| 23 Marlborough: Aroma REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT “We now own, lease and manage over 40 mussel farms in the Marlborough Sounds and Banks Peninsula and have three harvesters and two other boats that we use to check the condition of mussels prior to harvesting,” says John Gallagher, Aroma’s general manager. When Aroma was looking for the right anchor systems for their mussel/aquaculture farms in the Marlborough Sounds and o Banks Peninsula, they went to an operator they knew would deliver the reliability needed: Marine Services NZ (MSNZ) Ltd. Based in Picton, MSNZ Ltd was launched in 2018 when two families – the McLeans and the Kibblewhites – joined forces in taking over a well-established company called N Viro Ltd that had been operating in the region for more than 20 years. Marine Services NZ specialises in the installation of screw anchors for marine farming, both in New Zealand and beyond. After launching MSNZ in 2018, their very irst booking was a project for Aroma - a sustainable grower, producer and exporter of high-quality New Zealand green-lipped mussel powder and other marine extracts that operates in Marlborough and Canterbury. “That project for Aroma was to install screw anchors on a mussel farm in the Kenepuru,” says Richard McLean, MSNZ’s general manager. “Today, we supply all Aroma’s mussel farm operations with our anchors. As far as quality of our screw anchor work goes, we irmly believe we have the highest holding power anchors and the greatest range of screw anchors available for depths from ive metres to 94 metres.” Anchor assurance for aquaculture As Richard observes, holding power is of extreme importance in marine farming as farmers are only consented for the actual water space in their approved leases and any breaches are subject to prosecution. Marine Services NZ has two dedicated vessels set up to deliver accurate anchoring, mooring and diving operations. Using Trimble GPS equipment, screw anchors can be placed with precision accuracy. Once the anchor is screwed four to six metres into the seabed, the only visual evidence of the anchor is the warp coming up through the seabed to the surface. This environmentally friendly system is also long lasting because the anchors are buried so deep. As well as screw anchor work, MSNZ supplies Aroma with commercial dive services, for example to move old blocks or install new warps on existing lines. Leading the commercial dive team is highly experienced dive supervisor Chris Fishburn. In a changing world, marine farms are moving further out and becoming more oceanic but sometimes the seabed itself can be challenging. Richard says old volcanic rock o Banks Peninsula, one of Aroma’s operating areas, is very di icult for drilling. “We designed a new anchor type speci ically for this area where the anchor warps are held securely above the seabed to avoid cha ing.” (03) 573 8045 11 Auckland Street, Picton 7220 info@marineservicesnz.com www.marineservicesnz.com fb.com/msnzltd
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=