ageing paua New Zealand Fisheries Assessment Report 2015/69 R. Naylor H. Neil J.C. Turnbull T. Max D. Fu ISSN 1179-5352 (online) ISBN 978-1-77665-095-8 (online) November 2015 Requests for further copies should be directed to: Publications Logistics Officer Ministry for Primary Industries PO Box 2526 WELLINGTON 6140 Email:
[email protected] Telephone: 0800 00 83 33 Facsimile: 04-894 0300 This publication is also available on the Ministry for Primary Industries websites at: http://www.mpi.govt.nz/news-resources/publications.aspx http://fs.fish.govt.nz go to Document library/Research reports © Crown Copyright - Ministry for Primary Industries TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 1. INTRODUCTION 2 2. METHODS 2 2.1 Radiocarbon analysis 2 2.2 Oxygen isotope analysis 2 2.3 Protein layers 3 2.4 Effectiveness of techniques 3 3. RESULTS 4 3.1 Age estimates 4 3.2 Relationships between age estimates 6 4. DISCUSSION 7 5. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 7 6. REFERENCES 7 Appendix 1: Vertical cross sections of historic shells A, B, C, and D. 9 Appendix 2: Precision Of Mass Spectrometer Measurements 10 Appendix 3: Oxygen Isotope Results Tables 11 Appendix 4: Results Of Radiocarbon Analysis Of Paua (Haliotis Iris) Shell 13 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Naylor, R.; Neil, H.; Turnbull, J.C.; Max, T.; Fu, D. (2015). Potential techniques for ageing paua. New Zealand Fisheries Assessment Report 2015/69. 21 p. Several techniques to estimate age in paua have recently been investigated, including the counting of protein layers in the shell, oxygen isotope ratio techniques and radiocarbon dating.