Niwa looks beyond salmon to boost NZ fish farming options

When Eyjafjallajokull, the Icelandic volcano, began spewing out ash which closed airports across Europe in April, it created a massive boost for New Zealand King Salmon product, but not everyone in the aquaculture industry was smiling.

Restaurants across Asia were suddenly crying out for salmon, and quickly, leading to a boom in demand at NZKS and a record harvest.

But for the National Institute of Weather and Atmospheric Research (Niwa), which has been leading research into developing new species for fish farming, the ash ended plans for a trip to London to show off the fruit of its labours to top chefs in Europe.

While no space has been set aside for aquaculture in recent years, Niwa has been working busily at its Bream Bay facility, just south of Whangarei, trying to master the art of farming new species.

Bryce Cooper, Niwa's general manager of strategy, said while much of the industry had been in limbo for years, researchers had made significant strides in developing technology so that, should new space be set aside, new types of farming could be set up.

"We've spent the time cracking the technical hurdles, we've cracked the kingfish hurdles, within a year we will have cracked hapuka."

It remains to be seen, however, whether there will be a market for the fish. While NZKS is able to charge a premium for its products, it is selling into a market that well understands salmon.

Though there is some market for kingfish in Japan, Mr Cooper admitted that selling hapuka (known internationally as groper) "would be more of a challenge".

He said Niwa wanted to prevent "a race to the bottom" by New Zealand fish farmers competing with each other on price, instead, investing in marketing the product to create premium products.

Niwa has already started testing the water, taking samples of farmed hapuka to Sydney for top chefs, apparently receiving a warm reception. Plans for a similar trip to London, home of some of the world's finest restaurants, were cancelled at the 11th hour, Mr Cooper said, because of the volcano ash.

The organisation "would need to regroup", but planned to return to markets such as London and North America. "These are markets where if you brand your products well, and it is high quality and it has the element of sustainability, it means something to consumers."

He maintained that farmed fish could prove highly desirable to chefs because of the consistency it offered.

"If a Gordon Ramsay or a Jamie Oliver can be guaranteed to be getting a top-quality fish all year around, that's what they're after."

The plan is for Niwa to form partnerships with the private sector to invest in commercial operations.

Aquaculture New Zealand chairman Peter Vitasovich said there was "absolutely" demand for the research from the private sector.