('COUNTRY CALENDAR' THEME) - The best of New Zealand's rural heartland. - It is a game-changer for the industry. It was certainly a game-changer for our company. - It's a new way of farming oysters. - This has a basket that has a float on the top and then it has an axle through the middle here. - Changing the industry here and around the world. - I'm incredibly proud of what we've achieved. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2024 (TUI SINGS) (TRANQUIL MUSIC) - For the team arriving at Okiwi Bay in the Marlborough Sounds, it's been an early start. - Most of our guys live in Blenheim or on the way to work. So we pick the guys up and we've got a little bit of a drive. It's about an hour and a half each way. - They're ready for another busy day's work at Aaron and Debbie Pannell's oyster farm. - This is our water taxi, the way we get out to the farm. On a nice day, you can't beat it. This is the best way to get to work. Some days it can be not so nice out here. But today, we've got a great day. We're heading out to the top of Squally Cove, where our grading operation is, and we're gonna be doing some harvesting out there and grading some oysters on some of our vessels. We've got a team of five out here today. Jason is our skipper and farm manager. And then we've got a crew that'll be helping him out for the day with our harvesting. Deb and I have come out today to have a look. We come out every week or two. We're gonna be looking at a few things, checking out the crop and the product and seeing what's ready to harvest. - I'm quite biased towards this part of the world. I think this is one of the most beautiful parts of New Zealand. I love coming out and seeing what our product looks like. - Aaron and Debbie started their business, Marlborough Oysters, in 2011. It's now one of the biggest Pacific oyster-farming operations in the country. - The total area that we farm is 47ha, and that's about 150 lines. And that's basically all in the Croisilles Harbour. There's a number of different arrangements when it comes to our farm space. Most of it is leased, so we lease the lines, or we lease the water space. There's also some arrangements with share farming, which we can do with owners of the farms. And then we also own a few of our own farms as well. - In the early days, they sold juvenile oysters to other farmers to fatten up and finish. But a series of setbacks in 2016 forced them to rethink. - Previous system we had, which is called a floating bag, so we would take these off anytime we wanted to fill or empty them. So there's a lot of steps and a lot of manual lifting and work, which requires a lot of staff. The system that we were using, it wasn't really designed for the open water, so we had a lot of equipment that was being lost off the farms. In 2016, the virus that had struck the North Island found its way into our region, and we had some quite significant mortalities from that as well. And just to finish things off, we also had quite a big problem with a predatory flatworm. - Aaron experimented with some rigid plastic baskets and eventually came up with a revolutionary new system. - This has a basket that the oysters are held in. It has a float on the top, and then it has what we call an axle through the middle here. And this allows the individual rotation of the basket. So we can rotate it around and sit it on its float so that it can dry out. And we can also rotate it to fill and empty the basket. So that makes it a much more automated process. - The whole farm now uses the new system. Nobby Neal spent many years doing it the old way. - We're flipping all our baskets out of the water today to kill all the soft fouling off it. We try and do it every two weeks. Otherwise they just get real clogged up, and then the water flow doesn't get through the baskets, so then the oysters don't feed. - To keep them in top condition, the oysters spend 24 hours out of the water every fortnight. And that involves a lot of flipping. - One person can flip all these baskets in one day. Before, it used to take us three guys, three days. And we'd only get a quarter of the farm flipped. It was so labour-intensive. It used to take probably 15 to 20 minutes to go down one line, where this system, we can go down the line in a minute. This is a lot easier. I wouldn't be here if we didn't go to flip farm. - The flip farm system has revolutionised the way Marlborough Oysters does business. But it doesn't stop there. The technology has gone global. - Our system's sold around the world now. We're currently in around 17 countries, we've got about 180 growers, and this year we'll sell our millionth basket, which we think is pretty exciting when we just started selling them four years ago. - Building on the original concept, there's now new equipment to help empty and refill baskets, as well as grade oysters on the boat. - I think our technology enables us to operate more efficiently. It enables the equipment to last in a much wider environment. So it's much more sustainable, and you're not spending all the money on maintaining equipment. Oysters are a naturally intertidal animal. They like to come in and out of the water, and so taking them out of the water does a whole lot of good things for them. Because we can flip the gear over, dry it out, keep the baskets clean, keep the oysters clean, the quality has significantly improved. Now we've made the system much easier, physically, suddenly we could have a much wider range of staff. So our team is made up of young and old; we've had a lot of women working for us. Basically, if you can stand on a boat, you can find a job with flip farm, so that's been a really pleasant surprise for us. - Out on the water isn't the couple's only new venture. They've also built a nursery for spat. - Yeah, really healthy-looking. (LAID-BACK COUNTRY MUSIC) - A lot's been happening over the last couple of weeks. - Yeah, keen to see it. - Aaron and Debbie Pannell run an oyster farm in the Marlborough Sounds. To get a reliable, year-round supply of spat, they've built their own nursery near Nelson. - These are the spat that we got in three weeks ago. They were less than a millimetre when we got them, and now they're coming up to 3mm. Doubling in size every week. - It