NIWA Bream Bay Kingfish Hatchery

NIWA Bream Bay has developed commercial scale hatchery production technology for yellowtail kingfish and could supply 500,000 fingerlings per year which would be the basis for the establishment of a kingfish aquaculture industry in NZ. The Northland Aquaculture Development Group has determined that a kingfish farming industry earning more than $250 million annually could be developed in under 20 years, providing hundreds of jobs. Kingfish would be the biggest aquaculture speies for Northland according to this strategy. A Northland kingfish aquaculture industry is poised ready for commercial development.

NIWA Bream Bay is a $50 million aquaculture research facility and has probably the biggest nutrition and feed testing capability for fish in Australasia. On site there are more than 20 staff members, and together with others in the wider NIWA organisation they have brought in kingfish breeding stock, developed captive breeding techniques, and proved that they have a commercial fit-for-purpose juvenile fish production capacity in the hatchery of around 500,000 fish. They now have an ongoing programme of cross-breeding and selection.

Yellowtail kingfish are widely distributed throughout the warm, temperate waters of the southern hemisphere. New Zealand kingfish, also known as kingi or yellowtail, are found from the Kermadec Islands to Banks Peninsula during the summer months. In the wild they can reach 1.7 m in length and weigh 56 kg. Their long and streamlined bodies are greeny blue on the dorsal surface shading to silvery white beneath. The common name “yellowtail” comes from their bright yellow fins (particularly the caudal fin), but they also have a distinctive golden brown stripe running laterally from the snout to the tail. They are rapacious carnivores, feeding mainly on small pelagic fish such as trevally, piper and garfish. Commercial catches of New Zealand kingfish are small, seasonal and unpredictable and they are not included in the Quota Management System (QMS). Closely related species are farmed overseas, so aquaculture of the New Zealand species can provide a reliable and controlled production of kingfish to supply growing domestic and international markets.

NIWA’s research has identified kingfish as an ideal aquaculture species because it is highly valuable, has a rapid growth rate (reaching marketable size of 3 kg in 12–15 months), is amenable to aquaculture conditions, has excellent flesh quality for a range of product options (such as whole fillets, sushi and the highly valued sashimi) and has significant domestic and international market opportunities. Kingfish could be grown in sea cages in Northland, the Firth of Thames and perhaps Bay of Plenty. NIWA’s objective is to put together a commercial package that includes production, processing, packaging, transport and potential markets.

For a kingfish aquaculture industry to develop, there will need to be suitable water with good shore access and sufficient capital to build the facility and fund it through the first five years during which the fish grow to harvest size.

The Northland Aquaculture Development Group (NADG) has determined that kingfish farming would provide the bulk of the $300 million annual earnings target by 2030, and more than 500 new jobs

NIWA is a research advisor for the NADG and will be providing knowhow and seed stock for a start-up venture.

“We have developed commercial-scale hatchery production technology for kingfish that will allow New Zealand to capitalise on this potentially lucrative opportunity. Our hatchery capability means we can now produce 500,000 kingfish fingerlings per year from our facility in Northland, which would meet the needs of the early stages of an industry in New Zealand.

Dr. Michael Bruce, manager of Bream Bay Aquaculture Park says, “Because we have achieved this for New Zealand’s aquaculture sector, we can now focus our research from hatchery technology to on-growing technology and selective breeding to support the industry’s development and its future competitiveness.

For on-growing, this means the setting up and running of sea cages to take the hatchery produced fingerlings and grow them on to marketable size. For this we will need to work out how to handle and feed kingfish in sea cages efficiently, not only to maximise growth and reduce costs, but also importantly, develop these processes from a perspective that allows the sustainable and responsible use of our marine environment.”