A 24-hour recording of Radio New Zealand National. The following rundown is sourced from the broadcaster’s website. Note some overseas/copyright restricted items may not appear in the supplied rundown:
23 July 2015
===12:04 AM. | All Night Programme===
=DESCRIPTION=
Including: 12:05 Music after Midnight; 12:30 One in Five (RNZ); 1:05 Discovery (BBC); 2:05 You Call This Art? (F, RNZ); 3:05 Swamp Fever, written and told by Gerard Hindmarsh (9 of 10, RNZ); 3:30 NZ Books (RNZ); 5:10 Witness (BBC); 5:45 The Day in Parliament (RNZ)
===6:00 AM. | Morning Report===
=DESCRIPTION=
Radio New Zealand's three-hour breakfast news show with news and interviews, bulletins on the hour and half-hour
=AUDIO=
06:00
Top Stories for Thursday 23 July 2015
BODY:
The Corrections Minister, Sam Lotu-Iiga stands firm, rejecting calls from the opposition for him to go. We hear the latest from Labour's Kelvin Davis. The ACC Minister, Nikki Kaye concedes that ACC is making some of the changes called for in a damning report by a group of Dunedin claimants. We hear from Nikki Kaye.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 30'12"
06:06
Sports News for 23 July 2015
BODY:
An update from the team at RNZ Sport.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'05"
06:10
Fighting ACC decisions through court system futile
BODY:
A new report has found it's futile for ordinary New Zealanders to fight ACC decisions through the court system.
Topics: law
Regions:
Tags: ACC
Duration: 2'34"
06:20
Pacific News for 23 July 2015
BODY:
The latest from the Pacific region.
Topics: Pacific
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'56"
06:23
Morning Rural News for 23 July 2015
BODY:
News from the rural and farming sector.
Topics: rural, farming
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 3'59"
06:27
Te Manu Korihi News for 23 July 2015
BODY:
A Ngati Awa cultural advisor in Whakatane says there could be individual cases where iwi can include a small kereru quota clause in their Treaty settlements; The Ministry of Health says it is engaging with Māori to reduce the country's Maori smokers despite facing criticism from a cross section of MPs; Te Ohu Kaimoana - the Māori Fisheries Commission - says its review of the Māori Commercial Fisheries Structure, will lead to more iwi having more involvement in the sector.
Topics: te ao Maori
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 3'26"
06:40
Minister will voice displeasure to Serco over Mt Eden
BODY:
The Corrections Minister is rejecting calls for his resignation over the scandal surrounding the privately run Mt Eden prison.
Topics: crime
Regions:
Tags: Mt Eden prison, Serco
Duration: 2'22"
06:43
Barge operator widow hopes fine will clean up safety
BODY:
The wife of an Auckland barge operator who was killed at work wants the industry's safety standards cleaned up.
Topics: law, business
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: workplace health and safety
Duration: 3'46"
06:48
Xero expects revenue to surpass $200 million
BODY:
The accounting software firm, Xero, says it expects revenue to surpass 200 million dollars in the current financial year, though most of that will be in Australasia and Britain rather than the United States.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: Xero
Duration: 3'06"
06:51
Zespri's full year Kiwifruit sales rise 16%
BODY:
Zespri's annual kiwifruit sales have risen despite a sluggish global economy.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: Zespri
Duration: 1'23"
06:53
Board says weaker economy justifies another OCR cut
BODY:
The Reserve Bank will reveal its decision on interest rate levels in just over two hours, but the Institute of Economic Research's Shadow Board says a weaker economy justifies another cut in interest rates.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: Reserve Bank
Duration: 1'37"
06:54
More people are passing through Akl International Airport
BODY:
More people are passing through Auckland International Airport terminals, led by tourists from China and the United States.
Topics: business, economy
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: Auckland Airport, travel
Duration: 26"
06:55
AWF-Madison bullish about current year prospects
BODY:
AWF-Madison Group remains bullish about its current year prospects, despite a cooling economy.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags: AWF-Madison Group
Duration: 1'39"
06:56
Summerset snaps up more land
BODY:
Summerset says it's bought another development site in Auckland this week - this time in the eastern suburbs.
Topics: business
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: Summerset
Duration: 34"
06:57
Academic says WTO dead as a body
BODY:
A trade academic says the World Trade Organisation is dead as a body to get comprehensive trade agreements.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: World Trade Organisation, WTO, trade
Duration: 1'24"
06:58
Morning markets for 23 July 2015
BODY:
Wall Street is weaker after results from Apple.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: markets
Duration: 54"
07:07
Sports News for 23 July 2015
BODY:
An update from the team at RNZ Sport.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 1'59"
07:11
Corrections Minister rejects calls for his resignation
BODY:
The Corrections Minister is refusing to stand down over his handling of the scandals coming out of the privately run Mt Eden prison.
Topics: crime
Regions:
Tags: Mt Eden prison, Serco, Corrections
Duration: 3'30"
07:14
Labour says there's worse to come from Mt Eden
BODY:
Kelvin Davis says he's been getting more calls reporting violence at Mount Eden.
Topics: crime
Regions:
Tags: Mt Eden prison, Serco
Duration: 4'10"
07:19
People challenging ACC decisions is futile
BODY:
A new report concludes it's futile to fight ACC decisions through the court system.
Topics: law, health
Regions:
Tags: ACC
Duration: 3'16"
07:26
Famous Gallipoli painting sells to New Zealander for $420,000
BODY:
The famous Gallipoli watercolour known as 'Simpson and his Donkey' looks set to stay in New Zealand after a local person purchased it at auction for $420,000
Topics: arts
Regions:
Tags: Simpson And His Donkey, painting
Duration: 3'12"
07:33
Annual re-application process for sole parents "worrying"
BODY:
The Governnment's plan to have sole parents reapply for their benefits after a year is being labelled a money-saving exercise that may put vulnerable children at risk.
Topics: law
Regions:
Tags: sole parents, benefits
Duration: 3'18"
07:36
Social Development Minister defends policy
BODY:
And listening to that is the Minister of Social Development, Anne Tolley.
Topics: law
Regions:
Tags: sole parents, benefits
Duration: 8'38"
07:47
Interest rate cut considered all but certain
BODY:
A cut to the Official Cash Rate is considered all but certain today.
