WINNER
Keewai, Live Freshwater Crayfish
It’s been said that the best way to ensure the survival of a threatened species is to farm it. It sounds audacious but that’s exactly what’s happening in the forests of Otago and Southland where a forestry company is stocking its fire ponds with freshwater crayfish.
It’s a project that makes perfect sense to the shareholders of Ernslaw One. The good tasting, highvalue koura – brand-named Keewai – provide an additional income stream using infrastructure that is already in place and only of use in the event of a fire. But what started as a business idea has turned into an enlightened conservation project.
The company has developed hundreds of its ponds into suitable habitats. It has a breeding programme that in conjunction with sustainable harvesting ensures the ponds are well stocked; it has offered seed stock to Ngāi Tahu for stream restoration projects and it’s working with iwi to help them develop koura farms of their own.
Key to the success of the project is the quality of the product itself. Our judges cracked into a pot of freshly steamed Keewai and after much licking of fingers declared them “fresh and delicious with a subtle flavour and beautifully soft flesh”. That’s testament to the way they are farmed – naturally, in remote locations, in clean water, eating only what they forage themselves. The Keewai project is an outstanding story of ingenuity and innovation – a worthy winner of our inaugural Spirit of New Zealand award.