Open-ocean fish farms mooted
‘‘We’ve got a heap of water out there . . . We’re looking at lots of different options.’’ Dr Suzy Black, Plant and Food Research
Fish farms of the future could be oceangoing roving pens, able to adapt to seasonal changes and avoid severe weather events.
Senior scientist from Plant and Food Research (PFR) Dr Suzy Black has told a symposium on aquaculture that it is making the move into open ocean aquaculture research.
Based on PFR’s successful Mobile Harvest System, a way of harvesting wild fish in a way that left the fish calm and in control while in the nets, Black said researchers were beginning to look into mobile marine farms.
‘‘Mobile productive systems wouldn’t be limited to endure the yearly conditions on a single location. We’re trying to design something that works with the environment rather than working against it.
‘‘We’ve got a heap of water out there. Mobile technology may enable us to take advantage of that.’’
Black said that although PFR was only in the initial stages of research and development, it was hopeful that mobile technology could make exploration of openocean aquaculture economically viable.
‘‘We’re at the very start, but we’re really excited about where this can go.
‘‘At the moment, it’s in the concept stage. We’re looking at lots of different options, right from structures being towed by boats through to automated structures, but getting proof of concept means we might be looking at interim steps.’’
The high-energy waves of the open ocean and the exposure to potential storms are major difficulties in the process of developing economically viable farms further out to sea, rather than in sheltered bays.
New Zealand King Salmon is hoping to begin farming salmon in Cook Strait as early as next year, but is only able to thanks to the sheltered nature of the location it trialled.
NZ King Salmon CEO Grant Rosewarne said previously the technology for more exposed locations could be years away.
Research and development into farming shellfish around New Zealand is well under way, an area which Nelson’s Cawthron Institute has been investigating for several years.
Cawthron aquaculture scientist Kevin Heasman said previously technology was the major challenge to moving fish farming into the open ocean, developing structures robust enough to withstand the conditions but inexpensive enough not to be unviable economically.
Most of New Zealand’s 6 million square kilometres of territory is ocean. The marine estate is about 15 per cent larger than land, and aquaculture takes place relatively close to the shore, taking up less than 1 per cent of that space.
The symposium, Cawthron’s first dedicated Open Ocean Aquaculture Symposium, kicked off talks about the technological challenges facing aquaculture farming further out from the coasts.