was really important for us to build the nursery here so that we could actually scale up our production. It was a very big commitment for us. We're not a particularly big company, and so we had to look at whether we could actually resource that. And it's something that's a little bit outside of our knowledge basis, so we had to bring in some really good expertise. They're just really clean. There's no dead shell in there. Looking really good. Nice shape. - Initially, I was overwhelmed with panic, because at the end of the day, I'm still a novice and I am on this journey with Aaron managing the businesses. But when Aaron said, 'Let's sit down and look at the budget,' I was really, really overwhelmed. Thank goodness we have a really nice bank manager. (LAUGHS) Yeah, it was really a big financial commitment for a mum and dad to venture into. - The tiny spat comes from the nearby Cawthron Institute. There's up to 400,000 baby oysters in each container ` 18 million in total. Looking after them keeps Rodney Hansen busy. - We're giving them their daily wash-down. This is just to keep their home nice and clean and hygienic. And we'll give them quite a vigorous hosing, and then we'll leave them out of the water for four hours. That'll help harden them up and get them ready for transport, and then we'll refill the tanks. - Every few days, they're also graded. The small ones fall through the very fine mesh, separating them from the larger ones. - The bigger they get, the more they'll eat. And they'll take all the food, and you'll get uneven growth. This just gives the little ones a chance to grow faster and catch up. - Oysters eat algae, and lots of it. Something Andy Elliot knows only too well. - We just fill these up with water that's come directly from the sea. We hold that water and we fertilise it. And what we're doing is creating an algal bloom. We allow the bloom to develop over two or three days, four days sometimes, and then slowly pump that through into the nursery to feed the oysters. We've always got a progression of ponds at various stages. The one that's darker is ready for us to feed the nursery. And the one that's a bit lighter has just been filled in the last day or two, so the algae is starting to develop. - They monitor what type of algae is in the water, whether it's safe, and how much the spat are eating. - We're looking at a sample from an algae pond that was inoculated a few days ago. We're just looking to see what algae we've got in there. So we've got a bit of chaetoceros there ` that's the one with the big spines. And also some skeletonema. So, they're both desirable species that's good food for our oysters. - At about 4mm in size, spat are hardened up outside. And a final grading determines which ones are big enough to go to the farm. With so much spat coming on stream, the plan is to sell to other growers, doubling the size of our Pacific oyster industry. - I think it's exciting for our company; it's exciting for the industry. It's really been something that's been holding the industry back, I think, for probably the last 10 years, is just the ability to have enough hatchery spat. - We have surrounded ourselves with people who are really experts at what they do. And I've just really stood back in awe. The fact that Aaron and I have been able to bring this to fruition fills my heart with pride, because it will have a real impact on the oyster production in New Zealand. - These are the ones that have reached the size that we can now transfer them out to our flip farm. Job done for us, but it continues with the guys out on the farm. - It takes two years for oysters to reach maturity, and then it's harvest time. - We're doing 2600 dozen, and 300 for a special order as well. We harvest to order. So, basically, we get our orders in from our buyers, and then our marketer will put together a plan, and then the guys will go and harvest what's required each week. - Once again, flip technology is used to speed up the process and make it easier. - Blake, he's opening the baskets. Emptying one every four seconds, which is amazing compared to what we used to do. It could be anything from 30 to 60 seconds with our previous system. The basket's then able to rotate and dump the oysters out on to the elevator, and then the elevator carries them up on to the boat into crates. And then Blake's closing the doors again, and then the baskets are flipping over, and they'll sit on their float so that they can dry out, ready for refilling. It's a really cheap and easy way to break that biofouling cycle without having to use sprays or water blasters and what have you. How you going? All finished? - Not bad. - Good stuff. Can I have a look? - Little bit of frill, but not too bad, eh? They've grown really well. - They're constantly checking how fat the oysters are ` and what they taste like. - Come up a bit from last week. - Yep, yep. Better check the flavour, hadn't we? - (LAUGHS) Yeah. - Gotta have the taste test. - Just wanna eat my oysters. (BOTH LAUGH) - No, they're good. They're sweet. - Jump on that corner, there, Aiden. - Once or twice a week, the truck comes in and gets a load. And then it drives about two and a half hours back to Blenheim. And so all these oysters will be ready to be packed and off to export tomorrow. (LIVELY ACOUSTIC GUITAR MUSIC) - The oysters are chilled for transporting, then sorted. - How are these looking, Hig? - They're looking good. No, we're real happy with them. - Dean Higgins oversees this part of the operation. - The oysters are coming in. They're going down the belt, so we're grading them by eye ` grading them into a large, medium and standard grade. The slots on the black trays are made to the size of what oyster we're packing. If it fits in the tray, it's the right size. If there's a bit of overhang, it's too big, it goes into the next grade. If it's a bit small, it goes down a grade. We can do about 2000 dozen a day, which is outstanding. Fantastic team. The best team. - 70% of the oysters go to China. They like large ones, whereas local buyers prefer them smaller. - How you going? How did that pack go? - Very well, very well. - It's crucial the right oysters get to the right customers on time. Over the last couple of years, they've had