ISSUE 10 ■ MARCH/APRIL 2006 $5.00

SEASEA ANEMONESANEMONES AA DANGERDANGER TOTO MARINEMARINE FARMERSFARMERS CARPCARP BREEDINGBREEDING HASHAS AA SILVERSILVER LININGLINING CONTENTS

4911

3 EDITORIAL Are our politicians naturally stupid?

4 IS THERE VALUE IN MUSSEL FAECES? Mussel farm waste could nourish sea cucumbers

6 ADVANCEMENTS IN FISH VACCINE DEVELOPMENT Vaccines are an important tool for finfish health

9 RESEARCH COULD TURN WASTE INTO WHITEBAIT Whitebait thrive on fish food from agricultural waste

10 CARP BREEDING PROGRAMME HAS A SILVER LINING Silver carp have great potential

11 BLUE STRIPED SEA ANEMONE: A SAFETY ISSUE Toxins a problem for mussel harvesters

12 NEWS A look at what’s happening in the industry ISS UE 10 ■ MAR CH/APR IL 2006

$5.00 15 MAORI AQUACULTURE SETTLEMENT – HANDOUT OR PALM OFF? New areas essential for iwi aquaculture to thrive ON THE COVER: A healthy adult whitebait along with juveniles

Photo by Charles Mitchell

S EA A NEMO A DA ONES MA NGER ARINE R TO E FAR MERS CA S H RP B AS A REED SILV DING ER LI INING

EDITOR: MANAGER: Keith Ingram Vivienne Ingram ASSISTANT EDITOR: ADVERTISING: ISSN 1176-5402 ISSN 1176-8657 (web) Mark Barratt-Boyes Hamish Stewart An informative journal CONTRIBUTORS: DESIGNER: Rachel Walker for the aquaculture industry Serean Adams, Dr Guy Carton, Published by: David Cooper, Dr Joyce Evans, Kevin PRE PRESS/CTP: BPG Digital VIP PUBLICATIONS LTD Heasman, Dr Phillip Klesius, Bill Rucks, PRINTERS: Business Print Group 4 Prince Regent Drive, Dr Craig Shoemaker, Matthew Slater DISTRIBUTION: By subscription Half Moon Bay, Pakuranga 1706 Ph 09 533 4336 Fax 09 533 4337 General: Reproduction of articles and materials published in New Zealand Aquaculture in whole or part, is permitted provided the source and author(s) are acknowledged. However, all photographic material is copyright and written permission to reproduce in any shape or form is required. Contributions of a nature email [email protected] relevant to the aquaculture industry are welcomed and industry participants are especially encouraged to contribute. Articles and information printed in [email protected] 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 www.nzaquaculture.co.nz for any errors and omissions which may occur. New Zealand Aquaculture is produced bi-monthly.

2 ■ NZ AQUACULTURE MARCH/APRIL 06 EDITORIAL BY KEITH INGRAM Are our politicians NATURALLY STUPID?

ast issue of Aquaculture New Zealand we featured the latest marine invader, Styela clava, or the club tunicate Lsea squirt so readers could identify them, as our more recent photographs were more realistic than the dry offerings that have been published widely elsewhere. Unfortunately, we must now report that this illegal alien has now spread extensively throughout the Hauraki Gulf, and its sharing ideas that possible eradication appears no longer to be an option. we as a collective As we speak, Biosecurity New Zealand is endeavouring to industry can move ahead. develop a management plan to try and contain this critter to Unfortunately, the heads in the Beehive have not the Hauraki Gulf.Any such plan will require the commitment of acknowledged the benefits that this industry can contribute to the marine transport industry, fishing vessels, the aquaculture the New Zealand economy.While they pay lip service to the industry and pleasure craft users. It is a difficult task. industry, any real evidence of their commitment to ensure that New Zealand Aquaculture magazine thanks the aquaculture the industry moves forward seems lacking. industry in the Hauraki Gulf for their prompt reporting once Clearly our politicians need to make decisions in relation to the sea squirt was identified and its on-going support in trying the process of aquaculture management areas and the to manage the organism. Resource Management Act. Our investigation has confirmed that the sea squirt is It never ceases to amaze me when I hear stories from extensively in the Tamaki River, with the mooring service dedicated aquaculture farmers who want to develop and operator reporting many lost moorings because the single-float progress their businesses to hear of their frustrations and the is now being pulled down by the weight of sea squirts. Sea huge costs incurred in trying to run their business. It is no squirts have also been identified in the marinas and heavy wonder that many of these operators, with hard-learnt New mooring areas. Zealand skills in aquaculture, are heading to Australia. While its future long-term impact on the aquaculture If one thinks back, would our farming industry be what it is industry remains unknown, clearly the addition of this marine today if it had had to deal with the Resource Management Act organism adding weight to mussel lines and competing for as we know it today. I think not. photo-plankton in the water will have an effect. Recently I Meanwhile, across the Tasman, state authorities and local caught some scallops with dreaded sea squirts attached.What politicians are not only welcoming New Zealand expertise and the long-term impact on scallops will be remains unknown.We Kiwi ingenuity, they are encouraging it to the level where they will report more on this as it comes to hand. are assisting applications through the process in what can only On a positive note, we must acknowledge the industry’s be described as an amazingly short time.A recent new acceptance of New Zealand Aquaculture magazine.We are operator from New Zealand in South Australia advised us that mindful of our responsibility to publish quality, informative from the time he saw an opportunity and made that first information, and are pleased to hear the positive feedback we important enquiry to the time he had all the resource have received to date from aquaculture participants, because it approvals in his hand took six months. No wonder these is only through this feedback can we measure the standard and people are happy to invest in Australia. level of information you are seeking. One shies away from suggesting that the Australians are In saying this, we are here to support the industry and it is smarter than us. Are our skills and knowledge being only with your support of providing good information and lost because our politicians are being so stupid? ac