Topics: economy
Regions:
Tags: official cash rate, Reserve Bank
Duration: 3'54"
07:51
Chief of Army appointed UN's chief peacekeeper
BODY:
A New Zealander is poised to take on a key role at the United Nations' top peacekeeping body.
Topics: defence force, politics
Regions:
Tags: Chief of Army, Major General Dave Gawn
Duration: 3'29"
08:07
Sports News for 23 July 2015
BODY:
An update from the team at RNZ Sport.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 2'10"
08:11
ACC Minister broadens consultation
BODY:
As you heard last hour a report by the lobby group Acclaim Otago concludes it's futile to fight ACC decisions through the court system.
Topics: law
Regions:
Tags: ACC
Duration: 3'00"
08:14
A report highly critical of ACC
BODY:
Wellington barrister John Miller has represented ACC clients in court for the past three decades.
Topics: law
Regions:
Tags: ACC
Duration: 5'01"
08:19
PR firm with Auckland council connection
BODY:
A public relations firm co-owned by an Auckland councillor is helping a real estate firm promote itself as a good way to sell property to overseas buyers.
Topics: media, housing
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: real estate
Duration: 3'11"
08:22
Rural hospital not on ultra-fast broadband
BODY:
One of New Zealand's most remote hospitals is still not connected to the Government's ultra-fast broadband network three years after the high speed cables were installed.
Topics: internet
Regions: Otago
Tags: ultra-fast broadband, Dunstan Hospital
Duration: 3'30"
08:26
Mediterranean eating could help men with prostate cancer
BODY:
Could the diet of the Mediterranean help New Zealand men with prostate cancer?
Topics: health
Regions:
Tags: prostate cancer, diet
Duration: 4'01"
08:30
Markets Update for 23 July 2015
BODY:
A brief update of movements in the financial sector.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: markets
Duration: 1'09"
08:36
Documents reveal Govt ignored Treasury on climate advice
BODY:
Official documents reveal the Government rejected advice to take the impact of climate change into account whenever it developed new policy.
Topics: politics, climate
Regions:
Tags: climate change
Duration: 2'15"
08:38
Auck Council to consider asset sell-off om debate today
BODY:
Auckland Councillors will today begin to debate whether to sell off any of the city's assets.
Topics: politics
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: asset sales
Duration: 4'25"
08:43
Te Manu Korihi News for 23 July 2015
BODY:
A Ngati Awa cultural advisor in Whakatane says there could be individual cases where iwi can include a small kereru quota clause in their Treaty settlements; The Māori Affairs Select Committee says the Ministry of Health needs to engage with whanau more effectively to help them stop smoking; Te Ohu Kaimoana says under the review of the Māori Commercial Fisheries Structure iwi will have more involvement in the fisheries sector; A group of young Māori leaders say taking part in an indigenous youth conference in the United States was a revelation.
Topics: te ao Maori
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 3'29"
08:48
Silver Ferns coach nervous ahead of Fiji test
BODY:
The Silver Ferns play Fiji tonight in just one of only three tests the side has before next month's world championships in Sydney -- and the coach, Wai Taumaunu, admits she has a few nerves.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags: netball, Silver Ferns
Duration: 2'40"
08:50
University course aims to improve Pacific health
BODY:
A new university course is aiming to address inequalities and improve the health of the Pacific population in New Zealand.
Topics: health, education, Pacific
Regions:
Tags: Pacific population
Duration: 3'17"
08:54
Research indicates babies can cooperate from 9mo.
BODY:
Solving the worlds biggest issues could soon be made easier - an Auckland study is finding you can train someone to co-operate.
Topics: science
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: co-operation, experiments, Auckland University
Duration: 3'22"
=SHOW NOTES=
===9:06 AM. | Nine To Noon===
=DESCRIPTION=
Current affairs and topics of interest, including: 10:45 The Reading: Five Sons and 100 Muri of Rice, by Sharyn Steel and Zoe Dryden (4 of 12, RNZ)
=AUDIO=
09:07
Fighting ACC decisions futile says report
BODY:
A new report based on more than 500 written court decisions finds that there are serious barriers to justice for those challenging ACC decisions. The researchers working with the University of Otago's Legal Issues Centre and the advocacy group Acclaim Otago, reviewed court decisions between 2009 and this year and found that only a fraction are successful, because claimants lack access to the legal information and resources needed to effectively argue a case. Warren Forster is the lead researcher. The Minister for ACC, Nikki Kaye responds.
Topics: health, disability, politics
Regions:
Tags: ACC
Duration: 26'39"
09:37
Reserve Bank trims OCR
BODY:
Radio New Zealand's Economics Correspondent Patrick O'Meara discusses the latest interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank.
Topics: economy
Regions:
Tags: official cash rate, OCR, Reserve Bank, interest rate
Duration: 11'13"
09:50
UK correspondent Jon Dennis
BODY:
Tony Blair comments on UK Labour politics. David Cameron's plan for dealing with ISIS. Hitler and the Brittish royalty. Winston Churchill's tunnels
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: UK
Duration: 8'45"
10:09
Is 60 the new 40?
BODY:
The bestselling author of a biography about Michelle Obama, and longtime award-winning reporter for The Washington Post, Liza Mundy argues being sixty-something is in fact a "sweet spot" for some women, at least in terms of career progression. In a recent article for The Atlantic, called Playing the Granny Card, she says that ageing for women might not, after all, be a barrier to success in the workplace. She cites women coming into their own later in life - the likes of US Presidential candidate Hilary Clinton, German chancellor Angela Merkel and the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde. Is this just the preserve of the wealthy and the privileged? Or is the evidence the sixties might be a new `prime' for many women? Kathryn meets one of America's foremost journalists writing on family, gender and work issues.
EXTENDED BODY:
The bestselling author of a biography about Michelle Obama, and longtime award-winning reporter for The Washington Post, Liza Mundy argues being sixty-something is in fact a "sweet spot" for some women, at least in terms of career progression.
In a recent article for The Atlantic, called Playing the Granny Card, she says that ageing for women might not, after all, be a barrier to success in the workplace. She cites women coming into their own later in life - the likes of US Presidential candidate Hilary Clinton, German chancellor Angela Merkel and the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde. Is this just the preserve of the wealthy and the privileged? Or is the evidence the sixties might be a new `prime' for many women?
