24 | Sustainability crucial to pāua industry The company harvests 40 to 45 tonnes of pāua a year, supplying several different exporters, mainly for the Chinese and wider Asian markets. Saavid Diving T T Rosa Watson “The most important thing is that it’s sustainable. You should never manage your stock by what your customers want.” REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT With the export of live pāua growing, particularly to Asian countries, Picton-based Saavid Diving is placing even more focus on sustainable harvesting. The company harvests 40 to 45 tonnes of pāua a year, supplying several different exporters, mainly for the Chinese and wider Asian markets. Nationally, the industry nationwide contributes $50 million to the economy each year, with the Marlborough region making up 7% of this. Owner Jason Baker says the market for live product has grown substantially over the last decade, and is quickly becoming a cornerstone of the industry. “Certainly it has grown in the last five years, particularly their consumption and acceptance of the live product.” In a major investment five years ago, the company built a holding facility at Picton and acquired a 16.7m crayfish boat, Ocean Wanderer, from Western Australia, fitting it with live tanks on board. The holding facility has a re-circulating temperature-controlled system. A biofilter removes ammonia that the pāua secrete when stressed or when they experience a temperature change, and turns it into nitrite, which is then managed via a testing regime. These developments allow the company to grow its live products, and ensured a top-quality fresh product that is exported via a wholesaler, Jason says. “We built an initial (facility) when we started doing live products about 10 years ago ... (it was) a bit of a back shed-job to see if it could work.” And it did, so five years later the company expanded it further to now hold 1200kg. There is also a 5.6m trailer boat for day trips and shorter windows in the weather. However, they are on the lookout for another location, with the Port of Marlborough redeveloping the Picton site into warehouse space, which Jason says could be an opportunity for further expansion. “We’ll try to expand a bit so we’ve got more hold capacity.” The family-owned business, started by Jason’s father, David, began commercial pāua harvesting in the late 1960s and the business has steadily grown since the introduction of the quota management system in 1986. “The family owned a farm in the outer Queen Charlotte Sound, and David started diving to make ends meet. That was how we got into it,” Jason says. Each year the company has to buy an Annual Catch Entitlement (ACE). Alongside export orders, Saavid Diving also contract harvests for Moana New Zealand, the biggest quota owners of pāua in New Zealand, and a few domestic customers and wholesalers in Auckland to be canned or frozen. TODD PARK , UN I T 5 , 1 5 JOHN S EDDON DR I VE | E L SDON , POR I RUA 5 0 2 2 , NZ M : + 6 4 2 1 4 5 6 6 0 0 P : + 6 4 4 8 0 1 6 4 2 0 MOA N A .CO. N Z MOANA NZ , PURVE YORS OF F I NE SUS TA I NAB L E S EAFOOD AND PROUD TO B E AS SOC I AT ED WI TH THE BAKER FAM I L Y FOR MANY Y EARS . . Jason says with the refit of the vessel five years ago they are operating at a high industry standard. “I feel we’ve pretty much got that at a sweet spot.” But the big focus is ensuring the operation is sustainable and the fishery continues to thrive, Jason says. He chairs the Pauamac7, the local branch of the industry body that oversees the region’s quota management, which runs along the coast from the Kahurangi River to the Clarence River. There were exciting scientific developments that would assist the industry, he says. Research by expert ecologist Dr Jeremy Prince has allowed harvesters to assess growth rings on the shell to see how young it is and how many times the animal has reproduced. This development had already seen great results, Jason says. While 125mm is the minimum legal size in New Zealand, industry members maintain variable size limits at 132cm and up to 145mm in some areas. “As an industry we know (125mm) is wrong, so we are fishing at a higher size.” On top of this, there are closed seasons throughout the year to give the fishery a rest and a chance to replenish. And with climate change affecting ocean temperatures, and in turn affecting pāua habitat, it was even more pertinent that care was taken to protect the species. “The habitat’s changed a lot in the last five years in some areas of the fishery and it’s not supporting pāua life like it used to.” Increasing demand for the product could not come at the expense of the fishery, Jason says. “The most important thing is that it’s sustainable. You should never manage your stock by what your customers want.”
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