SUBSCRIBE NOW TO

Name ______■ $30.00 Address ______Postal code ______for 6 issues Email ______GST No: ■ Enclose a cheque for ______■ Visa/Mastercard/Bankcard (only) ______68-684-757 Post to: Card Number ______VIP Publications Ltd, Card Name ______4 Prince Regent Drive, Signature ______Expiry date ——/—— Half Moon Bay, Auckland, 1706

MARCH/APRIL 06 NZ AQUACULTURE ■ 3 IS THERE VALUE in mussel faeces? BY MATTHEW SLATER AND DR GUY CARTON LEIGH MARINE LABORATORY, UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND

ith mussel farms covering more than 5000ha of New Zealand’s coastal waters, and with considerable expansion underway, the Sea cucumber grazing W on mussel farm-impacted environmental impact of farming is receiving increasing sediments in a laboratory tank attention in the media and among the public. While mussel aquaculture is widely considered one of the most sustainable forms of aquaculture, it has been shown that the seafloor directly beneath farms is degraded by increased sedimentation, mainly in the form of mussel faeces and pseudofaeces. BELOW: Each experimental While biologists have repeatedly highlighted the animal is photo- consequences of this faecal rain on the seafloor, no identified.identified. UniqueUnique pigmentation consideration has been given to the potential economic value allows individual of this waste stream.This is the subject of research currently animals to be identifiedidentified andand theirtheir being undertaken at the Leigh Marine Laboratory. growth to be The two aims of the project are to reduce the impact of tracked mussel farming on the local sea floor, and to produce a valuable secondary crop. Initial trials have focussed on the common New Zealand sea cucumber Stichopus mollis, a deposit feeder frequently found on many sub-tidal reefs in New Zealand. It is hoped that these animals will consume mussel waste directly beneath the farms, and in the process produce a valuable secondary crop that in some instances may even exceed the value of the farmed mussels. made up of mussel faeces and pseudofaeces. The research is primarily focussed on determining the They consume large amounts of impacted sediments and are growth and survivorship of caged sea cucumbers under farms, active bioturbators of the sediment surface. Combined, the and secondly, laboratory experiments that analyse the effects farm growth and the success of the laboratory-based feeding of sea cucumber grazing on pure mussel waste. experiments indicate that the common sea cucumber is well Animals have been caged at varying densities beneath mussel suited to polyculture with mussel farms in New Zealand coastal farms to determine potential carrying capacity, and these waters.These results may be extended to other aquaculture capacities have also been compared to observed natural operations such as oyster farming and sea-caged finfish. densities as determined by reef surveys. Initial results show The caging of sea cucumbers under farms is probably excellent survival and good growth of the farmed animals. In impractical below an operating mussel farm, and may not be laboratory experiments, the sea cucumbers can be maintained warranted, as they appear to have relatively low rates of on a diet consisting exclusively of heavily impacted sediments movement.

Insulated Thermal Covers ■ Customised product completed to client requirements ■ Reflect heat and insulate fish or shellfish products ■ Improves quality control VIP.AC06 71B PATIKI RD, PO BOX 19111, AVONDALE, NEW ZEALAND Ph: 09-820 0744 Fax: 09-820 0746 Email: [email protected] Website: www.covertex.co.nz

4 ■ NZ AQUACULTURE MARCH/APRIL 06 The sea cucumbers appear to confine themselves to the Researchers Dr Guy Carton impacted area immediately around the farm, where they have and Matthew access to a rich food source.While promising, the results raise Slater with sea cucumbers questions about the practicality of farming and harvesting the animals, and perhaps more importantly, the legislative framework surrounding the harvesting of polycultured crops from under farmed areas. Can a reliable artificial seed source be established to seed sea cucumbers under farms? Should animals seeded and collected from under farms be excluded from the quota management system? Can other commercial operators be discouraged from removing the polycultured animals from the seafloor below the farms? Such practical hurdles will need to be overcome if a commercially viable industry is to develop. However, given the demand for the product throughout Asia, the potential rewards clearly exist. and methods to ensure high-value products such as gravid The sea cucumber fishery in New Zealand is as yet poorly gonads can be included in the harvest, and the development of developed.A small fishery is supported by local demand in the appropriate processing capacity. Auckland region, where collected specimens are primarily sold Polyculture can be the most sustainable and profitable as live seafood. Sporadic fisheries existed in the Marlborough approach in aquaculture. Environmental impacts and concerns Sounds and Fiordland between 1991 and 2003, but exports are dealt with while waste products are transformed into have rarely exceeded more than a few tonnes per year of valuable secondary crops.With legislative and industry dried sea cucumber. support, sea cucumbers farmed and harvested under mussel Despite potential returns of up to $18 per kilo green weight, farms may become an excellent example of large-scale the majority of S mollis total allowable catch is taken as by- polyculture in conjunction with a successful established catch in shallow trawls and shellfish dredges and is discarded aquaculture industry. rather than being processed.The key to developing a profitable Many thanks to Kennedy Bay Mussel Farms for access industry will be improved knowledge of optimal harvest times and logistical support. ac VIP.AC06

MARCH/APRIL 06 NZ AQUACULTURE ■ 5 ADVANCEMENTS IN fish vaccine development

BY DR PHILLIP KLESIUS, DR JOYCE EVANS AND DR CRAIG SHOEMAKER (United States Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service, Aquatic Animal Health Research Laboratory, AL and Chestertown, MD)

