Initial results of a Marlborough Sounds paua reseeding programme look promising.
Pauamac 7, the group conducting the project, believes the decline in the fishery of the past few years has now halted, with divers reporting an improvement.
"It's been a huge amount of work," said chairman Dave Baker.
"But we're
actually starting to see some results, and it's all looking positive.
"What we need to do next is come up with an economic model that quota holders like."
The stock assessment would be made later this year and would provide a good indication of how successful the project had been, he said.
Established in 2003 to reverse the decline in Queen Charlotte Sound paua stocks, the project is now moving into the third year of a five-year programme.
To date, 75,000 seeds have been put in the water throughout Queen Charlotte Sound and Cook Strait.
On Saturday, representatives from Pauamac 7 and local iwi representative John Bunt deposited 15,000 reseeds from the trial experiments into sites throughout Tory Channel, which they will continue to monitor over the next few years.
- NZPA
