Programme shareholders
A new fishing method to improve quality and returns. A new fishing method to improve quality and returns.The shareholders of Precision Seafood Harvesting (PSH) are Aotearoa Fisheries, Sanford, and the Sealord Group. The fishing companies involved in PSH hold between 30 and 60 percent of the quota for the 9 top species fished in New Zealand waters. Through the PGP programme these 3 fishing companies have been able to create a new method of fishing called Tiaki.
The challenge
Traditional fishing nets catch a wide variety of fish sizes and species, meaning a catch can include high proportions of undesired fish or undersized fish, which cannot be processed.
Fish can also be damaged in the process of being loaded onto the deck.
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The solution
PSH has developed a prototype harvesting system that aims to target specific species and fish size, as well as enabling fish to be landed in much better condition than traditional trawls.
PSH will also explore methods for holding and on-rearing live fish to enable fresh fish to be provided on demand.
Under design test conditions, PSH's first trawl prototypes are successfully delivering low-fatigue, low-damage, and high-value fish. Commercial testing commenced in June 2013.
Outcome Logic Model
Outcomes to date
- The post-harvest survival rates for juvenile snapper landed in the new modular harvest systems (MHS - the fishing gear developed by the programme) are significantly higher than those caught using conventional mesh trawls.
- PSH and MPI are in the final stages of finalising the methodology and analytical processes that will be used to validate these initial survival results.
- The prototype designs have been further modified for better performance. Larger and stronger designs have been tested on hoki factory trawlers and are now going into commercial test phase.
- Formal protection of the intellectual property by patent is progressing, in order to ensure that the PSH technology and seafood outcomes are differentiated from standard trawl caught fish.
- NZ Innovation Council’s 2014 Innovators Awards, PSH was the winner of the Innovation in Sustainability & Clean Tech award and the Supreme Innovator award.
- Tiaki method of fishing launched in Febraury 2016.
- PSH won the Callaghan Innovation Maori Innovation Award in June 2016.
Audit
Key facts
Programme start: April 2012
Length: 6 years
PGP funding: $24 million
Industry funding: $24 million
Crown funding paid out to programme for work done to 30 September31 August 2016 : $13,095,072.78 $12,831,709.98
Commercial partners: Aotearoa Fisheries, Sanford and the Sealord Group
Estimated potential economic benefits to NZ: $43.6M per annum by 2025