Massive mussel farm and sea cucumber projects planned for Opotiki have the potential to boost the entire country's economy, says district mayor John Forbes.

The projects could see the emergence of Opotiki as a leading centre for aquaculture, with numerous varieties of fish and shellfish joining the list of potentially lucrative export products, says John.
China's biggest seafood company, Shandong Oriental Ocean Group, is involved in a major deal that will see New Zealand green shell mussels stocked in a chain of 500 luxury seafood shops across China.
The Yantai-based company is also part of a project to raise sea cucumbers on inland farms around Opotiki. John says pricing of the initial project has been completed, and in about six months work will begin soon on construction of a sea cucumber hatchery at Hikuwai, east of Opotiki.
'There will also be ponds, etc, in place before long. Ultimately the Chinese want more ponds than we can build in Opotiki – we're talking more than 1000 of them.”
Delicacy
Sea cucumbers are a delicacy not only in China, but in many Asian countries, and John says the Chinese market alone is worth $100 million a year.
'It's worth that much again in Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The benefits for our district, the region and New Zealand could be huge.”
At 3,800 hectares, Opotiki's ocean mussel farm project, owned by local iwi Whakatohea, Sealords and NZ Seafarms, is by far the largest in New Zealand. While the first growing lines are only now being set, John says the farm, 6kms off the coast, could eventually supply 20,000 tonnes of mussels to China annually.
Looking forward
Just as exciting in terms of future potential is the fact that the farm has consent to farm other species of shellfish, including Pacific oysters, flat oysters, said to be similar to the Bluff variety, geoduck (a species of large clam), paua and scallops.
Seaweed is also on the list of potential money spinners and John says Opotiki offers plenty of potential for farming fish like hapuku and kingfish.
'I know of a Kiwi company farming kingfish at Port Lincoln, South Australia, which is very keen to move back to New Zealand if there's an opportunity.”
The mayor says aquaculture will one day create huge numbers of jobs, transforming the future of the economically-deprived East Coast centre.
'A study commissioned in 2005 predicted that if mussels from the farm were processed in Opotiki it could generate 930 jobs.
'But now we're talking about thousands of jobs – not in the immediate future but in the longer term.
'It is very exciting news indeed.”