Mahurangi

From Mahurangi Tech to Superyacht Chief Officer - ex student Randall Bower is presented with prestigious Captain Mike Little Award for his dedication to maritime studies.

For Randall Bower, then a raw 17 year old from the Northland town of Hikurangi, Mahurangi Tech was the perfect place to study. Randall showed early on that he had what it takes to go all the way. Graduating in 2002 with a National Certificate in Maritime – Master Commercial Inshore Vessel, he pursued his passion for sport fishing establishing a career that took him to Port Villa, Vanuatu, and on to the legendary mecca of sport fishing itself, Kona, Hawaii.

Full of ambition and understanding that qualifications help you get work, Randall returned to N.Z to gain further qualifications before heading off to Dubai.

In presenting him with this award the Maritime and Seafood Educators of Aotearoa recognize Randall’s maturity as a student, total professionalism, and status as mentor and role model for young Maori.

Today, as Chief Officer on the 57.3m luxury vessel “Ultima III “ cruising the Mediterranean and Caribbean, Randall is now well and truly living the life of the superyacht set.

Aquatics' David Cooper to address world leaders in conservation.

Aquatic’s special projects manager David Cooper heads off to Chester, England, in November to speak at a symposium of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums in conjunction with the venerated Zoological Society London.

Also represented, and no doubt listening very carefully to what David has to say, will be the Freshwater Fish Conservation Group of the IUCN – the International Union for the Conservation of Nature – an environmental protection arm of the United Nations. The IUCN supports scientific research, manages field projects all over the world and brings governments, non-government organizations, United Nations agencies, companies and local communities together to develop and implement policy, laws and best practice. IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental network. IUCN’s work is supported by more than 1,000 professional staff in 60 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world.

David will be talking about the in-situ and ex-situ (in the wild and in zoos and aquariums) conservation of fresh water fish conservation and primarily the breeding of NZ native freshwater fish for the ornamental fish trade and aquaculture purposes. He’ll be telling them about the ground breaking work at Mahurangi Tech with breeding eels, Giant Kokopu and other native fish projects.

Rarotonga Schools Career Expo

RAROTONGA SCHOOLS CAREERS EXPO

22ND JULY – TELECOM SPORTS ARENA, NIKAO – RAROTONGA

On the 22nd July Operations Manager, Christine Burt, and Enrolments Officer, Lynn Kellian, attended the Rarotonga School Careers Expo. It was held in the biggest building on Rarotonga, the Telecom Sports Arena, in Nikao.

From the 32 exhibitors, Mahurangi Technical Institute was one of six New Zealand providers that travelled to Rarotonga for the event. Around 800 students attended the expo with 57 of those from the outer Southern islands of Atiu, Mitiaro, Mauke, Aitutaki and Mangaia. Students were bought in at various times over the day and were free to roam around the exhibits and gather information to help them plan their future. The expo ran from 9.00am to 7.00pm which meant that both families and adults also had the opportunity to look for themselves after work.
The careers expo show cases to Cook Island students the wide range of career options in both the private and public sectors and further education courses that are available to them as well as what school subjects they should be taking in order to reach their career goal. It is also a great opportunity for adults who are looking for a career change or getting back into the work force.

The event was organised by expat New Zealander, Robyn Cannell, Itinerant Careers Councillor with the Cook Islands Ministry of Education. As Robyn says these events provide insight, tools and motivate students to find their real strengths, define their real goals and fulfil them.

The overriding message at this year’s careers expo was careers and further training. As with New Zealand schools, the Cook Islands school curriculum is governed by the NZQA with students undertaking NCEA levels, 1, 2 and 3. This means Cook Island students have easy access to further training in New Zealand.

The event was well orgainsed and the exhibitors were well looked after by students who had volunteered their time to help at the expo. One thing which was very obvious to all exhibitors was the respect shown by students. Relevant questions and discussions about qualifications and subjects that they would need to take were pleasantly forthcoming and most of all they were polite!

Below: Operations Manager, Christine Burt, and Enrolments Officer,

Lynn Kellian, with students from Tereora College and Titikaveka College

Mahurangi Tech release Giant Kokupu

MTI Giant Kokopu Release In Orewa

MTI provided 30 farm raised Giant Kokopu (Galaxias argenteus) for release
in the Nukumea Stream, Orewa. This project, originally conceived by the aquaculture team in
2005, was funded by the Northern Gateway Alliance, builders of the Northern Toll road, as
part of their policy of environmental remediation.

The Kokopu, which had been raised from eggs at the MTI aquaculture research and training
facility in Warkworth each had a radio transmitter inserted and their movements for the
next two years will be monitored by NIWA via streamside monitoring stations that have been
installed. Provided this trial proves successful, there will be up to 1000 fish released in
2011. It is hoped that this will establish a stable population of Giant Kokopu, a species
that were once common in this catchment but have not been recorded there for many years.

Managing Director, Paul Decker, and TV 3 news crew, with Giant Kokopu prior to their release.

Gateway & STAR Update

NZQA Credit Inclusion for the Certificate in Companion Animal Services

MTI has been granted NZQA credit inclusion approval for the Certificate in Companion Animal Services course. The total credit amount for completing all three courses of this certificate is 56. This means that for those secondary school students undertaking the course through the Gateway & STAR programmes are now able to have the associated credits put towards their NCEA Level 1, 2 or 3.

