The first project is called Shellfish – The Next Generation : SPATnz. It aims to apply advanced breeding and selection processes to shellfish, beginning with GreenshellTM Mussel (GSM). The MAF media release notes that this programme is a collaboration between Sanford, Sealord Group and Wakatu Incorporation , encompassing a significant proportion of the sector. The co-investors’ joint venture company is appropriately called SPATnz acronym for Shellfish Production and Technology New Zealand Limited.

The New Zealand GSM industry faces a major growth and expansion issue though its reliance on the arrival on some of our beaches of wild spat (baby mussels) to grow out on our mussel farms and supply the markets. Supply of wild spat is inconsistent in timing, volume, and characteristics.

The shellfish market is asking for larger mussels, which are uniform in size, and which have a high proportion of attractive apricot-coloured female mussels. Wild spat cannot deliver consistent supply of these characteristics, but selective breeding of mussels in captivity can. SPATnz will advance existing research into selective breeding, and will develop hatchery technology to breed and hatch genetically improved spat on a commercial scale.

To ensure benefits to the wider sector, improved, hatchery-bred spat will become available to companies outside of the co-investors and their growers. There are a number of other potential developments around GSM marketing, as well as breeding and selection of other species that the SPATnz programme can explore.

PGP funding of $26.1 million over seven years has been approved, to be matched by industry, so that total funding is $52.1 million. The programme aims to deliver additional revenue in the order of $230M per annum, and to add over 1,000 new jobs to the New Zealand economy by 2026.

The second programme is called Precision Seafood Harvesting (PSH). It is a partnership between the Crown, Aotearoa Fisheries, Sanford and Sealord Group, and is seeking to develop a new wildfish harvesting technology that will allow more precise catches and allow fish to be landed fresher and in better condition.

PSH has developed a prototype harvesting system that can be set to target specific species and fish size, allowing other animals, fish species and undersize fish to escape. The harvesting system would also be able to immerse fish in seawater, keeping them alive for longer and in better condition. It will also explore methodology and protocols for holding and on-rearing live fish caught using the new methods that will allow fresh fish to be provided when required by the market.

The partnership will be worth up to $52.6m over 6 years, with half ($26.3m) coming from the industry players . The technology will improve revenue by an estimated $100m annually (or 20%) by 2029.

To view media coverage of the SPATnz project, follow the link here.