Aquaculture in New Zealand - Training and Research

Training and Research

In recent years, skill levels in the New Zealand aquaculture industry has considerably improved. This has been largely due to Seafood Industry Training Organization (SITO), an integral part of the seafood industry. SITO have developed tailored aquaculture training programmes based on their prior experience with industry-based training for wild fisheries. They now offer nationally recognised training programmes based on the needs of companies involved in aquaculture.

At the tertiary level, the Auckland University of Technology offers an undergraduate degree in aquaculture. Other tertiary training centres offering aquaculture courses include the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology, and the Mahurangi Technical Institute.

Government funding for aquaculture research is about two percent of the annual sales of the industry. These funds are mostly delivered through a competitive bidding process, organised and controlled by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.

• The principal aquaculture research group is the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). NIWA is structured as a profit-making private company, though it is owned by the government. It operates three aquaculture research facilities; Bream Bay Aquaculture Park, Mahanga Bay Aquaculture Research Facility and Silverstream Hatchery. The Bream Bay Aquaculture Park includes other private aquaculture companies organised as an industrial-technology park. NIWA produces yellowtail kingfish spat, seed abalone and salmon smolts, which it sells to on-growers.

• The Cawthron Institute is a non-profit organisation which does regional research around Nelson. It operates a nearby saltwater research facility called the Cawthron Aquaculture Park.

• The tertiary education sector undertakes a small amount of aquaculture research. In 2007 an aquaculture centre was opened at Mahurangi Technical Institute in Warkworth. Scientists at the institute are aiming to breed short-fin eels within two years with a goal of producing commercial quantities of eels in captivity, which would be a world first.