Business South November 2021

32 | Marine Farm Management Surf to turf proving a large winner T T Karen Phelps Marine Farm Management owner Jonathan Large on the job, having secured another haul of mussels. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT J onathan Large freely admits he likes to have his finger in a few pies and the pleth - ora of businesses he and wife Narelle have set up are ample demonstration of this fact. The couple own mussel farm contracting business Marine Farm Management, have their own mussel farms, harvest seaweed, grow grapes, make wine and run a hair dress- ing salon from their farm. Jonathan comes from an intergenerational mussel farming family. His father Ken started mussel farming in the eighties and Jonathan started going out on the boats when he was just five years old. Jonathan and Narelle now own that farm along with various others spread over Pelorus Sound, Golden Bay and Tasman Bay, which sees them grow around 250 tonnes of mus- sels each year. Their mussels are primarily destined for Aroma, which grows, extracts, and supplies New Zealand natural ingredients to world leading nutraceutical companies. Jonathan says mussel farming is very differ - ent to land based farming as they have even less control over various factors affecting their business. For example consent to farm in an area may not be renewed the next time and there is no power over the amount of plankton floating in the water for the mussels to feed on. That’s why experience is so important and the Large’s Marine Farm Management clients benefit from their knowledge. The company looks after farm management, crops, databas- es and floatation on behalf of growers in the top of the South Island. It even finds markets for product if required. “We check on size, condition and when the mussels will be ready,” says Jonathan. “But first up we need to get the density, stocking rate, type and size of spat correct. “We want a good quality end result and volume that doesn’t take too long to reach maturity – 15-24 months. It’s imperitive to get these things right.” Marine Farm Management has experienced huge growth in recent years increasing 600%. Jonathan says a real point of difference for Marine Farm Management has been going the extra mile for its clients. “We always say ‘yes’ to anything they ask of us. Even if it’s a bit outside the square, we’ll find a way. We’re adaptive, move quickly and are very client focused in everything we do.” A good example is that when a client wanted a faster way to get around his farms Marine Farm Management sourced a high speed catamaran. “Normally sourcing vessels travel at 12-17 knots. The foiling technology of the catamaran means it can travel at 30 knots. This client can now visit his farms in one day as opposed to two. It’s also transformed that aspect of our business,” explains Jonathan. The Larges have also been involved in industry research. Jonathan, who is president of the Marine Farming Association, says mon- itoring and consultancy work is also an aspect of the services he offers. For example Marine Farm Management provides vessels and staff for a three year project to monitor King Shag in the region and it’s turned up some surpris- ing results, which are due to be published later this year. “Basically it’s flipped previous research on its head and found that mussel farms bring a lot of benefits to king shags such as providing places to roost and the ability to feed on the fish that hang around marine farms.” Another synergistic arm to what the Larges do has been harvesting seaweed. The Undaria species is considered a pest in New Zealand waters but Jonathan says government has found it difficult to eradicate and is now taking a different approach to see how it might be used as a resource instead. While it cannot be planted, Jonathan can harvest wild undaria growing on his mussel lines. It is harvested by hand then sent to Waikaitu in Nelson who manufacture it into nutritional products and biostimulants for the horticultural industry. The Larges are current- ly working towards an application to be able to farm the species and if successful will be the first in New Zealand to do so. It’s a real growth market in Asia and worth billions of dollars each year. So if we can farm it in New Zealand from our clean, green waters we could have a real niche market. We want to be right at the start of this burgeoning industry.” The Larges live on a 4ha property in Riv- erlands, Blenheim they purchased in 2001. Originally they had no thoughts of starting a vineyard but a chance conversation over lunch one day with Jonathan’s brother, Matt Large who is head winemaker at Wither Hills, got them thinking about the possibililty. By the end of the meal Jonathan was on the phone ordering the things he needed to get started. They now have 4ha planted with the purchase of an additional 2ha neighbouring block in 2013. Initially selling grapes to the wine industry, in 2010 oversupply hit seeing many growers left high and dry. This led to the start of Marlborough Grape Growers Cooperative. Starting with ten growers it now has 88 growers which produce 12,500 tonnes of fruit per year. The Sauvignon Blanc is made then trans- ported in bladders to markets globally where it is bottled. Jonathan says this means less transportation costs and it is also a more environmentally friendly solution than bottling locally. “Mussel farms bring a lot of benefits to king shags such as providing places to roost and the ability to feed on the fish that hang around marine farms.”