New rules make life easier for paua farmers

Paua farmers can get special permits to take the small amounts of breeding stock they need from the ocean themselves, under new government rules.

But the Paua Industry Council warns that could result in a lack of species diversity, which may cause deformities and diseases strong enough to wipe out fish stocks.

Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley approved the issuing of special permits to paua farmers, which exempt them from a minimum quota (ACE) holding for paua.

The change came into effect on October 1. The minimum amount of paua quota a commercial fisher can hold in the PAU5A catchment around Southland is one tonne, which far exceeds the 40kg or so required by farmers.

As a result, farmers had to get breeding paua from commercial sources, such as paua divers and quota holders.

"That worked well where farmers had good working relationships with local paua divers, but some, such as Southern Marine Farms (in Bluff), appeared to be having difficulty," Mr Heatley said.

David Corbin, of Southern Marine Farms, said the old law was holding it back. "We only need about 200 animals but no quota holder wants to sell us 40kg of paua, they want to sell four tonnes of it."

The law change could increase the hatchery's production from 1.2 million to 2 million paua per year, he said.

But Paua Industry Council chief executive Jeremy Cooper said allowing farmers to repeatedly breed from stock in their own waters would generate a lot of inbred paua leading to deformities, a lack of genetic fitness and the development of diseases.

He believed a centralised supply of brood stock (breeding paua) and spat (juvenile paua), which could be certified and tagged before being sent out to farms, was a better way to go.

But Mr Corbin dismissed these concerns and said genetic diversity would be maintained under the new law, as the paua in southern waters was already a mix of abalone from other areas.

"When paua spawn, the larvae swim for anything up to 15 days before settling. Who knows where they end up after 15 days?"

Paua farmers need to contact the Fisheries Ministry office in Nelson to apply for a special permit.

michael.forbes@stl.co.nz

- © Fairfax NZ News

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