The Pāua Reseeding Project
From our hatchery on Arapaoa Island, Arapawa Seafarms has helped raise juvenile pāua for release into the wild. Published research now gives us a clearer picture of where reseeding can contribute, where its limits lie, and why future work must be carefully planned and monitored.
Planning a monitored Marlborough project. The site, release target, budget, approvals and project partners are not yet confirmed.
Pāua are endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand and support important customary, recreational and commercial fisheries. Local populations can be severely affected by natural disasters, environmental stress, habitat change and fishing pressure.
Reseeding may be useful where juvenile recruitment has been disrupted but suitable habitat remains. It is not a substitute for protecting wild spawning populations, managing harvest pressure or maintaining healthy reef habitat.
After the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake caused extensive coastal uplift and pāua mortality, the regional commercial pāua group PauMAC3 initiated a programme to support recovery.
In 2018, Arapawa Seafarms raised 167,000 juvenile pāua using wild Kaikōura broodstock. After approximately nine months in the hatchery, the juveniles were placed by commercial divers into rocky habitats along the Kaikōura coast and at one Akaroa site.
Researchers then surveyed the reseeded sites over several years. Arapawa's role was the hatchery production of the seed pāua, alongside support for later larval research in the Marlborough Sounds. The wider programme involved industry members, scientists, funders and community support.
Important: 11.8% is the proportion of pāua found in the surveys that could be identified as hatchery seed. It is not an 11.8% survival rate for the original 167,000 pāua. Natural recruitment was also unusually high during the study.
Gerrity, S. and Schiel, D. R. (2025). Assessing methods of enhancement for New Zealand blackfoot abalone (Haliotis iris) populations affected by mass mortality. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 59(1), 235–262.
Juvenile reseeding
Small pāua were raised in the hatchery for several months and placed directly into suitable juvenile habitat. Seed pāua were still present after three years, grew well at most sites and many reached likely breeding size.
This provided the clearest evidence in the study that hatchery-raised pāua can contribute to a wild population. Results still varied significantly between sites.
Free-swimming larvae
Larvae were released directly into natural habitat, with some temporarily contained under mesh tents. Only a small number of recruits were detected, and the trials did not establish a clear, reliable benefit over untreated controls.
The result does not prove larval release can never work, but the method needs considerably more research.
Larvae settled onto rocks
Larvae were first allowed to settle onto small rocks at the hatchery. After the rocks were placed in the sea, researchers found 40 small pāua in treated plots, compared with one in control plots after 123 days.
This is encouraging, but it was a short, small trial. It did not show whether the pāua survived for years, reached maturity or made the method financially viable.
Seed pāua grew well at some sites but poorly at others. One site was later buried by gravel following a severe storm. The study recommends assessing existing pāua density, habitat quality and food availability before reseeding.
A future site should only be considered where there is evidence that the population needs help and where suitable juvenile habitat remains. Releasing more pāua is not automatically better if the habitat cannot support them.
We are now exploring whether a carefully planned juvenile-pāua project could be appropriate in the Marlborough Sounds.
Before selecting a site or promising a release number, we need to:
This work is in the planning stage. We will update this page as decisions are made and will only name partners once their involvement has been confirmed.
Still to be determined: proposed site · evidence of local need · mana whenua engagement status · scientific adviser · hatchery capacity · release number · timeline · budget · regulatory requirements · confirmed partners
Releasing juvenile pāua is only the beginning. A credible project must measure what happens afterwards.
The proposed monitoring approach would include:
The final monitoring design and schedule would be agreed with scientific advisers and project partners before a release.
We are preparing a current project budget. The 2018 research cost of NZ$0.80 per juvenile is historical and does not represent today's hatchery, release or monitoring costs.
A future project budget may include the items listed here. Once the project scope is agreed, we will publish a clear funding target and explain how funds will be used.
Givealittle donations are paid to the verified New Zealand bank account of Arapawa Seafarms Limited, a business. Project updates will explain how funds raised for reseeding are used.
An itemised current budget will replace this list once scoping is complete.
We are interested in speaking with researchers, mana whenua, restoration practitioners, industry organisations, funders and other groups working toward healthy marine ecosystems.
If your organisation could contribute scientific knowledge, monitoring capability, local insight, funding or practical support, we would welcome a conversation.
It shows that hatchery-raised juvenile pāua can survive, grow, reach likely maturity and form a noticeable part of the sampled population at suitable sites. It does not guarantee the same result at every site or prove that reseeding alone restored Kaikōura.
No. It means hatchery-raised pāua represented 11.8% of the pāua counted in surveys three years after release. Researchers could not search every rock and crevice, so the study did not calculate an exact survival rate.
Larvae are cheaper to produce per animal, but mortality is extremely high and they are difficult to contain. The direct larval trials did not establish a clear benefit. Settling larvae onto rocks first showed promise but needs further testing.
No. Potential sites must first be assessed for ecological need, habitat suitability, local engagement and regulatory requirements.
No date has been set. The project scope, site, budget, approvals and monitoring plan must be established first.
You can support the current reseeding work through Givealittle, share the published research or contact us if you may be able to contribute scientific, local, practical or funding support.
We cannot promise that every released pāua will survive. We can promise to plan carefully, keep accurate records and share what the monitoring finds.
Help us explore a responsible, evidence-led next phase for pāua restoration.