Kiwi Seafood Industry Aims for Sustainability

NEW Zealand seafood is a high value export that is in demand worldwide. The fishing industry's sustainability credentials are based on an internationally regarded quota management system, and marine farmers have ambitious growth plans. But where to from here卆s pressures increase to reduce carbon emissions, wild fish stocks are under pressure internationally, and aquaculture industry faces space constraints. The seafood industry is a valuable export industry ?worth over NZ$1200 million in exports in 2006-07. About 20% of those exports are from farmed species, and the aquaculture industry has ambitious growth targets ?to be a billion-dollar industry by 2025. With high-end markets in Europe, Asia and North America keen to get more of New Zealand seafood, the government is also determined to grow this sector. Yet this growth will only be possible with industry commitment to meet sustainability obligations, insists Gillian Wratt, CEO of Cawthron Institute in Nelson, who will be a keynote speaker at the New Zealand Institute Food Science and Technology Conference, which is focusing on food sustainability, in Rotorua from June 24 to 26. The NZ seafood industry is an interesting one for those looking for local case studies of how to achieve sustainable food production. Wild fisheries have been managed by one of the most advanced systems in the world ?the internationally regarded fishing quota management system 朾ut like wild fisheries globally, there is limited potential for sustainable growth; fishing is a fuel-intensive industry, so increasing fuel prices and carbon emissions are significant issues. Aquaculture has excellent growth potential in NZ but is constrained by space limitations. Aquaculture Industry Looking for Support Wellington recognizes the economic potential of the seafood industry both in terms of export earnings and employment opportunities, and has identified aquaculture as one of the key areas ripe for further development and growth. "The aquaculture industry is currently worth over NZ$300 million dollars a year, and is looking at tripling that figure in the next 15 to 20 years," adds Wratt. But the industry has been stagnant for the past ten years, in part due to the foreshore and seabed debate. Now, with government support, it is ready to move forward and expand. The Resource Management Act charges local councils with the responsibility to identify areas of their coast for marine farming ?as Aquaculture Management Areas (AMAs). But in some regions there has been strong opposition to further expansion of aquaculture, where the farms are seen as having a negative visual impact on the seascape. The source of this opposition can be found in the mounting pressure on coastal land from high-end housing developments, translating into a cultural perception about what is, and is not, acceptable use of coastal waters. "It seems contradictory that people don't mind looking out on a vineyard, maybe even see it as adding value to their property, but they object to a shellfish farm," Wratt notes. And ironic that the highly regarded NZ aquaculture industry has been facing one of its strongest challenges ?not from the global consumer's demand for environmentally sustainable food but from local communities. Yet in terms of sustainability, the aquaculture industry does a lot right. Production is low on carbon emissions, and shellfish ?which are the predominant farmed species ?feed off naturally occurring algae. And the global marketplace wants NZ seafood because it is seen as a high quality source of protein from an unpolluted marine environment. If this export market is left untapped due to the growing debate about aquaculture's visual impact on the seascape, the country as a whole will suffer economically. And unless we are able to demonstrate its sustainability and address carbon emission issues, the market will suffer in the food miles debateFootwear