New Zealand innovator 2014

Precision Seafood Harvesting , a partnership between three Kiwi fishing companies and the Ministry of Primary Industries, is spending more than $50 million to commercialise a Kiwi-developed alternative to trawler nets, which allows small fish to escape an

GOOD THINGS TAKE time. Like the millennia it has taken to build up a rich and diverse marine environment.

Bad things are quicker. It has taken only a little over 50 years of intensive commercial fishing methods to deplete fish stocks in many parts of our oceans.

Now a $52m partnership between the Government and three New Zealand fishing companies is working on developing and commercialising a new sustainable fishing technology the partners hope will change the way New Zealand – and eventually the world – catches fish.

The Precision Seafood Harvesting technology has emerged from almost 10 years of research by Government- owned science company Plant and Food Research, into a way of fishing which targets specific species and fish sizes, rather than blanket pulling everything out of the sea.

Under the Modular Harvesting System, traditional trawl nets are replaced by a long, flexible PVC tubes – think those colourful plastic tubes at the playground, with holes for kids to peer out, but the fishing ones are collapsible.

When the tubes are under water, the fish can swim about, and undersized ones can escape through the holes. And because the fish haven’t been thrashing about in a net, when the tube is hauled on board the trawler, “off-target” species (the ones the trawler isn't wanting to take home) are in much better condition and can be returned to the sea alive and unharmed, says programme manager David Woods.

“One of the objectives is reducing the mortality of unwanted catch. Because we are bringing up fish in good condition, the rate of survival is two or three times what we achieve with trawl nets.

Even the target fish that remain in the PVC tube should be in better condition than with traditional nets, leading to premium prices, he says.

Woods says the joint venture has seen fishing companies Aotearoa Fisheries, Sanford and Sealord investing $26 million between them, with the Ministry for Primary Industries putting in another $26m. Alpha testing is complete, he says, with variations of the tubes now being beta tested on fishing trawlers. JUDGES COMMENTS: A fantastic example of innovation through collaboration to create something that delivers value through a multi-pronged approach; better quality fish, more environmentally sound, and a boost to New Zealand’s innovative and sustainability credentials.