Nelson Science Stories

In the 1990s, Cawthron’s Aquaculture Park began with Henry Kaspar’s vision, converting a small oyster hatchery into a research facility. The installation of a polythene pond liner, deployed by surprised volunteers in minutes rather than hours, turned out to be a good omen. The mussel breeding program initially struggled with highly labor-intensive batch rearing. SwItching to a continuous-flow system proved critical for scaling production efficiently.

In the 1990s, New Zealand’s mussel industry relied on unpredictable wild spat collection. Scientist had been working for decades to grow Greenshell mussels in a hatchery, without success. A would-be PhD student persuaded Cawthron to give him a job and build a research hatchery to tackle the problem. We hired him and he succeeded. The story describes the beginnings of Cawthron’s mussel breeding programme, the Cawthron Aquaculture Park and one of the largest shellfish breeding hatcheries in the world.

In the late 1990s, a massive toxic algal bloom off the North Island halted mussel spat transfers to South Island farms. Cawthron set up emergency 24-hour testing, hiring and training casual staff to meet demand. Later, they developed an innovative solution to clean contaminated spat, enabling the restoration of South Island operations within months. That successful project strengthened Cawthron’s industry ties, and won the industry’s research prize that year.

Cawthron found itself in the centre of a search for alternatives for tobacco growers in the Nelson Tasman District. A quartet consisting of Cawthron, the DSIR, MAF Technology and the NZ Trade Development Board signed a contract with a giant Japanese company specialising in medicinal herbs. A company, Medinzaherbs Ltd, was formed and at its peak was harvesting and drying 35 Ha of root crops. The research eventually showed that the soil and climate required for adequate yields from these crops were very difficult to find in New Zealand and the project was eventually shut down.

In the years immediately after I joined Cawthron, contacts with Japanese scientists boosted our connections with New Zealand research organisations and enhanced our reputation. Cawthron Fellow Prof Tatsuo Kosuge, recently retired from the University of Shizuoka, provided crucial funding during difficult times. I learned a great deal from him and his connections with Japanese academics and companies proved invaluable. This episode describes some examples, with more to follow.