Issue 7, 2015
this issue:
Unlocking the power of the sea
Greenshell™ mussel milestone marked
Salmon diet research project launched
Cawthron joins FoodHQ
Charlie’s corner: Connecting the dots
And more…
A colony of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) being studied by our scientists to understand freshwater algal blooms. Usually bright green but filtered here for effect.
King salmon to
get designer diet
The nutritional requirements
of the rare King salmon species
are the focus of a new research
collaboration based at Cawthron
Aquaculture Park in Nelson.
The $5.2 million project is
spearheaded by New Zealand
King Salmon (NZKS), the world’s
biggest producer of farmed King
salmon. The world-first study aims
to develop a high quality, speciesspecific feed that improves vastly
on the generic products available.
“Currently, global suppliers produce
feed based on environmental
and economic considerations
for Atlantic salmon – but in the
wild, King salmon have a different
habitat, diet and nutritional
requirements,” NZKS Chief
Operating Officer Rubén Álvarez
says. “We want to define what those
differences are so as to enhance
aquaculture feed for the fish, while
at the same time reducing its
environmental footprint.”
To conduct the project, NZKS has
brought together a research group
comprising Seafood Innovations
Ltd, Cawthron Institute, the
Nelson Marlborough Institute
of Technology and Danish feed
producer, BioMar.
Greenshell™ mussel
milestone marked
New Zealand aquaculture is
getting stronger mussels, thanks
to some heavyweight Kiwi
science underway in Nelson.
A new hatchery and lab facility has
opened at Cawthron Aquaculture Park,
where Greenshell™ mussels are selectively
bred for industry. Until now, the mussel
farming industry has relied on baby
mussels or ‘spat’ collected from the wild
– which means variability in their supply
and performance.
“If farmers can get their spat from a
hatchery, that changes a lot. They’ll know
what they’re getting and when they’ll get
it, and it will produce high performing
mussels,” Aquaculture New Zealand Chief
Executive, Gary Hooper, says.
The world-first hatchery was built by
Shellfish Production and Technology
New Zealand Ltd (SPATnz) as part
of a $26 million Primary Growth
Partnership programme between SPATnz,
Sanford Limited and the Ministry for
Primary Industries.
It marks a significant milestone in
Cawthron, government and industry’s 20-
Cawthron and SPATnz are
working together to enhance the
Greenshell™ mussel for export.
Hand feeding in the New Zealand
King Salmon hatchery
year quest to commercialise breeding of
the iconic delicacy.
“Great work like this is a direct result of
science and industry working together.
It means Greenshell™ mussels have the
potential to become an increasingly
higher value product,” says Cawthron
Institute Chief Executive, Professor
Charles Eason.
SPATnz Programme Manager, Dr
Rodney Roberts, says the technology
used to breed the mussels is natural
and sustainable.
“Our breeding programme relies on
conventional selective breeding –
just like terrestrial farmers have used
for generations. There’s no genetic
engineering involved, but modern
techniques like DNA fingerprinting
are really useful to make sure that
our breeding population remains
genetically diverse.
“We feed them all-natural algae like
they would eat in the sea and we keep
them in clean seawater. So, we can
naturally breed healthy baby mussels to
underpin a wonderfully sustainable and
nutritious food.”
Unlocking the power of the sea
Unlocking the health
benefits of New Zealand’s
seafood and other marine
organisms is the focus of a
new research collaboration
between New Zealand and
Japanese scientists.
The research by Cawthron Institute
and Japan’s Hokkaido University and
National Research Institute of Fisheries
Science aims to better understand the
link between food, obesity and diabetes.
The team will begin by investigating
the natural properties of the iconic
New Zealand Greenshell™ mussel, pāua,
and several species of seaweed and algae.
“The first step is to determine if the foods
have any effect on the diseases. If they do,
then we’ll attempt to identify and isolate
the cause for those effects, and then see
if we can influence the levels of those
components in raw foods, or replicate
them artificially in the lab,” Cawthron
analytical chemist and project leader,
Dr Paul McNabb, says.
capability in New Zealand marine species
with Japan’s world-leading expertise in
human diseases and nutrition.
It builds on 20 years of research between
Cawthron and Japanese scientists
looking at natural toxins in shellfish, and
also complements Cawthron’s existing
research (with Malaghan Institute of
Medical Research and the University of
Otago) into health promoting properties
from Greenshell™ mussels and algae.
The collaboration is one of three national
research projects announced by the
Ministry of Business, Innovation and
Employment (MBIE) to promote research
collaborations between New Zealand and
Japan. MBIE is investing up to $400,000 in
each project over two years.
“This government investment will allow us
to accelerate food research at Cawthron
and also strengthen existing partnerships
with Japan and increase knowledge,”
Dr McNabb says.
Algae Technician
Cara McGregor keeps
a close eye on algae
growing at Cawthron
Aquaculture Park.
“We’re not suggesting that food is the
cure for these diseases, but foods can
affect the body’s response to disease –
and we want to find out how and why
this happens.”
The collaboration combines Cawthron’s
scientific, biological and analytical
Cawthron joins FoodHQ
Cawthron Institute has become the
newest member of the FoodHQ
research collaboration.
Cawthron is the first South Island-based
organisation to join FoodHQ. Other
members are AgResearch, AsureQuality,
The Institute of Environmental Science
and Research (ESR), Fonterra, Massey
University, Plant & Food Research, the
Riddet Institute and Building Clever
Communities (BCC) – Manawatu’s business
development agency.
AgResearch Chief Executive and Chairman
of the FoodHQ Board, Dr Tom Richardson,
says having Cawthron Institute as a
partner is a great addition for FoodHQ.