Kathryn meets one of America's foremost journalists writing on family, gender and work issues.
Topics: life and society
Regions:
Tags: Liza Mundy, Michelle Obama, Hilary Clinton, sixties, women, age
Duration: 25'18"
10:34
Statement from Corrections on prisoner injury
BODY:
A statement related to the debate over the Serco operated Mt Eden remand prison, prisoner antics and related injuries.
Topics: crime
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: Mt Eden prison, Serco, Corrections, prisons
Duration: 1'21"
10:38
Book review: 'Go Set a Watchman' by Harper Lee
BODY:
Published by William Heinemann, RRP$55.00. Reviewed by John King.
Topics: books
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 6'03"
11:06
New technology commentator Robbie Allan
BODY:
Robbie Allan discusses the Apple Watch, Kiwi startup Booktrack which recently raised 5 million dollars, and Tesla unveils ludicrous mode.
Topics: technology
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 16'35"
11:27
Parent-teacher interviews: how to make the most of them
BODY:
Editor of parenting website Kiwi Families and former teacher turned parenting guru, Rochelle Gribble discusses how to get the most out of parent-teacher interviews and student led conferences.
EXTENDED BODY:
Editor of parenting website Kiwi Families and former teacher turned parenting guru, Rochelle Gribble discusses how to get the most out of parent-teacher interviews and student-led conferences.
Here are some tips to help you maximise this short window of opportunity to find out what is going on for your child at school, and how to approach it, especially if things are going wrong.
Parents go in to these meeting with their own school ‘baggage’. Try to put it aside. Teaching and learning have changed since you were at school.
Have any questions written down, and say at the beginning of the meeting that you have some things you want to talk about.
The things you probably want to find out about are your child's learning, behaviour, and socialisation. Ask the teacher: How well are they participating? What can they do well? How are they relating to other children? What are the next steps for my child? What other support can we use?
Be an acronym-buster – if you don’t understand the words you’re hearing, ask for them to be explained.
If you don’t get through everything, or other issues occur to you later, follow up with the teacher by e-mail and possibly make another appointment.
If you think there is an issue with the teacher - you don’t rate them, or they and your child don’t get along, talk to the syndicate leader, dean or other ‘next-up’ teacher. If you think there might be a personality clash rather than bad behaviour from the child, ask the teacher for specific examples of issues so you can work out if there is more that needs to be done.
Student-led conferences – where the child attends the meeting - can have good and bad aspects. It can be good for children to hear about ‘next steps' they need to take to improve, but it may not be helpful for them to hear about how badly they are doing. You can ask the child to step out for part of the conversation, or make a time to phone or visit the teacher to talk about the hard stuff at another time. This will also give the teacher time to collect any relevant information.
Teachers are busy. Start by e-mailling to set up a suitable time to follow up.
If there is a big concern, don’t save it up for the parent-teacher meeting. Let the teacher know in advance that you have concerns, and perhaps make a separate time when this can be focused on.
Related story
Maths teaching in NZ: has the numeracy project failed?
Topics: education
Regions:
Tags: parent teacher interviews, school, student-led conferences, parenting
Duration: 20'27"
11:48
TV Review with Paul Casserly
BODY:
Paul Casserly reviews the Manhattan on streaming service, Neon; and will preview a new documentary on Prime - Little Criminals, about the treatment of children in state care in New Zealand.
Topics: arts
Regions:
Tags: television
Duration: 11'35"
=SHOW NOTES=
09:05 Fighting ACC decisions futile says report
A new report based on more than 500 written court decisions finds that there are serious barriers to justice for those challenging ACC decisions. The researchers working with the University of Otago's Legal Issues Centre and the advocacy group Acclaim Otago, reviewed court decisions between 2009 and this year and found that only a fraction are successful, because claimants lack access to the legal information and resources needed to effectively argue a case. Warren Forster is the lead researcher. The Minister for ACC, Nikki Kaye responds.
09:25 Reserve Bank trims OCR
Radio New Zealand's Economics Correspondent Patrick O'Meara discusses the latest interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank.
09:45 UK correspondent Jon Dennis
Jon Dennis reports on Tony Blair urging Labour not to elect a left wing leader.
10:05 Is 60 the new 40?
The bestselling author of a biography about Michelle Obama, and longtime award-winning reporter for The Washington Post, Liza Mundy argues being sixty-something is in fact a "sweet spot" for some women, at least in terms of career progression. In a recent article for The Atlantic, called Playing the Granny Card, she says that ageing for women might not, after all, be a barrier to success in the workplace. She cites women coming into their own later in life - the likes of US Presidential candidate Hilary Clinton, German chancellor Angela Merkel and the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde. Is this just the preserve of the wealthy and the privileged?Or is the evidence the sixties might be a new `prime' for many women? Kathryn meets one of America's foremost journalists writing on family, gender and work issues.
10:25 Book review: 'Go Set a Watchman' by Harper Lee
Published by William Heinemann, RRP$55.00. Reviewed by John King.
10:45 The Reading: 'Five Sons and 100 Muri of Rice', by Sharyn Steel and Zoe Dryden
The life of Kharika Devkota, raised as a five-year-old bride in rural Nepal (4 of 12, RNZ).
11:05 New technology commentator Robbie Allan
Robbie Allan discusses the Apple Watch, Kiwi startup Booktrack which recently raised 5 million dollars, and Tesla unveils ludicrous mode.
11:25 Parent-teacher interviews: how to make the most of them
Editor of parenting website Kiwi Families and former teacher turned parenting guru, Rochelle Gribble discusses how to get the most out of parent-teacher interviews and student led conferences.
11:45 TV Review with Paul Casserly
Paul Casserly reviews the Manhattan on streaming service, Neon; and will preview a new documentary on Prime - Little Criminals, about the treatment of children in state care in New Zealand.