uring the past decade, aquaculture production The aquaculture industry has made remarkable has significantly increased in many parts of the biotechnological advancements in the past five years.These Dworld. Seafood provides 16 percent of the animal advancements in areas such as fish vaccines are necessary to protein consumed by humans. From 1992 to 2001, the United meet the rapid growth of the aquaculture industry worldwide. Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reported The use of vaccines for humans, food animals and pets to that total seafood supply increased by 29.8 percent, whereas prevent disease is a common practice. Similar biotechnological the supply of wild-captured fish increased by only 8.3 percent. advancements in the development of efficacious fish vaccines The FAO also reported that global aquaculture is increasing by for disease prevention in cultured fish are on the rise. 11 percent per year and is the world’s fastest growing food- From 1976 to the present, the number of commercially producing sector. available, safe and efficacious fish vaccines has increased from The incidence and emergence of new infectious diseases has one to more than 14.The majority of these vaccines are to almost paralleled the growth of the aquaculture industry.The prevent bacterial diseases. However, several vaccines are also increasing impact of infectious diseases on production is likely available to prevent viral diseases. to be the result of sub-optimal production husbandry The majority of the available bacterial vaccines are of the practices, intensive culture at high fish densities, the lack of killed type (ie the infectious agent(s) are inactivated or killed). health management practices and the introduction of sick fish Killed vaccines are primarily administered by injection and the to healthy populations. duration of their protection may be limited.This method of Immuno- The movement of fish, eggs and genetic material from immunisation is costly because of the need to handle and fluorescent country to country has resulted in the introduction of new inject each fish. antibody stained Edwardsiella diseases for which fish have little or no resistance.The overall ictaluri (red) and Flavobacterium economic impact of fish diseases is difficult to determine, but KILLED STREPTOCOCCAL columnare may be as high as 10 to 15 percent of the total value of fish VACCINES (green). production worldwide. Streptococcus iniae and Streptococcus agalactiae are major (Courtesy of Dr Certain diseases may destroy the entire production chain, pathogens that cause serious economic losses in tilapia and Victor Panagala, USDA, ARS, and often result in the destruction of healthy fish in the numerous species of freshwater, marine and estuarine fish Aquatic Animal affected area in an effort to control the epizootic from worldwide. Health Research Laboratory) spreading to other regions or countries. Efficacious S iniae (US patent 6,379,677 B1) and S agalactiae (patent pending) vaccines were developed and patented by the Agricultural Research Service,Aquatic Animal Health Research Laboratory at Auburn,AL and Chestertown, MD using formalin-killed cells and concentrated extra-cellular products. A specific antibody response appears to confer protection for both the S iniae and S agalactiae vaccines.The finding that extra-cellular products of these Gram-positive streptococci are important immunogens that confer protective immunity following immunisation is a notable advancement in the development of efficacious killed vaccines.

ATTENUATED VACCINES The development of attenuated bacterial vaccines was a biotechnological breakthrough.Attenuated vaccines are made by changing virulent pathogens so they retain the ability to infect and cause the host to mount an effective immune response without causing mortality, adverse reactions or reverting to the virulent form. Attenuated vaccines can be successfully administered by bath immersion, a cost-effective method of mass immunisation of large numbers of fish. Equally important, attenuated vaccines

6 ■ NZ AQUACULTURE MARCH/APRIL 06 can be successfully used to immunise fingerlings and fry as young as seven to 10 days after hatching.This immunisation will last the life of their production cycle, as opposed to a shorter duration of about six months for a killed vaccine. Examples of the first US-licensed attenuated bacterial vaccines are those against enteric septicemia of catfish (ESC) and columnaris disease of catfish.These attenuated vaccines were developed and patented by the Agricultural Research Service, USDA,Aquatic Animal Health Research Laboratory at Auburn,AL (US patents 6,019,981 and 6,881,412). Edwardsiella ictaluri, the causative agent of ESC, costs the catfish industry about US$50-60 million annually. Columnaris disease caused by the bacterium Flavobacterium columnare costs the catfish industry about $40 million annually. Both diseases are generally found together, compounding these industry losses.The DNA VACCINES ESC immunised channel catfish Agricultural Research Service, USDA, licensed both vaccines to Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) vaccination is another example (ARS photo Intervet, Inc, Millsboro, DE which commercialised the vaccines. of a biotechnological advancement to protect fish from news story, Agricultural The ESC and columnaris vaccines are commercially pathogens.The basis of a DNA vaccine is the delivery of a Research, labeled Aquavac-ESC® and Aquavac-COL, respectively.The gene encoding for a protective vaccine antigen.The vaccine May 2005) economic impact of the ESC vaccine is an increase of gene is expressed by the host muscle cells to produce the producer profit by $1706 per acre and a significant vaccine antigen, which in turn stimulates the host immune reduction in loss due to disease.The results show that both system to provide protection against the pathogen. vaccines significantly increased the survival of the immunised channel catfish. CONTINUED

VIP.AC04

MARCH/APRIL 06 NZ AQUACULTURE ■ 7 Intramuscular injection of DNA vaccines against the major of the vaccine’s components by digestive enzymatic function and viral diseases of salmon, such as infectious hematopoietic decreases the gastric pH of the fish intestine. necrosis virus (IHNV) and viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus Currently, the ARS patented Streptococcus iniae vaccine (VHSV) has resulted in protection in laboratory trials. (US patent 6,379,677 B1) was incorporated into Oralject Very limited success has been reported for bacterial pathogens and fed to tilapia.The S iniae Oralject vaccine was with DNA vaccines. Denmark and Canada have allowed the efficacious following challenge with live S iniae in the oral- initiation of field tests to determine the usefulness and safety of immunised tilapia. DNA vaccines against fish viral diseases in the aquaculture setting. VACCINATION AS PART IN OVO AND ORAL VACCINATION OF A MANAGEMENT PLAN Different methods of administration for mass vaccination can The practice of culturing finfish is dependent on the be employed to maximise the protection conferred by employment of health management and biosecurity measures different vaccine types. In ovo immunisation of channel catfish in which vaccination is an integral tool for the producer.Thus, eggs (US patent 6,153,202) with attenuated ESC vaccine vaccines are a management tool in aquatic animal health resulted in protection against ESC in fingerlings. management and biosecurity plans to prevent disease This is the earliest life stage at which fish have been outbreaks and the introduction of economically devastating successfully immunised with an attenuated vaccine.The pathogens into the producer facilities. Increased global trade of commercial use of in ovo immunisation would allow for a aquaculture products depends on the continued advancement very cost-effective method of mass vaccinating fish. of these and other such biotechnical contributions. Oral immunisation is also a recent biotechnological advancement.Vaccines must be delivered on a mass scale to be ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS effective, thus oral vaccination, like in ovo vaccination, is appealing. This paper originally appeared in Aquaculture Health The basis of oral vaccination is to protect the vaccine International. See www.aquaculturehealth.com. Reproduced components from destruction by the fish digestive tract so with permission.The authors wish to acknowledge Laura that the antigens are able to penetrate the intestinal lining and McGinnis and Lisa Biggar for their helpful editorial stimulate an immune response. assistance.The use of a trade or manufacturer’s name does PerOs Technologies,Inc, of St Nicolas, Canada, has developed not imply endorsement by the US Department of its patented OraljectTM technology that prevents the degradation Agriculture. ac VIP.AC10