“Cawthron is recognised around the world
for its expertise in seafood safety science,
biosecurity, resource management
and research. Its aquaculture park
is an outstanding demonstration of
what can be achieved with industry
partners,” he says.
“The addition of Cawthron Institute to
the FoodHQ family is significant because
it brings aquaculture science to the
FoodHQ table.”
Cawthron Institute Chief Executive,
Professor Charles Eason, says it’s essential
that seafood is represented alongside
agri-foods in the collaboration.
“Cawthron is the centre for seafood
research and development in the Top of
the South, with a focus on production,
protection and adding value to seafood.
We see FoodHQ as a great opportunity
to help add value to New Zealand’s food
export economy.”
In total, FoodHQ encompasses more
than 2,200 food scientists, engineers,
researchers, PhD students, professionals
and educators.
Experts in seabed
monitoring
Cawthron’s offshore environmental
team is a dedicated group of
marine scientists paving the
way for adaptive management
of offshore industry in
New Zealand, with expert local and
overseas experience.
Created in 2010 and led by
Cawthron marine ecologists Olivia
Johnston and Deanna Elvines,
the team has collectively spent
over 8,000 hours at sea – almost
one year. It forms the longest
established, most experienced
offshore benthic (seabed)
monitoring crew operational in the
New Zealand Exclusive Economic
Zone (EEZ), and includes senior
marine scientists (and offshore
environmental field experts in their
own right) Joanne Ellis, Paul Barter
and Grant Hopkins.
The EEZ Act brings in a marine
consenting process for activities
outside of our territorial sea,
such as oil and gas drilling, and
mining and aquaculture activities.
The team is well equipped to
provide related services, and has
an outstanding track record with
existing offshore clients.
For example, they helped create
Version 1 of the Offshore Taranaki
Environmental Monitoring Protocol
(OTEMP), which is a basis for best
practice by the offshore operators
– science providers and regulators
alike – and demonstrates the
unique relationship the team has
with NZ regulators and operators.
The team reviews OTEMP on an
annual or biannual basis.
Cawthron’s world-leading scientific
and technical staff all contribute to
the organisation’s multidisciplinary
capability, and other environmental
service providers at Cawthron
are also closely involved in
offshore projects.
Learn more about the team and
what they offer at
www.cawthron.org.nz/offshoreenvironmental/
Cawthron’s offshore environmental team.
Charlie’s
corner
Connecting
the dots
At Cawthron, we actively strive
to connect the dots across
all our research programmes,
and maximise the value of
research investment.
Funding mechanisms, no
matter how well intentioned,
can too easily fragment or
compartmentalise research and
development activities.
However, joining the dots –
whether through investment or
the initiative of scientists – can
lead to exciting holistic research,
with research programmes working
together for enhanced results.
Science teacher takes on real
world research
Science teacher Paul Nield has
traded his classroom for the
lab, where he’s solving real
world problems as part of a new
initiative to enhance science
teaching in schools.
The head of science at Golden Bay High
School is based at Cawthron for the next
six months as part of the Science Teaching
Leadership Programme administered
by the Royal Society of New Zealand
and funded by the Ministry of Business,
Innovation and Employment.
Until now, he had very little practical work
experience as a scientist.
“It’s great; I’ve been taken right out of
my comfort zone – and that’s what this
whole experience is about,” Mr Nield
says. “Like many science teachers, almost
all of my science work has been in the
classroom. Partnering with organisations
like Cawthron is so important to helping
teachers like me connect the dots
between what we teach in school and
a science career, ensuring that what we
teach is relevant and authentic.”
Mr Nield’s host at Cawthron, biologist Dr
Jonathan Banks, says as well as hands-on
research, he’ll also learn about arguably
the most important part of being a
scientist today – how to write an effective
funding application.
“He’ll get to see and experience all stages
of a research project – right from the grant
applications and report writing, through
to commercial application of the research
by the client.
“The intention is for Paul to go away
knowing not only about our applied
research, but also the reality of doing
science in today’s competitive climate and
what it takes to be successful.”
We’re applying these principles to
a new research collaboration with
the Malaghan Institute of Medical
Research and Otago and Massey
universities, aimed at verifying and
amplifying the health benefits of
mussels and algae. This research
complements our existing research
into seafood safety, and long-term
shellfish production and breeding
initiatives. Seafood testing requires
the same capability in biology
and chemistry that’s needed to
extract, purify and understand
the properties of these active
ingredients, while our breeding
programme is already looking
at identifying mussels with the
highest yield of health-promoting
active ingredients.
All three research areas of seafood
production, protection and high
value nutrition, could run in
parallel. But cross-fertilisation
enables advances to proceed
hand-in-hand and creates a more
exciting research environment. All
that’s needed is common sense,
alertness and scientists who
really want to make the most of
the opportunity.
And that’s exactly what we have
here at Cawthron.
Professor Charles Eason Chief Executive Cawthron Institute
Golden Bay High School
science teacher Paul Nield.
Food safety science centre
Several workshops have been held this
year to gather stakeholder views and
expectations for the Government’s new
Food Safety Science and Research Centre,
including one for the seafood sector hosted
by Cawthron in Nelson. Other workshops
focussed on the dairy, horticultural and
meat sectors.
Science Matters is a quarterly magazine by Cawthron Institute,
New Zealand’s largest independent science organisation.
The Centre is a collaboration between
Massey University, Cawthron, AgResearch,
The Institute of Environmental Science and
Research (ESR), Plant & Food Research, and
the universities of Auckland and Otago. It
aims to promote, coordinate, and deliver
food safety science and research for
New Zealand.
+64 3 548 2319 [email protected] @cawthron_nz www.cawthron.org.nz