Plant & Food Research expand seafood research capability

Plant & Food Research expand seafood research capability

Nelson, 2 April 2014 - Plant & Food Research’s new Maitai Seafood Research Facility was officially opened yesterday by Hon. Dr Nick Smith, MP for Nelson, at a function attended by local officials and more than 130 representatives from both the seafood industry and science community.

The new $2.8 million facility has been purpose-built to accommodate the company’s growing Seafood Technologies Portfolio and support the delivery of world-class R&D for the benefit of New Zealand’s seafood industry.

“Seafood is a core sector for Plant & Food Research and a growth area for the company’s scientific and business activities” says Plant & Food Research CEO, Peter Landon-Lane. “The new Maitai facility will help us meet this recent growth as well as accommodate future expansion

“The success we’re celebrating today is a reflection of the hard work of those involved in Seafood R&D over many years, especially of the work carried out within the recently created Seafood Technologies Portfolio.”

The new facility will support all aspects of the company’s seafood research, most notably ongoing developments within the Precision Seafood Harvesting Primary Growth Partnership programme and the MBIE-funded Wildfish 2030 programme.

The new site’s increased research capacity will allow Plant & Food Research to hold a wider range of species at various life stages and provides the ability to increase the quality and quantity of finfish that can be held by the Institute for research into physiology, behaviour and husbandry.

The facility is also expected to support research designed to better understand the sensory, behavioural and physiological characteristics of seafood species of key interest to the New Zealand seafood industry, such as snapper, through work funded both by the New Zealand Government and through private commercial work.

ENDS

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