VIP.AC01

8 ■ NZ AQUACULTURE MARCH/APRIL 06 Research could turn WASTE INTO WHITEBAIT

BY THE FOUNDATION FOR RESEARCH, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

ine years of research could help solve two “All kinds of organic waste can be apparently unrelated problems - New Zealand’s used to produce food for plankton, Ndepleted whitebait stocks, and the impact of an because they feed on the bacteria and increasing volume of waste effluent from agriculture. algae produced during the breakdown Since 1997, Charles Mitchell has invested thousands of dollars of wastes in water.” into researching the aquaculture of whitebait, developing a To develop captive strains of local “laboratory” of six original design ponds on a coastal property planktonic organisms suitable for near Raglan Harbour naturally powered by gravity flow and tidal larval fish food, Mitchell has used the energy to manage about 8500 tonnes of water.The ponds, which foundation’s investment to support a are also home to eels and mullet, use natural tidal triggers for search of sewage effluent ponds, stagnant high tidal rock pools Charles Mitchell whitebait spawning activity and egg deposition. and other fertile places for zooplankton species potentially Mitchell, a fisheries consultant with 31 years experience, valuable for aquaculture. So far three species have proven remains the only person in New Zealand to artificially breed successful under intensive culture. whitebait, or inanga, and is now routinely spawning large shoals. “With the food supplies flowing, this year we achieved a 25 Whitebait are one of the highest value seafoods on the New percent increase in the length of the whitebait within four days Zealand market, fetching up to $250 per kilo in some seasons before they ate everything and we had to release.This strategy and seldom selling for less than $100 per kilo. has the potential to bypass the extremely high early larval Over 50,000 adult whitebait brood stock were spawned mortality rate.” repeatedly between May and October 2005, resulting in some While there is a way to go before proof of concept is 250 million whitebait larvae being released into Raglan Harbour established, results to date leave Mitchell optimistic.After seven from June until September. generations, his captive breeding whitebait are growing larger and Whitebait grow rapidly in the sea, making a 430-fold weight producing more than three times the number of eggs hatched by gain in three to five months before they return to coastal their counterparts in the wild. waterways.“We can reliably breed them in bulk with low labour Part of the research investment from the foundation is to be inputs, and enough whitebait return to the ponds each year from used to refine a method of fish ear bone tagging to identify which fresh hatched larval releases to provide a population growth of whitebait returning to the ponds have originated from the around 25 percent per annum. But the big barrier to a farmed stock. commercially viable whitebait industry is the very high natural While developing a new commercial aquaculture industry is a mortality rate of larvae.” top priority for Mitchell, he’s also aiming to improve the overall Mitchell says that in the wild fishery, over 99.5 percent of health of the whitebait fishery. He says catch quotas tend to be whitebait larvae die between hatching and returning from the sea. set on the numbers spawned in strong years, but these occur “What we are looking for are means of intervention and erratically, depending on weather conditions, meaning the domestication that will break that pattern. If we could improve population may be severely depleted in weaker years. survival to one or even two percent, our population could rapidly “Commercialisation must not mean over-exploitation of shift from biologically sustainable to economically sustainable.” native stocks. My research has the potential to provide the Research at Raglan suggests that improving harbour water know-how and the techniques to grow the native inanga quality and increasing the amount of feed available in the first few fishery within present intensive land use and to ensure it weeks of life is critical to boosting whitebait survival rates and is sustainable.” ultimately catch levels. Being able to manage pollution at the same time is another To achieve this goal, Mitchell has been trialling conversion of plus.“My research could offer the agriculture industry new ways agricultural waste into ultra low-cost, high quality fish food to to manage effluent, while also supporting a high value fishery.This feed the inanga larvae after hatching. project is high risk, truly unknown and applied to today’s issues. With an investment of around $80,000 over two years from Support from the foundation has been vital in helping me to the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, he has carry on.” been experimenting with waste yeast from a local winery, fish Ian Gray, a research and development project director working processing waste, chicken manure, horse manure, cow manure with Mitchell, says the work being done near Raglan has exciting slurry and chopped clover as test diets for farmed zooplankton potential for other aquaculture industries and for environmental to feed baby whitebait.Trolling the Internet for other feed ideas restoration.“He has built up a huge body of knowledge about also has him considering using algae slurry from advanced dairy restoring aquatic environments using native species and effluent treatment ponds to grow the plankton. natural forces, like tidal movement. ac

