Koura farming to be given green light for expansion.
Peter Langlands
Koura, or freshwater crayfish, are well known to anglers, primarily as a food source for trout in lakes, giving the trout a deep orange colour. Yet koura themselves are superb eating and have been farmed in small numbers for supply to top quality restaurants as a niche, point of interest meal. At $80 a kilogram they are not cheap ! While harvesting of wild koura is allowed under Customary Rights in the North Island, a special permit is required to harvest koura brood stock, for commercial farms. An agreement by the Ministry of Fisheries and Conservation, to take place from mid 2007, will allow the harvesting of small amounts of koura, under controlled circumstances, to be used as brood stock by koura farms. Yet it is hoped that the koura farms will be able to breed up koura from their own brood stock, in the future, to minimise future impact on wild stocks. Already several Koura farms have been set up in the South Island, but the industry is very much in it’s infancy.
In the South Island koura can be harvested recreationally and turn a bright orange colour when cooked. Baited pots can be used to catch koura, or simply by feeling for them along undercut banks. Koura require high water quality and subsequently have declined in many lowland areas, as diary farms, and other agricultural practices have degraded water quality. Yet with recognition of their economic potential hopefully the koura farmers will also be advocates for the koura’s habitat, which of course as keen trout anglers we also cherish. Next time you are out fishing take some time to gather some koura to eat, great fun for the kids and a tasty entrée. But be aware that in may parts of the North Island a customary permit is required to gather koura. Bon appetite.
