Niwa’s Ruakākā kingfish farm opens door to huge global market

Chef Makoto Tokuyama of Auckland’s award-winning Japanese restaurant Cocoro holding a kingfish grown at Niwa’s land-based kingfish farm at Ruakaka. Photo / Cocoro

A scientist at the forefront of New Zealand’s only land-based Haku kingfish farm, at Ruakākā, says the sky’s the limit for the fish on the global market.

Niwa’s Dr Andrew Forsyth said there was already serious interest from potential overseas customers.

A Singaporean delegation, in New Zealand for a food security mission, visited the Northland Aquaculture Research Centre farm in December and were interested in developing close relationships with New Zealand for high-quality food stuffs.

“That’s the sort of commercial partner we would love to have.”

The greatest growth in the world’s high-value food sector markets was for aquaculture products, Forsyth said. The Singaporean group signalled the sky was the limit for the amount of product that could potentially be sold there in future.

Kingfish, an indigenous white-fleshed fish with sought-after culinary attributes, was second only to salmon in its potential as a huge export opportunity for New Zealand, but producers needed to upscale quickly to secure their place, Forsyth said.

“To put it in context, our whole salmon industry would be considered a boutique farm elsewhere in the world. There’s an opportunity for significant growth.”

He believed kingfish had the same potential and the two products would be crucial in New Zealand’s seafood industry reaching its ambitious $3 billion trading target by 2035.

Recirculating aquaculture system at the Northland Marine Research Centre. Recirculating aquaculture system at the Northland Marine Research Centre. Photo / Stuart McKay

Niwa’s purpose in establishing the recirculating aquaculture system (Ras) for kingfish at its marine research centre in Ruakākā was to create a viable biologically and sustainably sound commercial model that could be replicated “at pace” elsewhere around the country.

Twenty years of research and development came to fruition with the official opening of the Ruakākā farm last August.

That initial module is now operating successfully and on track to produce about 400 tonnes of kingfish annually.

During the next two to three years, Niwa plans to add up to four more modules on the existing site to significantly increase overall production to a target of 600 tonnes a year — the rate needed to be a “robust commercial enterprise”, Forsyth said.

“Once we get that commercial validation, I think it presents a broad opportunity for New Zealand.”

New Zealand can currently only produce a “pittance” of the world’s demand for kingfish.

“To pursue the markets that we know are out there requires us to have more volume than we currently have.

“We are increasingly confident that Ras will be the preferred production system for development at scale, particularly in the absence of pre-existing (sunk) investment in marine-based production,” Forsyth said.

Land-based Ras or partial recirculating systems that consistently grew commercial quantities of premium fish also answered issues associated with national sea-space restrictions, social licence, and the growing constraints on sea-based farming (climate change, biosecurity, and disease and parasite management).

“However, it has to make commercial sense.

“Land-based systems may also produce intermediate size (one to two kilogram) fish for ‘finishing’ at sea. Mixed production models mitigate many of the recognised risks of marine farming,” he said.

Kingfish in the recirculating aquaculture system at Niwa's Northland Marine Research Centre, Ruakaka. Photo / Stuart McKay

The industry has met with criticism from people concerned fish in land-based farms are kept in cramped, stressful conditions. Forsyth said Niwa was committed to animal welfare, environmental responsibility and sustainable practices in its land-based aquacultural operations.

He noted farming conditions were easier on fish than their wild marine environments.

Kingfish were schooling fish — a habit not disturbed by tank environments. Considerable research went into determining the exact interpersonal space each fish needed for the school to maintain its natural behaviour.

The controlled farming environment allowed Niwa to provide the fish with optimal water quality, oxygen levels, and protection from pathogens and predators, resulting in lower stress and mortality rates than marine-based farming, Forsyth said.

Waste was not directly discharged into the ocean from the fish farm. Niwa intercepted and captured all the solid waste from the system and was exploring ways to produce organic fertiliser from it.

The liquid waste was also treated to remove residual nutrients before discharge, ensuring no adverse effects on the receiving environment.

Niwa leveraged its expertise in wastewater treatment to adapt freshwater technologies for use with seawater in the aquaculture system.

Forsyth also gave an assurance Niwa was not in the business of releasing farmed fish into the wild as that could negatively impact the natural ecosystem. He said the farm’s focus was on producing high-quality kingfish for the market, not supplementing wild populations.

Sarah Curtis is a general news reporter for the Northern Advocate. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in journalism, most spent court reporting in Gisborne and on the East Coast. She is passionate about covering stories that make a difference, especially those involving environmental issues.