to turn down orders. But that's about to change. - It's been quite disheartening for me this year when chefs and restauranteurs ring up, requesting a beautiful local product, and we're not being able to supply due to the lack of spat. We've got a lot of spat in our nursery. We've got control. And, so, I anticipate, for the next two years, the vision is to be able to say 'yes' instead of 'not now', like we have been doing for the last two years. - And for those keen to try some, there's plenty on offer at the local seafood festival. - One of the crucial jobs on Aaron and Debbie Pannell's oyster farm in the Marlborough Sounds is grading. Jason Story is checking them for size. - I'm just looking to see how fat they are. So, there's still a little bit of a window here, so they need to fatten up a little bit more. So, we'd like that to be no window at all. So, just be nice and white. - They're sorted into four different sizes. They'll go back into the water with the bigger ones harvested in six weeks. - Compared to the old way they done it with bags ` this is, yeah, way faster, the amount we can harvest in a day or grade in a day. The old system is quite backbreaking. This is super easy, yeah. It takes away a lot of the lifting. Anybody can do it. - As well as growing oysters, they're growing young people too. - The company's taking them on young, training them up. Opportunities are, you know, they can go anywhere eventually. They work hard. They're learning to drive boats and do everything. And with flip farm now being sold around the world, the world is your oyster. - It's an opportunity Aiden Higgins is well aware of. - It's a new way of farming oysters. And it gives me opportunities to do work elsewhere all around the world, doing the same sort of job. (GENTLE MUSIC) - Back in Blenheim, the Pannells are expanding further. They now have their own engineering company as well. - So where's this one going? - This one's going to Canada. - OK, great. - It's just about done. - It's really good. - We're on to the next three. 'This equipment goes all over the world.' The key to flip farm is the machinery. Without that, you don't get the efficiency gains. We knew that the machinery was an integral part, and we knew that everybody that buys Flip Farm is gonna need the machinery. - Business is taking off. - This allows my flights of fancy, if you like, and it allows us to turn some of the ideas that we have into reality. So yeah, absolutely ` this is` this is my happy place. - And when it comes to promoting the oysters, they've thought about that too. For Aaron and Debbie, the Havelock Seafood Festival is a special event. - I went to a meeting 20 years ago and threw a few ideas out there, and came away from the meeting elected as the chair. So I had to go home and say to Debbie, I've done a silly thing. (LAUGHS) Oh, it's been a great ride. We did it for a few years and then it kinda outgrew us and we handed it off, but it's a really good celebration of the industry. - Oh, hello. - How are you? You look good. - Long time no see. - Yeah, I know. - It's really good for our profile. And it's just great for the team, just putting it out to the people and letting everybody know where we're from and what we do and how oysters are growing. It's a great day. - Thanks very much. Please help yourself. It's great exposure for our product. Often people come and they say, oh, where's this from? And I said, just down the road. And they love that. They go, right, I'll have two. (LAUGHS) And I think, yeah, that's really important that it's a local product to be enjoyed by the locals. Oh, you wanna swap? Sure. - Having a short break from their university studies are sons Joel and Luke. - Push like that. And then two of them. We're just packing the oysters into these little pottles here, just to serve for the customers who are ready to eat them. - My job today. So I'm just flipping that over and placing it down before Joel can serve that to the customers. - We really enjoy these events cos it's a great way to spend time with one another. We're busy the whole day, and we get to see lots of people who we know and who are around, so it's fantastic. - The couple has come a long way since the challenges of 2016. (SOFT ACOUSTIC GUITAR MUSIC) - It's been a rollercoaster. Six years ago, we didn't think we'd have four businesses. So yeah, it's been a fast learning curve but a wild ride ` put it that way. Just gonna have a look at these and see how they're looking. - Yeah. - These are the ones we need for next week's harvest. - Yeah. Neither Aaron or myself, we don't have a financial background. We don't come from money. So initially when we started, we made so many errors. It was so cringeworthy. And we both had huge challenges and we've overcome them. I'm incredibly, incredibly proud of what we've achieved. Mmm. - Good? - Mm. - Their success is the result of a true partnership. - Sometimes I'll ask a question and he'll go, 'Hmm, that's a really, really good question.' (BOTH LAUGH) - Well, sometimes you need to be asked the questions that you don't want someone to ask. So that's what Debbie does for me. She challenges the ideas and she just does all those things in the company that practical-thinking farmer types often forget to do. - Their goal now is to see New Zealand's Pacific oyster industry thrive. - I'm excited about the potential that Aaron and I have to expand and grow the New Zealand oyster industry, and the vision is progress. - There's a huge amount to be done there, with the decline worldwide of oyster farming in general. I'm very focussed on the innovation side of the business. I love that part of it. And, so, I guess continuing to develop new systems and new products is probably what's driving me over the next 5 to 10 years. (MUSIC FADES) - Next time ` To the untrained eye, this 17ha block of land on the outskirts of Tauranga may seem a little overgrown. - It might look like a hot mess to you guys, but it's actually doing exactly what it needs to do. - You don't get those in the supermarket. (CHUCKLES) - The combination of doing the permaculture, doing the matauranga, seems pretty unique to me. - That's next time on Hyundai Country Calendar. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2024