| 33 Saavid Diving T T Karen Phelps Increasing pāua size limits focus for company Saavid Diving’s Jason and David Baker. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Saavid Diving is starting to see the benefit of major investment made just before the pandemic hit to meet demand for live pāua. The company built a holding facility in Picton and bought a 16.7m crayfish boat from western Australia, fitting it with live tanks on board. The holding facility has a recirculating temperature controlled system. A biofilter removes ammonia, that the pāua secrete when stressed or they experience a temperature change, and turns it into nitrite, which is then managed via a testing regime. It’s ensured a top quality fresh product that is exported via a wholesaler. Saavid Diving also still do some contract harvesting for Moana New Zealand, the biggest quota owners of pāua in New Zealand. Company owner Jason Baker says the Saavid Diving difference is the care taken to produce the best product. “We have to buy in Annual Catch Entitlement (ACE) every year to fulfil our live orders. It’s an expensive cost so we have to get everything we can out of what we catch. That means doing what is best for the pāua and handling it with care,” he says. Saavid Diving was started by Jason’s parents David and Sandra who hailed from a family farm in Queen Charlotte Sounds at Cape Jackson. David started fishing to subsidise farming in the 70s and when the quota management system came in was allocated a pāua quota allowing him to harvest from Kahurangi on the West Coast to the Clarence River on the east coast. The family moved to Picton and grew the business, contract harvesting predominantly for Ngai Tahu. Around eight years ago David and Jason started to look at ways to add value to the business, which led them down the path of supplying live products for domestic and export markets. The business has grown steadily and now employs a team of two permanent divers, along with Jason who also still dives, and three other casual staff. David is semi-retired but still involved in the operational side of the business and on the boat. Jason’s wife Sarah takes on the administration role in the business. Both Jason and David have been involved for many years in the local Pauamac7, which is the local industry body that works under the national Pāua Industry Council. Jason presently holds the title of associate chairperson. He is a firm advocate of pushing up pāua size limits: “It’s about managing abundance and leaving as much fish in the water as you possibly can, harvesting heavier fish and taking less catch for your tonnage. Pāua are a broadcast spawner so if the males and females are too far apart fertilisation doesn’t occur. So high density of animals ensures a good recruitment of juveniles. Also when things go wrong, like a big storm event that affects the pāua, you have a larger base to spring back from. We recognise we are in a privileged position making a living out of a natural resource that belongs to everyone. So we have been at the forefront of pushing up size limits.” While 125mm is the minimum legal size, in the main area in which the Bakers fish the industry is choosing to voluntarily harvest at 131mm. When the Kaikōura earthquake affected the coastline there the Pauamac agreed that its members would harvest at 145mm to take a cautious approach and allow stocks to recover. Jason says that for Saavid Diving it’s about running a financially viable business based on sustainable stock. He is pleased that the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries Award Winner at the 2023 New Zealand Seafood Sustainability Awards was the Pāua Industry Council that for over 40 years has made substantial contributions to the pāua industry. Mentioned was the council’s implementation of electronic monitoring and data logging before legislated requirements, reseeding of pāua following the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake, and translocation projects to assess the benefits of moving slow growing pāua to areas known for being productive. “In our area we are noticing severe impacts from climate change and seeing habitat loss and a lack of juveniles in some areas,” notes Jason. “That’s due to sedimentation, water temperature and general human land based activities, which all have an impact on the marine environment. For example across the top of Marlborough Sounds there is maybe 10% of the stock that was there eight years ago. If the stock is not there no pāua business will be sustainable so it’s incredibly important we take care of our stock.” Live Seafood is Better for You It Even Tastes Better,Fresher Get it Fast and Without Hasssle www.livefish.co.nz Your Own Personal Fish Market. Marine painting | Full boat repaints and touch ups Colour matching | Non-skid painting Antifoul | Propspeed PROUD SUPPORTERS OF 03 573 8448 info@eliteboatbuilders.co.nz www.eliteboatbuilders.co.nz SAAVID DIVING. Proud Exporters of... • Live Blackfoot Paua • Live Greenshell Mussel • Fresh NZ King Salmon Ikana NZ, like Saavid Diving, are proudly NZ family owned. It has been a great joy to work with the Bakers over many years now in a spirit of mutual trust where one’s word is the bond. It has also been a great privilege for Ikana to be able to provide export services for such a superior seafood product as Saavid’s Live Paua, a product that delivers so consistently due to the care that is taken by the Bakers at every step. Steve Glass steve@ikana.co.nz +64 27 4321 343 New Zealand WeChat ID: MusselMaster
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