===Noon | Midday Report===
=DESCRIPTION=
Radio New Zealand news, followed by updates and reports until 1.00pm, including: 12:16 Business News 12:26 Sport 12:34 Rural News 12:43 Worldwatch
=AUDIO=
12:00
Midday News for 23 July 2015
BODY:
Mortgage rates are down after a cut to the Official Cash Rate; and Serco and the Corrections Minister meet over Mt Eden prison assaults.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 15'38"
12:17
Livestock Improvement's full year net profit falls 24%
BODY:
The Livestock Improvement Corporation says its full year net profit has fallen by a quarter, reflecting increased spending needed to keep its core technogy and infrastructure up-to-date.
Topics: business, rural
Regions:
Tags: Livestock Improvement Corporation
Duration: 1'26"
12:19
Reserve Bank signals more interest rate cuts on the way
BODY:
The Reserve Bank has signalled more interest rate cuts are on the way, after reducing the official cash rate for the second successive time. The central bank lowered the benchmark interest rate from 3.25% to 3%, citing sharp falls in dairy prices and tame inflation.
Topics: business
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 1'31"
12:23
Intueri Education to buy Institute of Sport, College of Massage
BODY:
Intueri Education says it's buying the New Zealand Institute of Sport for about $19 million. The private education provider says the purchase is conditional on obtaining regulatory approval and includes the sport institute's subsidiary - the New Zealand College of Massage.
Topics: business, sport, education
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 1'31"
12:25
Midday Markets for 23 July 2015
BODY:
Belinda Stanley at Craigs Investment Partners with the latest from the markets.
Topics: business, economy
Regions:
Tags: markets
Duration: 2'35"
12:27
Midday Sports News for 23 July 2015
BODY:
Fiji's set to learn more than the SIlver Ferns in a one-off test.
Topics: sport
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 3'01"
12:35
Midday Rural News for 23 July 2015
BODY:
News from the rural and farming sectors.
Topics: rural, farming
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 7'28"
=SHOW NOTES=
===1:06 PM. | Jesse Mulligan, 1–4pm===
=DESCRIPTION=
Information and debate, people and places around NZ
=AUDIO=
13:10
Your Song - End Of The Line
BODY:
Neville Aitcheson chooses 'End Of The Line' by The Traveling Wilburys
Topics: music
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags:
Duration: 15'12"
13:25
New Zealand A to Z - Naseby
BODY:
This time it's N for Naseby, in the Maniototo, and also 'C' for the ancient sport of curling. Nearly 300 curlers from around the country were in Naseby, dressed in scottish gear and wielding their brooms as curlers celebrated their first bonspiel, or tournament in 3 years. The icemasters made the nationwide call to curlers last weekend, that Naseby would be hosting the bonspiel, which is only called when there is sufficent ice to support the games.
Topics: sport
Regions: Otago
Tags: curling
Duration: 32'51"
14:10
Two men, eight wheels, one crazy trip
BODY:
Two kiwi adventurers are making a webseries following their epic rollerblading trip which took them from Cape Reinga to Bluff. The plan quickly came unravelled, as neither could rollerblade very well and the terrain was too difficult. But the resulting journey which involved a lot of hitchhiking has made for some great footage, and interviews, with people in small town New Zealand.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: Blade NZ, rollerblading
Duration: 13'17"
14:20
Turing Centre Zurich
BODY:
A University of Canterbury professor has set up the Turing Centre at one of the leading universities in Europe. Having spent much of his academic career researching Alan Turing, Professor Jack Copeland, knows more about the man than most - and can dispell many of the inaccuracies of his portrayal in the recent blockbuster, The Imitation Game.
Topics: science
Regions:
Tags: Alan Turing
Duration: 11'05"
14:45
Feature Album - Unplugged
BODY:
1992's 'Unplugged' was recorded for the MTV Unplugged series, and includes two big hits by Eric Clapton.
Topics: music
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 9'33"
15:10
The Expats - Rachel Jacobsen
BODY:
Rachel Jacobsen is New Zealand's honorary consul in Seattle.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags: Seattle, expats
Duration: 15'35"
15:45
The Panel pre-show for 23 July 2015
BODY:
Your feedback, and a preview of the guests and topics on The Panel.
Topics:
Regions:
Tags:
Duration: 12'26"
21:06
From Egg to Dinner – Breeding Better Salmon
BODY:
Veronika Meduna visits a salmon hatchery to find out more about how salmon are bred and farmed, and about the family tree of each fish.
EXTENDED BODY:
By Veronika Meduna
In the wild, salmon spend most of their lives in the ocean and return to rivers to spawn, and then die.
The largest species in the Pacific salmon family, the King salmon or Chinook, is the only one farmed in New Zealand. It was introduced from northern California as a game fish in the late 19th century, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that the first salmon farms were set up in the Marlborough Sounds.
Farmed salmon now accounts for more than a fifths of the aquaculture industry in New Zealand, which also produces green-lipped mussels and oysters, with a combined export value of $252 million.
New Zealand King Salmon freshwater manager Jon Baileys says the company’s breeding programme is based on family trees and has established seven generations of King salmon over the past two decades, which includes more than 90 distinct families, selected for traits in breeding success and product quality.
All our brood stock are kept in freshwater for their entire life. The traits we select for are growth and age of maturation, so whether they mature at three or four years of age, and then the flesh quality traits, such as fat content in flesh and the colour of the flesh.
All breeding fish are tagged and genotyped against their parent generation to avoid any inbreeding, and the breeding stock is evaluated against their siblings that are kept in seawater pens.
“That means we select fish that perform well in seawater, which is where production fish are grown. We can select the best families in freshwater and then the best fish from within those families to not only produce the eggs for production but also the next generation of brood stock.”
At its hatchery just of Takaka, the clear and cold water of Te Waikoropupu Springs supplies a constant flow to the freshwater pens where breeding fish are kept. “The reason we use this water is its clarity, which is well known. It remains clear year round regardless of the weather and the season and for farming salmon that’s just excellent because the fish can see their food all the time.”
Another constant is the water temperature, which at 11.7 degrees Celsius is in the middle of the range for freshwater salmon farming.
Mature females are separated out into tanks where they are aneasthetised and killed before their eggs are removed. At the same time, another team collects milt from males, making sure to avoid any contact with water, which would activate the sperm.
Salmon stop feeding as they reach maturation and put all their energy into producing eggs and sperm. They develop a darker skin as their scales are absorbed and transformed into a thick mucus layer. In the wild, this would be the time when they travel upstream into rivers to spawn and need a tougher skin to negotiate obstacles.
