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August 19, 2022
Precision seafood harvesting gets backing for next phase
Adam Gifford
Posted On August 19, 2022
The Government is investing in a plan to complete and commercialise trawling technology developed by Māori fishing firms Sealord Group and Moana New Zealand along with Sanford and Plant & Food Research.
Just under half the funding for the three-year $9.48 million programme will come from the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund.
Oceans and Fisheries Minister David Parker told the Seafood New Zealand conference in Nelson the system allows most undersized fish to escape unharmed before the catch lands on deck.
He says the earlier Precision Seafood Harvesting partnership proved the technology works, and the next step is to complete research to prove its ability to maintain the quality of the fish caught.
The programme will look for a more efficient and less costly way to manufacture the harvesting system.
It will also complete work on a related prototype, Datalink, which provides real-time “net-to-vessel” data on catch composition and size.
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