Mussel and dairy farmers meet
From left, Graham Ball (Federated Farmers), Michael Page (crew), Ivan Lecomte (dairy farmer), Hika Rountree (mussel farmer) and Lindsay Nalder (dairy farmer). Photo: Neil Wilson.
Mussel and dairy farmers met at sea last Friday to mark the continuing success of the Aorere Catchment Management Group, a collaboration to improve water quality, with benefit to the offshore mussel industry. Mussel farmers Kris Solly and Hika Rountree hosted a group of 19 farmers and NZ Landcare Trust staff aboard their working vessels, Stray Cat and Jolly Roger.
“It was a good chance to let the farmers know how much we appreciate their efforts in cleaning up the Aorere,” said Hika. “At one stage, before the management group was formed, we could only harvest mussels about 30 percent of the time because the water quality wasn’t good enough. Now that figure is often over 70 percent. That’s impressive.”
The dairy farmers were shown how mussel and scallop spat is gathered and grown on, and how the fully grown mussels are harvested. They were also reminded how good mussels taste. Participants agreed that seeing mussel farming happening first hand gave them a better appreciation of the requirements of the industry.
The idea of the marine field day grew out of a meeting in Pakawau last November. Dairy farmers from the Aorere catchment and marine farming representatives sat down to a lunch of mussel chowder and cheese, among other things, to symbolise the level of co-operation they had achieved so far. The marine farmers were very keen on the field day suggestion said Gretchen Robertson, a water scientist working for Landcare Trust, and the Aorere project’s co-ordinator.
“The trust’s mission is ‘sustainable land management through community involvement’.
“The Aorere project is a very good example of that, and the field day on the mussel farmers’ boats is a natural extension of that belief. The progress of the project so far is built on an enduring sense of community and some serious investment by the participating farmers. $1.5 million worth of best-practice management work is planned by the farmers in the project, and that doesn’t count the money they had spent already,” continued Ms Robertson.
The Aorere Catchment Management Group was formed in 2006. At the start, Landcare provided expert assistance with the development of individual farm environment plans for the participating farmers.
“Once you agree to be involved, they come and walk your farm with you,” said John Nalder, one of the participating farmers. “The process checks every culvert, ditch and drain and provide you with pages of ‘best management practices’. It’s a very thorough process.”
Efforts made by farmers in the Aorere catchment have reduced E coli levels to a marked extent, and both dairy and marine groups are committed to maintaining the project’s momentum.
Gretchen said that initial funding had only allowed for 14 of the 33 farms in the catchment to take part in this project, which is due to finish in June this year. “But another funding application is under way and we’re very hopeful.
“The trust is about experts being on tap, not on top. We provide the good science to support what the farmers are doing. They lead us, not the other way round.”
Neil Wilson