The hatchery's incubation room is a biosecure area and staff have to wear protective gear and change footwear to prevent the introduction of any pathogens. Once the eggs have been fertilised, they are rinsed with water to harden the shell and kept for a month until the fish embryo’s eye is clearly visible.
From there, the salmon spend another year in freshwater, and the juvenile fish are then transported to sea pens to mature.
Earlier this year, the government announced a $5.2 million project to study the specific dietary requirements of King salmon.
Half of the money for the five-year project comes from the government through Seafood Innovations Ltd (SIL), a research partnership supported by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. The other half is being funded by commercial and research interests – New Zealand King Salmon, Danish feed producer BioMar, Nelson's Cawthron Institute and the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology.
Fish Health Manager for New Zealand King Salmon, Mark Preece, says the project's aim is to improve the efficiency of food use.
We are progressing towards this by firstly determining the digestibility of raw ingredients and if we find any indigestible ingredients, then removing them. Once that's done, we'll develop our 'best possible diet' and benchmark that against the commercially available diet. The primary reason for this work is that most science on diet development is carried out on Atlantic salmon. We farm Pacific salmon, so we need to know what's best for them.
He says no antibiotics or hormones are used in salmon feed, but the pigment Astaxanthin is added. "Astaxanthin is a nature-identical essential nutrient that happens to make the fish pink. It is an identical replica of the colorant found in krill and includes an antioxidant that enhances the salmon health and performance."
Topics: science, environment, food
Regions:
Tags: marine farming, salmon, King salmon
Duration: 20'45"
=SHOW NOTES=
1:10 Your Song
End Of The Line - The Traveling Wilburys. Chosen by Neville Aitcheson.
1:20 Our New Zealand A to Z - Naseby
N is for Naseby, and C is for Curling. With Jock Scott, Stewart Hoare, Ewan Kirk and Sam Inder.
[gallery:1290]
2:10 Two men, eight wheels, one crazy trip
Two kiwi adventurers are making a webseries following their epic rollerblading trip which took them from Cape Reinga to Bluff. The plan quickly came unravelled, as neither could rollerblade very well and the terrain was too difficult. But the resulting journey which involved a lot of hitchhiking has made for some great footage, and interviews, with people in small town New Zealand.
2:20 Turing Centre Zurich
A University of Canterbury professor has set up the Turing Centre at one of the leading universities in Europe. Having spent much of his academic career researching Alan Turing, Professor Jack Copeland, knows more about the man than most - and can dispell many of the inaccuracies of his portrayal in the recent blockbuster, The Imitation Game.
2:30 NZ Reading - How To Make Your First Billion
The Internet start-up group Jake, Subash, Meg and Nathan launch their new website today in our Serial 'How to Make Your First Billion' by Matthew Solon.
2:45 Feature album
Eric Clapton - Unplugged (1992).
3:10 The Expats - Rachel Jacobsen
Rachel Jacobsen is New Zealand's honorary consul in Seattle.
3:20 BBC Witness - Aswan Dam
In July 1970 one of the largest dams in the world - the Aswan High Dam in Egypt - was completed. It had taken ten years and was not without controversy. Today's edition of the BBC history programme 'Witness' delves into the archives and seeks the views of one man who was there, Professor Herman Bell, about the cost of the dam on the region's people and its antiquities.
3:35 Our Changing World - Veronika Meduna
Each salmon farmed in New Zealand has a genetic pedigree that spans several generations. Veronika Meduna explores the salmon family tree and finds out what happens at the fish farm, from egg to dinner.
Stories from Our Changing World.
3:45 The Panel Pre-Show
What the world is talking about. With Jim Mora, Zara Potts, Phoebe Fletcher and Wena Harawira.
===4:06 PM. | The Panel===
=DESCRIPTION=
An hour of discussion featuring a range of panellists from right along the opinion spectrum (RNZ)
=AUDIO=
15:45
The Panel pre-show for 23 July 2015
BODY:
Your feedback, and a preview of the guests and topics on The Panel.
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Duration: 12'26"
16:09
The Panel with Wena Harawira and Phoebe Fletcher (Part 1)
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Corrections Minister Sam Lotu-Iiga has told private prison operator SERCO there will be serious consequences if allegations of violence and intimidation between prisoners at Mt Eden remand prison are proven true. Lawyer Steve Cullen joins the Panel to discuss the retrospective speeding law passed this week. This was to make up for an oversight in putting council speed limits on local roads. The Auckland Council has released the breakdown of where its rates bills go - just over 1% are sent to overseas adresses. John Key sideswipes Labour over flag policy.
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Duration: 23'59"
16:10
The Panel with Wena Harawira and Phoebe Fletcher (Part 2)
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The Campaign for Better Transport wants the Government to consider saving billions of dollars by building a rail-only crossing under Auckland's Waitemata Harbour. Economist Neil Douglas speaks about if this would still be a great idea in 30 years time. The Queenstown Lakes District Council will spend a year in consultation about its alcohol policy. The Medical Officer of Public Health South Dr Derek Bell joins the Panel to discuss why this will take a year.
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Duration: 25'55"
16:13
Panel Intro
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What the Panelists Wena Harawira and Phoebe Fletcher have been up to.
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Duration: 2'33"
16:16
Inmate fall
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Corrections Minister Sam Lotu-liga has told private prison operator SERCO there will be serious consequences if allegations of violence and intimidation between prisoners at Mt Eden remand prison are proven true.
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Tags: Corrections, Mt Eden prison, justice, prisons, Serco
Duration: 5'14"
16:19
Retrospective speeding law
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Lawyer Steve Cullen joins the Panel to discuss the retrospective speeding law passed this week. This was to make up for an oversight in putting council speed limits on local roads.
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Duration: 5'08"
16:24
Overseas Auckland home ownership
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The Auckland Council has released the breakdown of where its rates bills go - just over 1% are sent to overseas adresses.
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Duration: 7'04"
16:27
John Key sideswipes Labour over flag policy
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Is it a measure of how short our political memories are now that we'd all forgotten that Labour was in favour of a flag referendum going into the last election? Labour would review the design of the New Zealand flag, involve flag design experts and have public consultation and involvement.
