New $5m oyster hatchery aims to strengthen New Zealand production

New Zealand oysters. File photo / RNZ / Lydia Anderson

RNZ

A new $5 million hatchery in Nelson is aiming to ensure a reliable supply of oyster spat for New Zealand’s largest oyster producer, Moana New Zealand.

Moana NZ chairwoman Rachel Taulelei said the new hatchery, named Kirikiritātangi, was part of its oyster (tio) transformation project, a $21m, five-year investment to grow capacity.

Located at the Cawthron Aquaculture Park in Glenduan, Taulelei said the hatchery was world-class and built on 20 years of research, development and innovation.

It was gifted its name by the iwi of Te Tauihu and kirikiri referred to pebbles, shingle or sand, while tātangi was a variation of the word tangi which meant sound or song or voice.

“Together Kirikiritātangi is the name given to the shingle beds and the noise that they make when they carry the water and kaimoana under what was formerly Nelson’s Boulder Bank, to the shellfish beds that were located there before the land was claimed for farming at Wakapuaka,” Taulelei said.

“So it’s got a beautiful sentiment and it’s a real nod to the area formerly having been a nursery and having had those kaimoana beds.”

Moana NZ is the country’s largest Māori-owned fisheries company, with all 58 iwi as shareholders.

“It’s really the only pan-iwi commercial entity that we have, and with that in mind we’re always thinking about how can we show up and benefit our iwi both economically but also as a source of pride,” she said.

Taulelei said the industry had traditionally relied on wild spat caught on sticks since the 1970s, but that was a seasonal approach that was hard to control.

Moana began a selective breeding programme more than 20 years ago and had improved its husbandry practices, enabling consistent production of high-quality oysters, year-round.

Moana NZ chairwoman Rachel Taulelei. Photo / Supplied/ Moana NZ

The first commercial run from the new hatchery was due later this month and once running at full capacity, Kirikiritātangi would provide high-quality oyster spat to Moana’s farming sites throughout the North Island.

Moana aims to achieve sales of 1.65 million dozen oysters per year by 2027.

- RNZ