MARCH/APRIL 06 NZ AQUACULTURE ■ 9 CARP BREEDING PROGRAMME has a silver lining

BY DAVID COOPER, PROJECT MANAGER, MAHURANGI TECHNICAL INSTITUTE

he silver carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, has been successfully bred in New Zealand for the first Ttime in 20 years, thus saving the species from almost certainly disappearing from New Zealand. The aquaculture team at Mahurangi Technical Institute in Warkworth led by the chief aquaculture scientist, Dr Tagried Kurwie, assisted by technicians Adrian Paarman and Kim Pierce, has achieved two successful spawnings in their hatchery and now have several hundred thousand juveniles past the early critical stage, feeding and growing well. The broodstock was taken from the holding and conditioning ponds of New Zealand Waterways Restoration, which commissioned the breeding programme.At approximately two weeks of age the fry Warkworth, to mature in ponds. were returned to NZWR’s fish farm, also in Auckland University and later the Hawkes Bay Acclimatisation Society originally imported silver carp into New Zealand in the mid-1960s for evaluation.They have not been bred in New Zealand since the mid-1980s, which means that all the available stock is getting older and is in less than ideal condition. The fish are known to be a great tool for water quality management in natural waterways, as they are filter feeders that consume suspended algae, and they cannot breed in the wild in New Zealand. One of the areas they are therefore being considered for is the Rotorua lakes. Silver carp also hold great potential as a food fish for aquaculture.They are already grown for food in many countries, and their preference for eating phytoplankton must have a positive effect on production costs. The fish can grow as heavy as 20kg and have a life expectancy of 20 to 25 years. Spawning must be induced in laboratory conditions with the aid of hormones, and despite the fact that Dr Kurwie is very proficient in this technique with other species, notably eels and grass carp, she recently travelled to Hungary to confer with recognised world experts in this species. While she was there, she visited a government-owned hatchery breeding not only silver carp but also grass and common carp, as well as running two large-scale carp farms. “The Hungarians were very friendly and helpful, and I learned several tips and hints that have since been incorporated into our technique and helped us refine our process,” says Dr Kurwie. The MTI has made several unsuccessful attempts to breed them over the past few years, but the two successful spawnings will ensure the species will flourish in New Zealand, as the likelihood of being able to import any new stock is very low. In turn this means that the development of the VIP.AC01 species for fish farming becomes entirely possible. ac

10 ■ NZ AQUACULTURE MARCH/APRIL 06 BLUE STRIPED SEA ANEMONE: a safety issue for marine farms

BILL RUCKS AND KEVIN HEASMAN, CAWTHRON INSTITUTE

arine fouling is a perennial problem on anything kept in the sea for long periods: Mboats, port structures and marine farms. Apart from the obvious physical problems caused by fouling, some fouling organisms constitute a potential danger for aquaculture workers, as the animals may be stimulated to release toxic substances when disturbed during routine marine farm work. One such potentially toxic organism is the blue striped sea anemone.An understanding of the hazard presented by this animal, plus how to avoid and treat its effects, will enhance worker safety and possibly improve productivity. Blue Striped The blue striped sea anemone belongs to the phylum Sea Anemone Cnidaria, which also includes jellyfish and corals.All cnidarians share a similar basic body design: a bag whose open end forms the mouth.The majority of species have both a sessile stage, attached to a substrate, and a motile stage where they move INDUSTRY WORKERS SHOULD BE about. Most species exhibit a preference for one stage or the INFORMED OF THIS POTENTIAL other: anemones show a dominance of the sessile stage. HAZARD AND KNOW HOW TO Sea anemones occur throughout the world’s oceans, and IDENTIFY THE ORGANISM although they are usually thought of as reef dwellers, since that is where most tropical diving occurs, they are also found in other habitats, such as the undersides of mussel buoys. Like all cnidarians, an ongoing rash for years. anemones are hunters; their mouths are fringed with tentacles Eye contact may result in conjunctivitis, chemosis, corneal armed with tiny stinging cells designed to immobilize small animals, ulcerations, or lid edema, requiring weeks of antihistamine or allowing the tentacles to draw them into the mouth.These stinging other treatment. cells can also release toxins as a tool for protecting the animal. Chronic reactions have included keloid formation, hyper- These toxins are the source of a problem in the mussel industry. pigmentation, fatty atrophy and vascular spasm. Aquaculture in the marine environment requires the development of a situation conducive to the growth of aquatic RECOMMENDATIONS organisms. Unfortunately we cannot be selective about what Before risk of exposure to the anemone and its toxin, other organisms also find the conditions around our aquaculture aquaculture industry workers should be informed of this structures appealing.Thickets of anemone and other sea life potential hazard and know how to identify the organism. frequently develop on the bottom of mussel buoys.These can Each vessel should carry a copy of the Sea Anemone Info weigh down the buoys, and the farm may need to be partially Sheet available from Cawthron. re-floated when this load becomes too great. An emergency eye-wash station should be installed on each Because of the physical disturbance caused during removal vessel, in an immediately accessible location, and staff should of these thickets, the blue striped sea anemone can be be instructed on its use. stimulated to discharge its toxin as a defence mechanism.This creates the risk that mussel harvester crew will come into PRECAUTIONS AND TREATMENT contact with the anemone toxin, which can affect any exposed ❚ Wear safety goggles to protect the eyes. body surfaces, including legs, arm and eyes. ❚ Wear protective clothing to cover the skin. ❚ A barrier cream may be useful to protect exposed skin on SYMPTOMS OF EXPOSURE arms and legs. The most common presentation is a painful skin eruption. ❚ If toxin comes in contact with skin, remove immediately with Lesions can last from minutes to hours.A rash usually copious quantities of saline water. develops approximately 24 hours after exposure and lasts ❚ If toxin comes in contact with eyes, immediately wash with three to five days. sterile eye-wash solution. In serious cases the rash may progress to urticaria, ❚ Seek medical advice after exposure to the toxin, haemorrhage, or ulceration. In some cases a person may have particularly if a reaction develops. ac

