Introduced Pacific oysters are an important aquaculture industry, but since the ostreid herpes virus was discovered in New Zealand oysters in late 2010 production has more than halved and hundreds of jobs have disappeared. To find out what’s being done to help the industry Alison Ballance heads to Cawthron Aquaculture Park to meet Nick King, Cultured Shellfish Programme Leader at the Cawthron Institute. The Cawthron Institute has been breeding oysters for many years, working to increase the value of the product by breeding for attributes such as size and appearance. Now they are working with industry to breed virus-resistant oysters, and report that the first results are promising.
In the photo above, Nick King stands next to tanks containing oyster spat that has been bred in Cawthron's breeding programme and is now being grown on by Aotearoa Fisheries.
