56 | Saavid Diving MARINE PROUD SUPPORTERS OF SAAVID DIVING. 03 573 8448 info@eliteboatbuilders.co.nz www.eliteboatbuilders.co.nz . . . . . Marine painting | Full boat repaints and touch ups | Colour matching Non-skid painting | Antifoul | Propspeed 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 Pāua outlook positive Saavid Diving harvests about 40 to 45 tonnes of pāua each year, supplying export partners serving China and other Asian markets, as well as domestic customers. T T Kelly Deeks Changing ocean conditions and the effects of land-based activity are making commercial pāua diving less predictable, while growing demand for live product is opening up export opportunities for Picton-based Saavid Diving. The family-owned business harvests about 40 to 45 tonnes of pāua each year, supplying export partners serving China and other Asian markets, as well as domestic customers. Managing director Jason Baker says the past 12 months have brought a tougher season and an uneven export market. Saavid’s season runs from October to September, with demand traditionally easing for about a month in June or July before picking up around Chinese festivals. This year, the slowdown lasted three months. Despite the volatility, Jason says the outlook for New Zealand’s live pāua is positive. Over the past decade, Asian markets have shifted away from canned product towards live pāua, which attracts higher prices. Feedback on New Zealand product has been encouraging, with our wild-caught live pāua a strong competitor against farmed pāua on size, flavour, and texture. Although transporting live pāua remains difficult because the animals do not tolerate being out of the water. Saavid started to switch to live supply 10 years ago, refitting a 16.7-metre vessel, Ocean Wanderer, with live tanks in 2018. and expended their into a new larger holding facility 18 months ago building a temperature-controlled holding facility in Tua Marina. Its recirculating system and biofilter manage waste produced when pāua are stressed or temperatures change. It can hold up to 3000kg. The business, founded by Jason’s father David, began commercial harvesting in the late 1960s. Today, it also harvests under contract for Moana New Zealand and supplies domestic wholesalers. But unpredictable weather is making it harder to get divers on the water. Jason says conditions that once offered a reliable week of good diving weather can now be reduced to three workable days. He is concerned about pāua habitat deteriorating in parts of the Marlborough Sounds and elsewhere. Sediment washed into waterways after rain can cloud coastal water and prevent diving. Jason says the contrast with areas such as Stewart Island, where there is no farming and less human activity, shows how land use can affect the marine environment. “People think the runoff disappears into the river, but of course it actually ends up in the sea,” he says, adding that forestry, farming, and recreational activity can all contribute to sedimentation. He says public debate and environmental groups consistently put too much emphasis on commercial fishing and too little on landbased impacts. He also argues for a more united approach from pāua operators, saying this limited and precious resource would benefit from greater collaboration rather than several companies competing separately. He was disappointed by the public backlash surrounding the Fisheries Amendment Bill, which he says included positive changes enabling more proactive catch management. Jason is director of the Pāua Industry Council and executive member of PauaMAC7, the local industry group overseeing quota management from the Kahurangi River to the Clarence River. Research into pāua growth rings is helping harvesters better understand age and reproduction, while some areas already use minimum sizes above the national legal limit of 125 millimetres. “Better information about pāua growth and habitat is essential to managing the fishery as ocean conditions change, and long-term stock health should always take precedence over short-term market demand.”
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