Taranaki paua farm site chosen

Press, 27 November 1986, Page 40

Taranaki paua farm site chosen

PA New Plymouth Taranaki’s first commercial paua farm will be established south-west of New Plymouth to avoid pollution from the wastewater ocean outfall at Waitara. A Bell Block businessman had been planning the venture for the last month, the "Taranaki Herald” newspaper reported. The original plan was to establish the farm for cocktail-size paua at Waitara. Three or four sites were chosen for consideration. The preferred site was near where the proposed outfall might go. But the risk of pollution from the proposed and existing outfalls me&nt the

farm would be established south of the city, possibly near Okato, the businessman said. The venture could have significant benefits for the province’s depleted natural stocks of the shellfish. It could be the first farm of its kind to raise cocktail-size paua and would sell to both domestic and international markets, the man said. The main export markets would probably be Australia and Asia. It is proposed to build a land-based farm for the paua which would be fed from the sea via small pipeline. Seaweed could be grown and spread over the specially designed breeding beds for the shellfish to feed on.