New Zealand’s largest tank, designed to create an environment imitating the sea, has been unveiled in Nelson today.
The flume tank – which cost Plant and Food Research $1.9 million to build – contains 199,000 litres of water which moves up to 1.5 metres per second.
The tank will be used by scientists, universities, and businesses to test technology in the aquaculture, fishing, and marine sectors before being trialled in our open oceans.
Plant and Food Research co-chairwoman Helen Palmer told 1News the Crown research institute was "super excited" to put the tank to use.
"We’ve had this on our wish list for a number of years," she said.
The tank will be used to test small-scale prototypes and "understand how they perform under ocean forces".
"We can refine and retest as many times as we want."
Plant and Food Research chief scientist Richard Newcomb said most designs were trialled using computers “but that’s not the real world”.
"The real world's a pretty rough and tumble world out there so lots of wave action and currents."
The flume tank would be particularly helpful in the development of open ocean farming.
The "long-term vision" for the tank, Palmer said, was "to be able to create a mobile production system for fin fish that could be used out in the open ocean".
"It would have the ability to move to where the ocean conditions suit it best."
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones said the tank would be useful in replicating the open ocean and the "vagaries of the weather".
"If we can find a technological and scientific response, it's one huge, unlimited vista of farmable opportunity," he said.
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