Te Whakatōhea Mussels launched their newest vessel, named Kukutai, into the Waitemata Harbor today. It's the second vessel in their new fleet that will see employment opportunities and boost the local economy of Opōtiki.
In 2000, Te Whakatōhea applied for consent to farm mussels in Opōtiki and after ten years of litigation and five years of scientific research, consent was granted.
A collaboration between Te Whakatōhea and boat building company McMullen and Wing paid $4mil to build the Kukutai. It required 25 thousand hours of labour, 40 tonnes of aluminium and 10 months in total to build.
In two weeks the Kukutai will leave the Waitemata Harbour for its new home, Opōtiki, in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.
Source: Māori Television Website
Chairman of the Te Whakatōhea committee Robert Tuahuru Edwards says, "My heart is filled with joy and happiness because of what this team has accomplished. It is indeed a special day for Te Whakatōhea."
Te Kahautu Maxwell, a descendant of Te Whakatōhea, says the vessel will bring "employment, employment because our people in Opōtiki have no jobs so that was an aspiration of our parents and grandparents, to establish a mussel farm and that aspiration has come to fruition today."
CEO of Te Whakatōhea Mussels Ian Craig says, "We knew that mussels would grow out there, we knew they would grow quickly and we knew there was very little fouling on them so we knew a lot about it."
Michael Eaglen of McMullen & Wing says, "It's a lot of work for a lot of people and we're really grateful for that business and that's what we're built on is that business. For us, that's a big piece of work for our business over the last nine or ten months we've been building it."
Te Whakatōhea Mussels harvested 1,500 tonnes of mussels this year and hope that quota will reach up to 6,000 next year. They also hope to be given consent to build a factory that will employ more local people of Opōtiki.