Topics: politics
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Tags: flags
Duration: 3'44"
16:32
The death of the Fiddler on the Roof
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Theodore Bikel who was best know for playing Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof has died.
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Duration: 4'05"
16:34
Panel Says
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What the Panelists Wena Harawira and Phoebe Fletcher have been thinking about.
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Duration: 6'13"
16:45
Possible rail only tunnel for Waitemata crossing
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The Campaign for Better Transport wants the Government to consider saving billions of dollars by building a rail-only crossing under Auckland's Waitemata Harbour. Economist Neil Douglas speaks to The Panel about if this would still be a great idea in 30 years time.
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Duration: 6'54"
16:52
Queenstown alcohol policy
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The Queenstown Lakes District Council will spend a year in consultation about its alcohol policy. The Medical Officer of Public Health South Dr Derek Bell joins tThe Panel to discuss why this will take a year.
Topics: law
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Tags: policy, alcohol
Duration: 8'12"
=SHOW NOTES=
===5:00 PM. | Checkpoint===
=DESCRIPTION=
Radio New Zealand's two-hour news and current affairs programme
=AUDIO=
17:00
Checkpoint Top Stories for Thursday 23 July 2015
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Black eye for Health Ministry in big win for gambling workers; More failings by private prison company are revealed;; Reserve Bank cuts interest rate; Call for stronger policing of security industry - inquest.
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Duration: 23'35"
17:08
Black eye for Health Ministry in big win for gambling workers
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The High Court's delivered a comprehensive defeat to the Health Ministry, overturning an unfair tendering process that threatened to scupper the Problem Gambling Foundation.
Topics: law, health
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Tags: gambling
Duration: 6'51"
17:08
Grant will extend Dr. Lance's tele health service
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A company headed by the Kaitaia GP Lance O'Sullivan has won a $30 thousand grant for a pioneering internet health service for children. The grant from the lines company Top Energy, will extend a remote diagnosis and treatment system that's already up and running in Kaitaia.
Topics: health, internet
Regions: Northland
Tags: internet health services, Kaitaia
Duration: 3'15"
17:15
More failings by private prison company are revealed
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The Corrections Minister has revealed Serco has been fined $300,000 in the last year for breaching its contract with the Government. Sam Lotu-Iiga met the prison company's bosses today and put them on notice after video footage of inmates fighting, smoking cannabis and drinking alcohol, and reports of other assaults at Mt Eden remand prison.
Topics: law
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Tags: private prisons, Serco, Mt Eden prison
Duration: 4'07"
17:20
Reserve Bank cuts interest rate
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The Reserve Bank has looked past Auckland's red hot housing market cutting the benchmark interest rate to help farmers grappling with plunging dairy prices.
Topics: business
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Tags: Reserve Bank, interest rate
Duration: 4'11"
17:24
Call for stronger policing of security industry - inquest
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A security expert has told an inquest into the death of a security guard that his lack of training may have contributed to his death and he's calling for much strong accountability and policing of the industry.
Topics: crime
Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: security industry, workplace health and safety
Duration: 4'46"
17:35
Evening Business for 23 July 2015
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News from the business sector including a market report.
Topics: business, economy
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Duration: 2'06"
17:38
Whale Oil blogger accused court of contempt.
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The Whale Oil blogger Cameron Slater could face jail time if he is found to be in contempt of court. The businessman Matthew Blomfield is accusing Mr Slater of breaching a confidential Settlement Conference at the High Court in Auckland.
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Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: Whaile Oil, Cameron Slater
Duration: 3'56"
17:45
How bad was violence when Corrections ran Auckland prison?
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A former inmate says it was worse when the jail was run by Corrections and the company Serco has made things better. Martin Lyttelton spent two years on remand there in 2008 and 2009. Serco took over in 2011.
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Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: Mt Eden prison, Corrections, prisons
Duration: 4'15"
17:46
Ten year old girl wins third BMX world title
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A ten year old New Zealand girl has just clinched her third world BMX title at the championships in Belgium. Leila Walker, who's from Cambridge, only took up the sport three and a half years ago.
Topics: sport
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Tags: BMX, Leila Walker
Duration: 2'58"
17:50
New rules to police spying in the skies
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After a long wait, rules are finally coming in around drones to boost safety and curb snooping, but at the same time opening up the chance to fly them at night. From next week, anyone with a drone, from commercial operators to children with toy machines, will need consent to fly over someone's property - or over the person themselves.
Topics: law
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Tags: drones
Duration: 3'00"
17:56
Auckland Council agrees to look into selling assets
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The Auckland Council has decided to look into alternative sources of financing, which includes the possibility of selling its assets. The council's budget committee agreed to set up the review in May, in order to take the heat off Auckland's spiraling rates.
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Regions: Auckland Region
Tags: asset sales, Auckland Council
Duration: 2'46"
18:06
Sports News for 23 July 2015
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An update from the team at RNZ Sport.
Topics: sport
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Duration: 3'07"
18:13
Anti-gambling jobs saved by High Court
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The High Court's delivered a big black eye to the Health Ministry, overturning an unfair tendering process that threatened to rip the heart out of the Problem Gambling Foundation. Its ruling this afternoon sets aside the ministry's decision last year to strip the foundation of most of its funding and give most of its contracts to the Salvation Army.
Topics: law, health
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Tags: gambling
Duration: 4'08"
18:16
Finance Minister agrees economy will soften
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The Government has acknowledged economic growth will slow but insists the economy's prospects are good, as the Reserve Bank made another cut to the official cash rate today.
Topics: economy
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Tags: Reserve Bank
Duration: 3'08"
18:20
Auckland housing unaffordability pales against Vancouver's
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If Auckland housing affordability is bad, spare a thought for Vancouver where it's worse and sparking a fiercer backlash against foreign buyers.
Topics: housing
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Duration: 5'23"
18:25
Latest on Mt Eden prison violence
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The head of Corrections Ray Smith has just said he learned today that another prisoner transported this week from Mt Eden Prison to another prison arrived there with injuries That prisoner has made serious allegations about his treatment at Mt Eden.
Topics: crime
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Tags: Mt Eden prison, prison
Duration: 1'57"
18:26
Drone users face tougher regulations from next month
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Anyone with a drone, from commercial operators to children with toy machines, will have to comply with new, tougher rules .
Topics: law
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Tags: drones
Duration: 5'15"
18:37
Govt says annual benefit re-application will help
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The Minister of Social Development is denying that plans to have sole parents on a benefit re-apply every year is a cost-saving exercise.
Topics: politics
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Tags: benefits
Duration: 2'57"
18:40
China cracks down on the legal profession
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In Beijing, human rights lawyers have been paraded on television accused of corruption and fraud in a state crack down on the legal profession.
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Tags: China
Duration: 4'19"
18:44
Nelson's Trafalgar Centre is expected to reopen next year
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Nelson's Trafalgar Centre will soon be open again for the conferences, concerts and sports events it's missed out on since the venue was closed 18 months ago.
Topics: politics
Regions: Nelson Region
Tags: Trafalgar Centre
Duration: 2'18"
18:47
Te Manu Korihi News for 23 July 2015
BODY:
The Waitangi Tribunal has been hearing opposing arguments from the Crown and Māori on whether it should hold an urgent inquiry into the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal; A company headed by the Kaitaia GP Lance O'Sullivan has scooped up a 30-thousand dollar grant for a pioneering telemedicine service for children; Three new Māori aquaculture agreements between the Crown and iwi have been signed in Parliament today.
Topics: te ao Maori
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Duration: 3'20"
18:51
Today In Parliament for 23 July 2015 - evening edition
BODY:
Justice & Electoral Committee receives calls for automatic voter registration; Corrections Minister faces more questions about problems at Mt Eden Prison.
Topics: politics
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Duration: 5'24"
=SHOW NOTES=
===7:06 PM. | Nights===
=DESCRIPTION=
Entertainment and information, including: 7:30 At the Movies with Simon Morris: Current film releases and film related topics (RNZ) 8:13 Windows on the World: International public radio features and documentaries 9:06 Our Changing World: Science and environment news from NZ and the world (RNZ)
=AUDIO=
19:10
Mathematics
BODY:
Making the numbers add up is Dr Dillon Mayhew from Victoria University's School of Mathematics, Statistics and Operations Research: game theory. John Nash (the subject of the film A Beautiful Mind) died in a car crash a little while ago. He was one of the pioneering figures in game theory, which is the branch of mathematics that considers situations where competing players try to gain advantage over each other.
Topics: science
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Tags: mathematics, game theory, John Nash
Duration: 18'22"
20:40
Jazz
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Jivester, editor and publisher Fergus Barrowman on the sizzle and pop of a snazzy beat... Aaron Diehl, Joe Harriott & Amancio D'Silva, and Hayden Chisholm.
Topics: music, arts, life and society
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Tags: jazz, Aaron Diehl, Joe Harriott and Amancio D'Silva, Hayden Chisholm
Duration: 21'00"
20:59
Conundrum Clue 7
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Conundrum Clue 7.
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Duration: 24"
21:59
Conundrum Clue 8
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Conundrum Clue 8.
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Duration: 54"
=SHOW NOTES=
7:10 Mathematics
Making the numbers add up is Dr Dillon Mayhew from Victoria University's School of Mathematics, Statistics and Operations Research: game theory. John Nash (the subject of the film A Beautiful Mind) died in a car crash a little while ago. He was one of the pioneering figures in game theory, which is the branch of mathematics that considers situations where competing players try to gain advantage over each other.
7:30 At the Movies
=SHOW NOTES=
=AUDIO=
19:30
At the Movies for 23 July 2015
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On At The Movies, Simon Morris looks at the new Marvel Comics movie, Ant-Man. He also talks to former Marvel villain, Sir Ben Kingsley - aka The Mandarin - about his new film Learning To Drive, and a career that has spanned Mahatma Gandhi, Ringo Starr and the Olsen Twins!
EXTENDED BODY:
Simon Morris looks at the new Marvel Comics movie, Ant-Man. He also talks to former Marvel villain, Sir Ben Kingsley - aka The Mandarin - about his new film Learning To Drive, and a career that has spanned Mahatma Gandhi, Ringo Starr and the Olsen Twins!
The big picture with Simon Morris
The comic book world is dominated by two companies – Marvel and DC. DC’s Superman and Batman films tend to be dark, ultra-serious and borderline Fascist. Marvel is far more on the side of the underdog. Even their superheroes are plagued with self-doubt.
Possibly the most subversive Marvel movie was provided by Hollywood iconoclast Shane Black. His Iron Man 3 not only found a new angle to Robert Downey Junior’s title character, but he came up with the genre’s most interesting villain - the too-bad-to-be-true Mandarin, played to the hilt by Sir Ben Kingsley.
But even the best comic-book films can’t escape the fact that they’re… comic book films. No matter how cunningly devised and well acted they are, they stand and fall on three little words: Bam! Splat! And Kapow!
But though we may roll our eyes at these technicolour mastodons, and cry out for something more nourishing, the trouble is that comic-book films, and their animated cousins, make grown-up films look a bit tame and old-fashioned.
Like Sir Ben Kingsley’s own new film, Learning to Drive - about a tightly-wound New York book critic, played by the always reliable Patricia Clarkson, who belatedly finds she needs to drive herself when her husband leaves her. Her instructor is a dignified Sikh refugee, played by Ben Kingsley.
The film is everything you want from a grownup film – that is, a film about adults, a little slight, maybe, but beautifully written and acted.
Later I talk with the equally dignified Sir Ben Kingsley, who’s rather more fun than I was expecting – particularly when the conversation turns to the Beatles, the Olsen Twins and dressing in drag.
But the big movie this week was the debut of Marvel Comics’ smallest super-hero, Ant-Man.
Topics: arts
Regions:
Tags: film, Marvel, Ben Kingsley
Duration: 23'58"
19:31
Ant-Man - film review
BODY:
Simon Morris looks at the new Marvel Comics movie, Ant-Man, starring Paul Rudd playing a reformed burglar.
EXTENDED BODY:
Simon Morris looks at the new Marvel Comics movie, Ant-Man, starring Paul Rudd playing a reformed burglar.
Ant-Man starts with quite a few strikes against it. First of all, Ant-Man? Really? A hero as small as an ant is an unpromising hero to talk up, you’d think. But the biggest problem for me is I’ve seen so many of these films now. Ant-Man is simply one tight-fitting suit too far.