MTI's Recognition of Contribution to Gateway Programme

For the second year running MTI has been acknowledged for its continuing contribution to
the Gateway programme which runs throughout New Zealand's secondary schools. Open to all
senior students MTI has been delivering the Certificate in Companion Animal Services and its
professional Barista training course to students throughout New Zealand.

MTIs Aquaculture Research Team Head to Aussie

New Zealand Redfin Perch Expertise Utilised in West Australian Aquaculture Venture

By David Cooper

Two of New Zealand leading experts on the farming of Redfin Perch (Perca fluviatilis), Paul Decker and Dr. Tagried Kurwie of Mahurangi Technical Institute in Warkworth, recently made presentations to a conference on farming this species held in Collie Western Australia.

The conference was held at the Collie TAFE and was organised by Professor Louis Evans of Curtin University on behalf of the hosts the Ngalang Boodja Council Aboriginal Corporation. This organisation is currently establishing a Marron farm at their Ngalang Boodja Aquafarm situated at the Ngalang Boodja mine lake. The thrust of the conference was to look at the feasibility of farming Redfin Perch on the same site as the Marron. Perch eggs would be harvested from the wild and hatched/reared on the farm site to market size thus providing not only an economic benefit but a conservation benefit as well in the form of reduced perch numbers in the local waters.

Mr Decker and Dr. Kurwie were invited to this event as a result of the expertise they and the aquaculture team at Mahurangi Technical Institute (MTI) have acquired over recent years though researching and commercially hatching this species. This activity has lead to the commercial supply of juvenile Redfin Perch to start up aquaculture farms in New Zealand and also to the yearly export of fertile eggs to Ireland for hatching and raising there. Currently MTI are the only facility in the southern hemisphere approved for the export of live Perch and their eggs to the European Union.

MTI has also done considerable work on the farming of Redfin perch in recirculating aquaculture systems with some of this work being in collaboration with the Irish Aquaculture Initiative whose recent publication “Cultivating Perch” a part of the “Aquaculture Explained” series is regarded as the authoritative handbook on cultivating this species.

Also valued by the organisers was Mr. Decker’s’ experience and knowledge of marron farming gained during his time as manager of New Zealand’s only marron farm and as a small scale marron farmer in Queensland previous to this.

Mr Decker spoke on “Redfin Perch Aquaculture at Mahurangi Technical Institute” while Dr Kurwies presentation was on the topic of “Redfin Perch Aquaculture Technology”
The conference was followed by a tour of the farm site which had been opened earlier in the year by WA Commerce Minister Troy Buswell. Mr. Buswell said the Government’s Coal Futures Group had committed $350,000 to the project, which has been in development since 2004. “This is an innovative venture that has turned a rehabilitated mine void into a new enterprise that will provide new employment opportunities through diversifying industry in Collie and the project will demonstrate the sustainable use of old mine voids and could have benefits for a number of industries across the State” said Mr. Buswell at the time of opening.
Wesfarmers Premier Coal has committed $100,000 per year of cash and in-kind work over three years to help develop the project and the aquaculture centre will be run by Aboriginal trainees who have completed aquaculture programs at Collie TAFE.
Following the usual, and in this case very hospitable, social function associated with these events our intrepid duo visited several aquaculture ventures in WA culminating in an extended meeting with the aquaculture team at Challenger TAFE in Perth. This last meeting has resulted in closer ties between them and MTI and the possibility of several exciting joint venture projects.

MTI Fish Assit in Northland Lake Clean-up

MTI Fish Assist in Northland Lake Clean-up

850 grass carp supplied to the Northland Regional Council by Mahurangi Technical Institutes aquaculture research facility were released into Kaipara’s Lake Rotouauru (also known as Lake Swan) in a bid to wipe out two invasive weeds threatening some of the nation’s most precious dune lakes.

The 17.4 hectare lake contains the aquatic weeds Hornwort and Egeria (an oxygen weed) which already form large dense mats in the 5.5 metre deep lake, are smothering native plants and seriously degrading an important habitat for native fish, plants and birds.

The dune lakes in this area are home to the endangered Dwarf Inanga, Galaxias gracilis. This species occurs naturally in only seven lakes in the whole world.

Originally introduced in 1963 Grass Carp are now bred at Mahurangi Technical Institutes Aquaculture education and research facility in Warkworth using technology intensive methods in the laboratory. They are one of the most cost-effective and environmentally sustainable options for eradicating aquatic weeds. Grass carp only eat plants, (eating up to their own body weight in plant material each day in summer), are unable to breed naturally in New Zealand waters and have already been used to successfully manage aquatic weeds in many other NZ lakes..

The project, funded by the Northland Regional Council, saw 850 grass carp trucked up from Warkworth to the North Kaipara Head lake and successfully released by representatives from Mahurangi Technical Institute, Te Uri o Hau, the community and local school.

Below: Adrian Paarman, Chief Systems Engineer at MTIs Aquaculture Research & Education Facility, is assisted by a young local community member in releasing Grass Carp at North Kaipara Head Lake (Swan Lake).

Below: Check out the video footage from the day: