$11.5m mega-project to shed light on NZ's changing oceans

Mussel farmers could benefit from information uncovered by a new project hoping to shed light on our warming oceans. Photo / File

A multimillion-dollar project is set to unravel the mysteries of New Zealand's vast but fast-changing ocean estate.

The Moana Project, being launched in Ōpōtiki today, will eventually create a cutting-edge tool to make New Zealand a world leader in ocean-forecasting capability.

Much of the open-access data behind its models will be amassed by high-tech, low-cost instruments mounted on fishing vessels.

Data collected by these smart sensors – being developed with help from Nelson-based firm Zebra-Tech – will feed into real-time models, observing ocean temperatures and other factors.

While the seafood sector brings $4.1 billion to New Zealand annually, the resources it depends on are threatened by rising ocean temperatures.

Those range from aquaculture species, like mussels and paua, to hoki, which, even at depths of hundreds of metres below the ocean surface, have been affected by a recent severe marine heatwave that turned coastal waters around the country into a warm bath.

"The Tasman Sea is warming at one of the fastest rates on Earth – about two to three times the global average – so we're sitting right in a hot-spot of ocean warming," MetService head of research partnerships Professor Moninya Roughan said.

While the seafood sector brings $4.1 billion to New Zealand annually, the resources it depends on are threatened by rising ocean temperatures.

Yet, she added, there was still only limited ability to comprehensively measure, monitor and predict the state of our seas – effectively leaving our marine industries to operate in the dark.

To date, forecasters and industries have had to rely on models and satellites operated by other countries.

"We've been missing that fine-scale resolution, and these models haven't been attuned to those characteristics of the New Zealand region."

Whereas international models could only reached a resolution of 10sq km, the Moana Project would ultimately enable a more detailed picture of 5sq km blocks.

"Australia doesn't even yet have that level of resolution, and the United States are working toward it," she said.

"The industry is really positive about this because they haven't had this information at their fingertips – and they haven't had people dying to get it to them either."

A major part of the project will investigate how populations of different seafood species are connected, and how larvae are transported around the ocean.

"That's important because we want to know where these larvae are coming from, where they are going, how their populations are sometimes linking together, and how this all might change in the future as the ocean warms," she said.

"It will also inform some practical decisions: for instance, salmon will stop eating when the water temperature goes up, so it might let you know how much food to order in the next week."

As sea temperatures rise, the mega project "will help all, Māori and non-Māori, understand the impact it will have on our kaimoana now and into the future", Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board chair Robert Edwards says. Photo / File

The far-reaching forecasting capability may also help tell them whether they should be farming another species in several years' time, or whether they should be harvesting six months earlier.

Another key component is maturanga Māori – or the incorporation of traditional Māori knowledge.

One of the project's first end users, Whakatōhea iwi, has been in the Ōpōtiki area for about 900 years, and has built up knowledge of the land and sea for generations.

"With the development of the largest offshore mussel farm in Whakatōhea rohe moana, we take responsibility for ensuring we know as much as we can regarding future issues that could impact the water space, such as climate change, and increasing water temperatures," Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board chair Robert Edwards said.

"The sea temperatures are rising, and this project will help all, Māori and non-Māori, understand the impact it will have on our kaimoana now and into the future."

• The Moana Project, which has received $11.5m in funding over five years from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, is being spear-headed by MetService's oceanographic division, MetOcean Solutions. Other groups include Victoria, Auckland, Waikato and Otago universities, Niwa, the Cawthron Institute, Seafood NZ, Deepwater Group, the Ministry for Primary Industries and regional councils.