MARCH/APRIL 06 NZ AQUACULTURE ■ 11 NEWS

TOUGH ROAD AHEAD and consultants. Meanwhile, the new FOR MUSSEL INDUSTRY Aquaculture Law Reform Bill would end the New Zealand’s mussel industry is doomed if era of “mum and dad” farmers, many of the current economic and bureaucratic whom were the first to grow mussels in the climate continues, say some leaders in the Sounds, Schwass said.“It will seriously erode aquaculture industry. their retirement nest egg in New Zealand The general manager of the Port Mussel and leave them no industry to pass down to Company,Terry Schwass, said there had been the next generation.” no growth for six years, and the industry was Politicians seemed unwilling or unable to reeling from the high New Zealand dollar and acknowledge the contribution aquaculture government regulations.“The aquaculture made to the regions, and had effectively let industry in this country as we know it is that could not be passed on to customers. down the next generation of marine farmers. doomed if we don’t get some common sense The Marlborough mussel and salmon The chief executive of Aotearoa Seafoods, to prevail,” he said. industry employed 1500 people in Sam Hobson, said he had to be optimistic Schwass, one of the pioneers of the industry Marlborough, Nelson and Canterbury.And about the future of aquaculture.The industry in Marlborough, said he and other Kiwi Marlborough annually exported about $230 was exporting container loads of mussels but aquaculture entrepreneurs were increasingly million of aquaculture products, mainly it needed to appeal to a wider range of forced to invest in Australia or South America mussels and salmon. seafood consumers by presenting product in if they wanted business to expand. But the low returns and high costs in the different ways. The chief executive of the New Zealand face of a weakening economy combined to Marine Farming Association, Graeme Coates, encourage people to look at investing in CRYOPRESERVATION said the high New Zealand dollar was making Australia or Chile, where there were more RESEARCH ATTRACTS it incredibly difficult for the whole seafood favourable working environments.“The irony STRONG INTEREST industry.The mussel industry was is that we get all the verbal support out of The Cawthron Institute says its work in experiencing some growth, with applications Wellington, but this doesn’t deliver into freezing shellfish eggs and sperm has gained it from between moratorium years still flowing water space,” he said. international recognition.The results of seven through the legal process. Schwass invested a year ago in South years of intensive research into ways to But the Aquaculture Law Reform legislation Australia Seafoods Ltd, producing blue preserve and store Pacific oyster eggs to help enacted in 2004 was so complex that to date mussels in Port Lincoln.They will be with selective breeding were recently there had been no applications for water profitable by May, and Australian authorities published in the scientific journal Cryobiology. space under that regime, he said. On top of have offered them more water space to add The Cawthron team said on December 22 that, regional councils and the government to their 120ha operation, he says. that it was the first in the world to achieve were looking to impose coastal occupation He said the Resource Management Act was success with cryopreservation (storage of and rating charges and bonds on the farmers a farce that played into the hands of lawyers living things at low temperatures) of eggs of an aquatic species, whether fish or shellfish. The leader of the programme, Serean Adams, FISHERMEN REJECT ROCK LOBSTER VENTURE says the response to the publication of their Western Australia’s traditional rock lobster fishermen have spurned the opportunity to research has been overwhelming. introduce a venture that could boost the country’s A$400 million aquaculture industry. “Because of our progress in this area, a WA Fisheries Department scientists and the aquaculture company Summermor team of American researchers has asked if conducted successful trials in the latter half of 2005. But traditionalists in the wild-catch they can come here to assist us in industry fear aquaculture could damage the established trade and questioned the science. investigating the molecular and cellular effects Cool weather in the lead-up to Christmas led to a 40 percent drop in Western Australia’s of cryopreservation on shellfish eggs.We catch, creating a sellers’ market and price rises of 40 percent. have also been asked to visit researchers at There had been previous failures in aquaculture attempts outside Western Australia, the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in San because scientists had been unable to farm lobsters past the complex nine-month larval Diego, who are experts in shellfish stage. Large stocks of juvenile lobsters off the coast had meant local scientists were able embryology, and we are in discussions with to avoid this problem in the latest trial. researchers from France, who are keen to The department is eager to invest in the new science, believing that farming lobsters come and spend time with us to learn our would eliminate market troughs and develop constant production during season closures. techniques,” she says. Its principal researcher, Dr Roy Melville-Smith, said hundreds of millions of 20mm The institute was able to rear the first juvenile lobsters had been identified in a seven-year research programme, of which an batch of Pacific oysters from cryopreserved estimated 95 percent were lost to predators. Only about five per cent on average eggs in 2003.The team could now achieve survived to grow to legal size, and harvesting for an aquaculture venture would have no high survival rates for the frozen eggs from affect on sustainability. the best females.“This means we can Steven Gill, the executive director of the Western Rock Lobster Council, scoffed at incorporate egg cryopreservation into our suggestions that removing two million juvenile lobsters out of the biological chain would selective breeding programme, making it have no affect on sustainability. more commercially viable for industry.” She says the next challenge is to improve survival

12 ■ NZ AQUACULTURE MARCH/APRIL 06 AQUACULTURE GOES ON SHOW Australasian Aquaculture, which takes place at the Adelaide Convention Centre from August 27 to 30, is expected to be one of the world’s largest aquaculture events in 2006. The Australasian Aquaculture “Innovation in Aquaculture” Conference and Trade Show will bring together over 1000 delegates from around the world to share knowledge and showcase aquaculture’s best innovations. Some exciting developments in the Asia-Pacific region will be presented.Attendees will have the chance to meet Australians Gavin Partridge and Ian McRobert.Their design, the Semi Intensive Flotation Tanks System, or SIFTS, aims to turn salinity, one of the biggest environmental problems in Australia, into a profitable solution and transform production of fish in salt-water affected areas.The unique system was developed with assistance from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, the major conference supporter. The corporation says the system has great potential for use throughout the world in farm dams, old mine voids, sheltered bays, harbours, rivers and lakes. Serean Adams retrieves straws containing cultures “This kind of development will make aquaculture more accessible to everyone,” said from a cryopreservation bank Bruce Zippel, the chairman of the conference organising committee.“The SIFTS technology has already proven its benefit to the environment. It also makes it possible from the poorer performing females and for traditional, land-based farmers to broaden their horizons beyond current practices.” expand cryopreservation techniques to other The programme for the conference has been geared to meet the needs of the industry. species of shellfish and micro-algae. It includes a gala Seafood and Wine event, so participants can find out what state-of-the The institute is also working on developing art farming practices are occurring as they sample the best seafood available. techniques for Greenshell mussels, paua and The trade show is expected to see over 160 booths operating during the conference. micro-algae, and recently teamed up with Organisations interested in being part of this major international event should not waste New South Wales Fisheries for research on time. For further information, contact Bruce Zippel at 0428 476 245 or see the Sydney rock oyster. www.australian-aquacultureportal.com AgResearch and the University of Otago have also been part of the team for the Cawthron researchers say the analytical Cawthron analytical chemist Paul McNabb. project, which has also received support from chemistry used to detect harmful toxins in This field of investigation is relatively new, the aquaculture industry.“I think everyone shellfish is giving them hope that biologically and the institute says it is working in agrees that this kind of research allows the potent, cell-killing properties could be used partnership with the universities of Auckland industry to take shellfish breeding to a whole against damaging cells in the human body. and Otago.“In general, the worldwide new level. It means we can store eggs and “If targeted to rogue cells in the body, they background knowledge of marine ecology sperm from the best stock and basically thaw could potentially cause cell death, working in and chemistry is not well researched, so them out whenever we need to - even ways that other chemicals don’t. Conversely, we’re starting from scratch,” says McNabb. beyond the lifespan of the shellfish,” says novel properties, such as those that alter The research also involves what McNabb Serean Adams. neurological function, may have some “From the science point of view, we’re beneficial uses in stroke patients,” says CONTINUED really excited about being able to make world-leading developments. It’s a great boost for us, and I’m very proud of the cryopreservation team.” See www.cawthron.org.nz

