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NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 NELSON SCIENTIST TO RESEARCH MARITIME KILLER Nelson scientist Dr Tim Harwood, from the Cawthron Institute, has secured two years of funding from the Ministry of Science and Innovation's International Science Relationship Fund, to continue research into the highly toxic invaderwhich bloomed in Wellington Harbour in 1998. Dr Harwood's project will build on research initiated by Dr Pat Holland, and will focus on identifying and characterising the suite of marine toxins produced by the microalga. Dr Harwood will be working with Professor Masayuki Satake, a marine toxin chemist at the University of Tokyo, to help defi ne the risks poses to the aquaculture industry and to develop an analytical tool to warn of an emerging event should it bloom again. NZKS PLANS OPEN FOR SUBMISSION New Zealand King Salmon's application to the Environmental Protection Authority to commission nine new salmon farms over an extended period in the Marlborough Sounds is open for public submission until May 2. After this the Board Of Inquiry will hold hearings and submitters will be able to comment on each other's submissions. A fi nal decision on the company's application will be announced in December. OYSTER INDUSTRY IN MARLBOROUGH SOUNDS Marlborough Oysters has joined Global Prospects to raise Pacifi c and dredge oysters at a 4.7ha site at Croisilles Harbour in the Marlborough Sounds. Marine farmer Aaron Pannell thinks Marlborough could become the new home of the New Zealand oyster industry now that a herpes virus has been tainting production in Northland and the Coromandel. A resource consent hearing for the venture's application was held at the Marlborough District Council in March. Pannell proposes farming virus-free Pacifi c oyster spat from the Cawthron Aquaculture Park in Nelson and selling it to North Island farmers. He is assured that the disease is unlikely to develop in the cool, deep and regularly fl ushed waters of the Marlborough Sounds. "It's like being exposed to a cold virus when you are standing in a paddock, compared to a small room." MARINE FARM RULES TESTED The proposal to develop a 4.7ha marine farm at Squally Cove in Croisilles Harbour is seen as a test of the Aquaculture Reform Bill, as it is only the second application for new marine farming space since the bill was introduced last October. The new legislation removes the requirement for an aquaculture management area to be in place before marine farming consent applications can be made. Applying for a marine farm now follows the same process as seeking consent for any other activity in the coastal marine area. Challenger Finfi sheries Management Company and Croisilles Oysters are opposing the application and say the council hearing was the last chance to consider impacts of the proposed farm on fi sheries, yet the applicant failed to provide evidence on this and they are opposing the application. Mike Mandeno, business manager for Nelson research company Cawthron, an expert witness for the applicant on spat breeding, was asked by the commissioner Richard Fowler whether the proposed farm might have an impact on fi shing in the area. He said the impact would be minimal. If the application were approved it would have to be signed off by the ministry. RONA SCHOLARSHIP FOR MARINE DEGREES The Rona Scholarship is offered to Maori completing a degree in fi sheries, aquaculture or marine sciences associated with the fi sheries and aquaculture industries. There are up to 10 scholarships of NZ$10,000 each and recipients are required to attend the Charting Pathways to Maori Industry Futures Conference to be held 26-28 August, 2012. Launched in 2012, the Rona Scholarship is designed to help address Te Putea Whakatupu Trust's strategic focus on lifting the level of Maori participation in middle and senior science and management roles in the fi sheries and aquaculture industries. LETTER Mullet farming Dear Sir My wife and I are members of the Marron Growers Association in Western Australia. We have seen their marron farms and have brought one of their consultants over to help us set up industry standard ponds. We now have the investment and knowledge to make a livelihood from fi sh farming. We have started to do that with our koura, but also have room to grow a fi nfi sh as a polyculture in our ponds, such as silver perch, which are grown with marron, in WA. Our high value, sustainable, non- polluting use of land needs to, excuse the pun, get off the ground! You can't talk up aquaculture when you don't even have a fi nfi sh that we can grow in our ponds. 14 ■ NZ AQUACULTURE ■ I have tried to address this. I have been to a fi sh lab about hormonally inducing mullet to supply growers. They asked me to fi nd a critical mass of interest among other fi sh farmers to grow mullet. As you may be aware I have gone on about this in New Zealand Aquaculture and Australian Fish Farmer where my dream has been supported by author, John Mosig. We also have a Fonterra CEO who spoke to Aquaculture New Zealand, saying that with our clean green branding we have the marketing potential to shoot for the moon. Shooting for the moon when we haven't even got off the ground? Really! First we have to have a fi sh we can farm in ponds. MAY/JUNE 2012 To me this means getting mullet hormonally induced and supplied to growers. We are also trialling ducks on our ponds. Not sure of its viability against modern commercial duck production but it will bring in more money which is what businesses like to do. Duck poo also, has the right fertiliser mix of NPK to grow phytoplankton on our ponds. Perhaps for us, it could mean no longer needing the fi nite resource of inorganic fertiliser? I wonder which politician wants refl ected glory for pushing that concept. Sometimes I sigh, wondering if that politician has yet to be born. Vince Scully, Kaikoura