Of mussels and seals and other New Zealand Wildlife

Today we visited The Cawthron Institute, an aquaculture research group. Think about the word aquaculture. Does it sound like any other words you know? When I first heard the word aquaculture I thought the person was saying agriculture and I wasn't far off. If agriculture is farming (both in terms of raising animals and plant crops) that takes place on land what do you think aquaculture is?
Aquaculture is farming that takes place in water. You might be asking yourself what sorts of things you could farm in the water. Increasingly, varieties of fish, crustaceans and mollusks are being raised commercially in aquaculture farms. Often, these "fish farms" are actually situated right in large bodies of water like an ocean or lake. The Cawthron Institute works to develop better ways to raise seafood products like green mussels. The institute develops optimal nutrient rich waters and algae as food sources for their aquatic "crops" and they also work to create artificial habitats that allow them to grow more in less space and with fewer resources. The researchers have to understand the biology of their crops, as well as be able to problem solve and even design new ways to keep help their sea life happy. The picture of the bucket pouring water into the tank is an example of the kind of Kiwi innovation that takes place at Cawthron. They had originally purchased an expensive tank system for their oysters but found that the oysters were constantly getting out of the tanks and where not maturing as expected. To create an environment that more closely resembled the natural habitat of the oysters, one of the Cawthron researchers developed a system where buckets fill and dump water into the tanks at regular intervals, thus keeping the water aerated while reproducing the sensation of surf for the oysters. Who would have guessed that visiting a fish hatchery would be so interesting?

After Cawthron, we headed further south where we encountered a black beach with a colony of New Zealand fur seals. When New Zealand was first settled by the Europeans, the fur seal population was virtually wiped out by hunting. As the name suggests, the fur of fur seals was a hot commodity. Now the seals are protected and their numbers are once again rising. The government and people of New Zealand have worked hard to keep New Zealand's natural environment in good shape. Protecting native species like the fur seals is one important way this is done but another key way Kiwis are working to keep New Zealand's natural environment in check is by very careful regulation of any species of plant or animal coming into the country. In the not so distant past, many species of plants and animals were introduced to New Zealand by settlers. Sometimes this was intentional, as in the case of deer and possums. Very often when species from other places are introduced to New Zealand, they take over, spreading quickly and killing off native species in process. This throws the naturally world out of balance and can cause major problems. In the case of possums, New Zealand is fighting back. As part of their possumm eradication efforts, people are setting traps and selling the possums they catch to make possum fur products like socks and hats!