SEA LIFE HOLDS PROMISE FOR TREATMENT OF HUMAN ILLNESSES New Zealand research into marine organisms may provide discoveries for treating human illnesses, such as neurological diseases, researchers from the Cawthron Institute in Nelson said on January 20.A long-term project to develop forecasting capability to VIP.S48 detect harmful algal blooms, part-funded through the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, is giving researchers fresh information on the unique chemicals and biological processes of sea organisms.

MARCH/APRIL 06 NZ AQUACULTURE ■ 13 NEWS

describes as a “bit of gardening”. Each new farm be declined, and consent for the council had previously planned to legally marine species discovered during the proposed farm in Clifford Bay be approved, establish 18 specific areas asaquaculture research programme is being catalogued and but for a significantly reduced area.The management areas suitable for marine placed in a permanent live collection.There matter went to the Environment Court farming. are already 150 species in the “garden”, which inquiry, which recommended approval, Those changes were intended to ensure is the start of a national reference collection. subject to the conditions. the council complied with new government Cawthron says its research puts it at the “In approving the application to site a laws that ban development of new marine forefront of world algal bloom monitoring marine farm at Clifford Bay, the Conservation farms unless they are in areas formally and detection, with its algal technologies Minister has accepted the Environment designated as AMAs. However, successful helping protect New Zealand’s $180 million Court’s view that there is a low risk of the lobbying by the council persuaded the Greenshell mussel industry. Its detection farm causing harm to Hector’s dolphins in government to allow it to adopt a new technologies provide quality assurance that the area,” said the associate Minister of option for identifying AMAs, the “Invited ensures continued access to, and premium Conservation, Mahara Okeroa. Private Plan Change”, Jensen said. status in, international markets. The completed farm will occupy less than Under this system, marine farmers, rather It also eliminates the unnecessary three percent of the area where the dolphins than ratepayers, will have to pay the destruction of shellfish that show early signs mostly live. However, the Minister had agreed considerable costs of having areas zoned as of contamination. Shellfish have the ability to with the Environment Court that as an an AMA, a move expected to save ratepayers excrete the poisonous toxins over time, additional precaution, the developers must hundreds of thousands of dollars. becoming suitable for future harvests and commission and pay for the baseline survey Moves to designate an area as an AMA will meeting safe human consumption standards. before building their farm to ensure the involve a public submission and hearing As an extension to Cawthron’s marine toxin proposed area was not a breeding ground, process, and even if an area is ultimately research, it is now investigating remote sensing nursery or zone of real importance for the zoned an AMA, Jensen says it will only be the technology to give advance warning when dolphins, Okeroa said. first step towards setting up a new acceptable toxin levels are being breached. A formal decision by the Minister of aquaculture venture within it. If an AMA is “Many new shellfish farms are being Conservation is a statutory requirement agreed to, would-be marine farmers would established in remote coastal locations so because the proposed development exceeds then have to apply for a consent to develop a remote sensing for early warning of toxins is 50ha, making it a restricted coastal activity as marine farm within it.This too would likely important. It means farms could be defined in the Resource Management Act. entail a public hearing of any issues involved. automatically checked instead of the constant The council had identified 18 areas around manual and expensive monitoring now NEW REGIME COULD Northland as being potentially suitable for required,” says McNabb. SAVE RATEPAYERS marine farming.“The main change in our He said there was plenty of industry HUGE SUMS current approach is that it will now be up to involvement and collaboration.The Would-be marine farmers, rather than applicants to apply to develop farms in these, research was very targeted, and the ratepayers, will bear the costs of any moves or other, suitable parts of Northland and to outcomes were closely aligned to an to zone aquaculture areas in Northland meet the costs of doing so,” Jensen said.The industry’s request for tools. under a new regime adopted by the Invited Private Plan change regime will ensure McNabb says the future of the industry is Northland Regional Council. the council’s role in aquaculture remained also exciting for New Zealand, because it has The move is expected to save ratepayers regulatory rather than appearing to promote the potential to invigorate rural communities hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the an industry perspective. where many commercial shellfish farms are council held a series of public meetings Following the meetings, one month was proposed or are already being developed. around Northland in February to outline the allowed for written comments to be new regime as it moves to alter its regional received.This information and other feedback MUSSEL FARM FOR coastal plan to enshrine the change. will be distilled into a report to the planning CLIFFORD BAY Peter Jensen, the chairman of the council’s and policy committee meeting in April. The Minister of Conservation, Chris Carter, planning and policy committee, said the See www.nrc.govt.nz has approved an application for a 424ha mussel farm at Clifford Bay, south of OYSTER FARM PLANS REJECTED Blenheim. The Aquaculture Council says the rejection of plans to establish an oyster farm north of It is conditional on the outcome of a Auckland will hurt the industry.Auckland Regional Council commissioners have declined an baseline survey to establish whether the site application by BioMarine to set up a 100ha oyster farm in the Kaipara Harbour.The of the farm is of significance to a sub- decision, announced on November 15, went against the advice of regional council staff.The population of Hector’s dolphins resident in commissioners said the proposal did not meet several requirements of the Resource the bay.The decision follows an application by Management Act. Clifford Bay Marine Farms Ltd for two The Aquaculture Council says the decision is shortsighted and is likely to stunt the mussel farms in Clifford Bay, totalling over growth of the industry. It says oyster farms on the eastern coast of Northland are under 1300ha, and another further south at Cape threat from increased pollution and population growth. Campbell. BioMarine says it is considering whether to appeal against the decision.The managing The Marlborough District Council had director, Jim Dollimore, says the oyster farm would have created about 100 new jobs. recommended that consent for the proposed

