MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

New Zealand revolutionary sustainable fishing technology wins awards

The new technology ”will allow fish to be landed alive, and in perfect condition, while safely releasing small fish and by-catch” says Minister Guy

Precision Seafood Harvesting (PSH) a new, sustainable fishing technology tipped to revolutionize the global industry, has won two major categories at the KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards along with being named runner up for the night’s Supreme Award.

 Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has welcomed the “fitting recognition” of the six-year Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) program. PSH is the commercialization phase of nearly ten years of New Zealand research.

Fishing companies Aorearoa Fisheries, Snaford and Sealord are investing NZD 26 million (USD 22.2 million) into the project under a Primary Growth Partnership with the Ministry for Primary Industries, which is matching the industry investment. Scientists at Plant & Food Research are partnering with the fishing companies to develop and trial the technology on commercial fishing vessels.

“The program is in its third year of commercializing fishing technology that will allow fish to be landed alive, and in perfect condition, while safely releasing small fish and by-catch,” says Guy. “The potential economic and environmental benefits are huge, and it’s no surprise it’s attracting so much attention. This is a NZD 52 million (USD 44.4 million) project with funding from both industry and government.”

PSH netted the Researcher Entrepreneur Award for Alistair Jerrett at Plant & Food Research, recognizing smart entrepreneurship and the vision and ability to bring clever science to market. The program also took out The People’s Choice Award recognizing the Plant & Food scientists voted by their peers following Awards Day presentations for research commercialization excellence that is well presented and inspires others.PSH was also named runner up for the Kiwinet Supreme Award.

Alistair Jerrett said he was humbled by the award and thanked the fishing company partners in the project for their foresight to “collaborate on and invest in creating a sustainable future for fishing, which has the ability to change the way the world fishes.”

Sealord CEO Graham Stuart, said that PSH was a “once in a lifetime opportunity for science, Government and the companies involved. The positive impacts of the technology for sustainability and quality are transformative and expected to boost export returns by NZD 100m (USD 85.5m) by 2020 through use of the PSH technology.”

PSH is a best-practice example of the innovation that the partnership between government, Crown Institutes and businesses enables.

”It shows that smart ideas and smart action deliver smart results,” says Guy.

KiwiNet, or the Kiwi Innovation Network, is a consortium of 13 Universities, Crown Research Institutes and a Crown Entity established to boost commercial outcomes from publicly funded research. (FIS).-