Vol.14 No.3 - September 2006

Contact
0800 AQUANIWA
0800 27826492
Dr Michael Bruce
Centre Leader, Aquaculture
tell: 0-9-375 2035
email: [email protected]
Mr Alistair Dunn
Centre Leader, Fisheries
tel: 0-4-386 0306
email: [email protected]

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Marine bacteria are cultured in the search for new drugs and enzymes. (Photo: Alan Blacklock)
Bacteria are found throughout the marine environment. Taking a deep-sea sediment core (left) and collecting samples from a rocky shore. (Photos: John Mitchell and Alan Blacklock)
Marine agar plate showing the diversity of marine bacteria. (Photo: Alan Blacklock)
Thraustochytrids are a non-fishy source of omega-3 oils. (Photo: Serena Cox)
Stacks of petri dishes prepared for culture trials.

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New Zealand’s enormous marine biodiversity holds promise for all manner of commercial opportunities. (Photo: Malcolm Francis)
New Zealand’s waters are among our greatest natural resources. With 4 million square kilometres of ocean, we have one of the largest economic zones in the world and therefore one of the largest economic opportunities. Within this vast area are more than 20 000 species of plants, animals, and microbes, many of which are unique to New Zealand.

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This sponge shows no fouling, possibly because of its natural chemical defences. (Photo: Matt Smith)
Samples of plastic film prepared by research partner Scion contain various biocides. (Photo: Craig Depree)
Sheri Shevade, chief chemist at Altex Coatings, tests adhesion properties of an antifouling paint we're testing in our field trials. (Photo: Altex Coatings)
To field-test the formulations, Mike Tait lowers treated and untreated (control) fibreglass rods over the side of the raft.

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Loading juvenile kingfish into NIWA's live-fish transport tanker ... (Photo: Nelson Boustead)
... and unloading them at the other end at a fish farm. (Photo: Nelson Boustead)
Juvenile kingfish in a rearing tank at NIWA's Bream Bay hatchery. (Photo: Alan Blacklock)
The greatest potential for rapidly adding value to our seafood industry is through the production of higher-value aquaculture species.

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Kingfish gone wild
Kingfish travelling in NIWA’s transport tanks. (Photo: Michael Bruce)
NIWA staff discharge their load of kingfish at Raglan Wharf. (Photo: Michael Bruce)
In July, NIWA joined the mobilisation of effort across several sectors of New Zealand’s fishing and aquaculture industry. The ‘Kingfish Go Wild’ project was organised by the New Zealand Recreational Fishing Council (NZRFC) and supported by Sanford Seafood Ltd.

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Dave Ward putting collection plates into the Ahuriri River as part of an experiment on detecting didymo. (Photo: Nelson Boustead)
RSNZ Teacher Fellows
In 2006, NIWA is hosting two participants in the Royal Society’s New Zealand Science, Mathematics and Technology Teacher Fellowship scheme. Dave Ward teaches at Heathcote Valley School in Christchurch and Andrea Shaw teaches at Wellington College.

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Database tops 25,000 records
Maps produced with the database can show, for example, everywhere that a particular fish species has been found.
We recently added the 25 thousandth record to the New Zealand freshwater fish database (NZFFD), making this one of NIWA’s most extensive biological databases.

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Processing salmon at Klemtu. (Photo: Andrew Forsythe)
First Nations
When Andrew Forsythe joined NIWA as Regional Manager for Aquaculture, he brought with him direct experience of a successful indigenous aquaculture venture in Canada, and he saw how the same business model could work for Northland Māori. In June, he and Charlotte Severne, NIWA’s General Manager for Māori Development, accompanied members of Te Runanga a Iwi o Ngāpuhi on a visit to British Columbia to examine Canadian aquaculture development.

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Thirty years’ service to the salmon aquaculture industry
From egg to farm and angler (Photos: Nelson Boustead):
Lindsay Hawke with experimental egg incubators.
A net full of salmon fry.
Weighing smolt for loading.
Loading smolt into the tanker.
Smolt delivery into the High Country Salmon farm.
Anglers benefit from the wild salmon released into the Waimakariri (top) and Kaiapoi rivers.
Each year NIWA is the starting point for millions of dollars worth of high-quality farmed salmon and provides strong support for New Zealand’s salmon sport fishe

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Nine-month-old paua held at East Land Aquaculture in trays designed by NIWA. (Photo: Phil Heath)
These paua at OceaNZ Blue Paua are approaching market size. (Photo: Mike Cunningham)
Inspecting stock at East Land’s farm in Nuhaka. (Photo: East Land Aquaculture)
Monitoring stocking density of paua approaching harvest size. (Photo: Mike Cunningham)
Checking spawning condition of paua broodstock. (Photo: Mike Cunningham)
NIWA has developed a system of farming paua (New Zealand abalone) that produces higher growth rates than conventional systems.

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Els sets up a collecting station at Island Bay in Wellington. (Photo: Alan Blacklock)
Japan, Bermuda, Germany, USA: Dr Els Maas knows that wherever she goes she’ll find the microbes that are her passion. She began her travels at the age of 12, when her family emigrated from the Netherlands to New Zealand, settling first in Hamilton and finally in Napier. Today her work as an environmental microbiologist keeps her moving, with regular trips to the Cook Islands to test water quality and to Tasmania to test probiotic bacteria for aquaculture.

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Mussel spat attached to a culture rope. (Photo: Barbara Hayden)
New Zealand’s GreenshellTM mussel aquaculture industry is one of the country’s aquaculture success stories. Carina Sim-Smith explains how NIWA’s research has tackled the critical problem of spat retention.
Longline mussel culture was established in this country in the late 1970s, after wild stocks of mussels were harvested to commercial extinction.

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One of NIWA’s aims with this magazine is to contribute to science education in New Zealand. To this end we distribute Water & Atmosphere without charge to New Zealand high schools. Articles are assigned ‘Curriculum Connections’ to indicate which of the NZ NCEA Achievement or Unit Standards they can complement as a classroom resource. These links are assigned by Royal Society of New Zealand Teacher Fellows who are working during the year with NIWA scientists.
Remember that there is an Archive of past issues beginning with September 2000 (vol.

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In the hunt for new compounds, divers collect samples of a wide variety of marine plants and animals ...(Photo: Mike Page)
... such as these crinoids (feather stars) and ascidians (sea squirts) found on black coral in Doubtful Sound. (Photo: Sean Handley)
Samples are sorted first on board, then classified, catalogued, and dissected back in the laboratory. (Photo: Pete Notman)
They are then screened to unravel their chemical composition.

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Debbie Hulston performs an assay to screen the sample for bioactive compounds. (Photo: Alan Blacklock)
Skin cells combined with fish waste are irradiated with UV light. (Photo: Alan Blacklock)
Freeze-dried fish waste samples. (Photo: Alan Blacklock)
Fisheries bycatch. (Photo: John McKoy)
Anna Kilimnik checks the UV-protectant effect of fish waste on skin cells. (Photo: Alan Blacklock)
NIWA is working with Ngāi Tahu Seafood to develop natural skincare products from waste products of the seafood industry.