14 ■ NZ AQUACULTURE MARCH/APRIL 06 The Maori Aquaculture Settlement – HANDOUT OR PALM OFF? hen the Aquaculture Reform package of potential marine farming claims. legislation came into effect at the beginning of The Settlement Act further categorises aquaculture space Wthis year, it included measures to give effect to into “new space” and “pre-commencement space”. New space “Maori aquaculture claims”. is essentially space in an AMA, as such things come into being, These measures were the subject of some controversy and which is not covered by any lease, licence, permit, consent or criticism, including from the iwi (tribes) that are the ostensible application in respect of marine farming, other than an beneficiaries of them.This article provides a brief overview of application “frozen” by the moratorium. what the settlement package is, and how it came to be. In relation to all new space, regional councils are required to For more than a decade, coastal iwi have claimed that they had transfer 20 percent of authorisations to Te Ohu Kaimoana rights in the coastal marine area that were being overlooked in Trustee Ltd (TOKMTL) as trustee for iwi in the region.The 20 the development of marine farming, and indeed in other coastal percent must be “representative” in relation to other aquaculture developments.These claims essentially started from the point space in the region, and preferably in a single block. No doubt that, even where Maori voluntarily sold land to the government these deceptively simple words will be challenging to implement. for settlement in the 1800s (let alone where land was “Pre-commencement space” is essentially space that became confiscated or otherwise acquired), the areas of sea adjoining subject to a lease, licence, permit or resource consent for Maori land, and the resources associated with them, including aquaculture between September 21, 1992 and 31 December foreshore and seabed, were not generally sold or parted with. 31, 2004, when the Settlement Act came into force.The Crown There have been various vindications of these arguments in has an obligation to ensure that TOKMTL is provided with the the courts and the Waitangi Tribunal over the years, and equivalent of 20 percent of pre-commencement space. exactly this argument, as it relates to fisheries resources, It has 10 years to meet this obligation, and can do so using a resulted in a settlement of those claims back in 1992. combination of new authorisations; existing There is some suggestion that aquaculture was raised as an authorisations/coastal permits/marine farms purchased by the issue in the negotiations leading up to the 1992 Fisheries Crown on a willing buyer/willing seller basis (from 2008 Settlement, but it was not addressed at that time, being tacitly onwards), and/or cash compensation (from 2013). agreed by all involved to be in the “too hard” basket. The act also establishes the Maori Commercial Aquaculture Iwi continued to raise the issue of their rights in relation to Settlement Trust,which is to receive and hold these settlement marine farming throughout the 1990s in Resource assets until they are transferred to Iwi Aquaculture Management Act processes, before the Waitangi Tribunal and, Organisations.The trust must also facilitate iwi compliance with most significantly, before the Maori Land Court in the the various requirements they must meet before ultimately Marlborough Sounds case that was ultimately determined in receiving those assets in their own right.These requirements the Court of Appeal and led to the passage of the Foreshore include organisational and governance standards, and and Seabed Act 2004. agreements as to the division or sharing of aquaculture assets That act purported to unilaterally put an end to such claims, within each region.TOKMTL is to be the trustee of this trust. and was interpreted by iwi as the death knell to any proper consideration, let alone recognition, of their rights in relation to What does it all mean? marine farming.The government’s June 2004 unveiling of “Maori The government, the courts, and - in large part - the aquaculture settlement” provisions to be included in the Aquaculture industry, have accepted that there are legitimate iwi interests in Reform package therefore took almost everyone by surprise. aquaculture which should be dealt with.Whether the Settlement Act has struck the right balance in addressing those interest The Maori Commercial Aquaculture remains to be seen, however.The fact that it was unilaterally Claims Settlement Act 2004 imposed on iwi and adopts two ad hoc parameters - a post- It is important to note at the outset that iwi had no input into 1992 cut of and the figure of 20 percent - seriously undermines the Settlement Act and, indeed, the term “settlement” is a little its integrity and therefore its chances for success. misleading, in that it suggests an agreement between the But perhaps the greatest challenge to successful parties. Despite the several years during which these issues implementation of these arrangements lies in the fact that the were raised and debated, various aspects of the Settlement Act delivery of any benefit to iwi depends almost entirely on new seem to be less than well thought out. areas being made available for aquaculture development and To start with, the act only addresses “post-1992” claims, ie on new AMAs actually being created. The entire industry has potential claims in relation to marine farms that first obtained expressed concern that the reforms as a whole provide little permission to operate after September 21, 1992.The cut-off or no incentive for this to occur. If these concerns are borne date is an arbitrary one which leaves any earlier claims still live out, the benefit to iwi of this alleged “settlement” will and unaddressed; ie, the “settlement” hasn’t in fact resolved all be little or nothing. ac

MARCH/APRIL 06 NZ AQUACULTURE ■ 15 SUBSCRIBE NOW! www.nzaquaculture.co.nz