In fairness, my neighbours at the Ant-Man screening were three young chaps - average age about 11 - who had the time of their lives, whooping and hollering at every size-changing action stunt.
Unlike many Marvel movies, Ant-Man isn’t complicated by too many villains. Instead it throws in some father-daughter issues.
But once the action gets under way, Ant-Man is basically a traditional heist movie, with added trick photography. The stunts and the comedy were the attractions for my 11-year-old neighbours. The rest of us get the likable Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas, and the fact that micro-battles are frankly hilarious when the camera pulls out.
Ant-Man is entertaining enough, if you’re not good and sick of comic-book films now. My neighbours enjoyed every moment of it, and why shouldn’t they? It was made for them.
But after nearly ten years trapped in the comic-book store, I’m looking for the exit.
Topics: arts
Regions:
Tags: film, Marvel, film review
Duration: 5'54"
19:40
Learning to Drive - interview with Sir Ben Kingsley
BODY:
Learning to Drive stars two people who know what they're doing - Patricia Clarkson and Ben Kingsley… and it turns out the versatile Sir Ben hasn't quite played everything yet… Simon Morris talks to the extraordinary actor.
EXTENDED BODY:
Learning to Drive stars two people who know what they're doing - Patricia Clarkson and Ben Kingsley… and it turns out the versatile Sir Ben hasn't quite played everything yet… Simon Morris talks to the actor.
When Sir Ben Kingsley made his extraordinary film debut in, and as, Mahatma Gandhi - two Golden Globes, two Baftas and one Academy Award - everyone in Hollywood who knew anything predicted that it would be too hard an act to follow.
But of course nobody in Hollywood knows anything. Sir Ben's career has been as extensive as it's been astonishing in range - from Schindler's List to Sexy Beast, from House of Sand and Fog to Hugo, where he played French film pioneer Georges Melies. I have very fond memories of him upending expectations in Iron Man 3, blending horrific menace and knockabout comedy in one role.
This week, Sir Ben Kingsley returns in a sweet little film called Learning To Drive, playing a Sikh taxi-driver opposite old friend Patricia Clarkson.
Topics: arts
Regions:
Tags: film, Ben Kingsley, film review
Duration: 11'58"
19:40
Learning to Drive - interview with Sir Ben Kingsley
BODY:
Learning to Drive stars two people who know what they're doing - Patricia Clarkson and Ben Kingsley… and it turns out the versatile Sir Ben hasn't quite played everything yet… Simon Morris talks to the extraordinary actor.
Topics: arts
Regions:
Tags: film, Ben Kingsley, film review
Duration: 11'58"
7:30 At the Movies
Films and movie business with Simon Morris.
8:10 Windows on the World
International public radio documentaries - visit the Windows on the World web page to find links to these documentaries.
8:40 Jazz
Jivester, editor and publisher Fergus Barrowman on the sizzle and pop of a snazzy beat.
9:06 Our Changing World
=SHOW NOTES=
=AUDIO=
21:06
From Egg to Dinner – Breeding Better Salmon
BODY:
Veronika Meduna visits a salmon hatchery to find out more about how salmon are bred and farmed, and about the family tree of each fish.
EXTENDED BODY:
By Veronika Meduna
In the wild, salmon spend most of their lives in the ocean and return to rivers to spawn, and then die.
The largest species in the Pacific salmon family, the King salmon or Chinook, is the only one farmed in New Zealand. It was introduced from northern California as a game fish in the late 19th century, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that the first salmon farms were set up in the Marlborough Sounds.
Farmed salmon now accounts for more than a fifths of the aquaculture industry in New Zealand, which also produces green-lipped mussels and oysters, with a combined export value of $252 million.
New Zealand King Salmon freshwater manager Jon Baileys says the company’s breeding programme is based on family trees and has established seven generations of King salmon over the past two decades, which includes more than 90 distinct families, selected for traits in breeding success and product quality.
All our brood stock are kept in freshwater for their entire life. The traits we select for are growth and age of maturation, so whether they mature at three or four years of age, and then the flesh quality traits, such as fat content in flesh and the colour of the flesh.
All breeding fish are tagged and genotyped against their parent generation to avoid any inbreeding, and the breeding stock is evaluated against their siblings that are kept in seawater pens.
“That means we select fish that perform well in seawater, which is where production fish are grown. We can select the best families in freshwater and then the best fish from within those families to not only produce the eggs for production but also the next generation of brood stock.”
At its hatchery just of Takaka, the clear and cold water of Te Waikoropupu Springs supplies a constant flow to the freshwater pens where breeding fish are kept. “The reason we use this water is its clarity, which is well known. It remains clear year round regardless of the weather and the season and for farming salmon that’s just excellent because the fish can see their food all the time.”
Another constant is the water temperature, which at 11.7 degrees Celsius is in the middle of the range for freshwater salmon farming.
Mature females are separated out into tanks where they are aneasthetised and killed before their eggs are removed. At the same time, another team collects milt from males, making sure to avoid any contact with water, which would activate the sperm.
Salmon stop feeding as they reach maturation and put all their energy into producing eggs and sperm. They develop a darker skin as their scales are absorbed and transformed into a thick mucus layer. In the wild, this would be the time when they travel upstream into rivers to spawn and need a tougher skin to negotiate obstacles.
The hatchery's incubation room is a biosecure area and staff have to wear protective gear and change footwear to prevent the introduction of any pathogens. Once the eggs have been fertilised, they are rinsed with water to harden the shell and kept for a month until the fish embryo’s eye is clearly visible.
From there, the salmon spend another year in freshwater, and the juvenile fish are then transported to sea pens to mature.
Earlier this year, the government announced a $5.2 million project to study the specific dietary requirements of King salmon.
Half of the money for the five-year project comes from the government through Seafood Innovations Ltd (SIL), a research partnership supported by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. The other half is being funded by commercial and research interests – New Zealand King Salmon, Danish feed producer BioMar, Nelson's Cawthron Institute and the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology.
Fish Health Manager for New Zealand King Salmon, Mark Preece, says the project's aim is to improve the efficiency of food use.
We are progressing towards this by firstly determining the digestibility of raw ingredients and if we find any indigestible ingredients, then removing them. Once that's done, we'll develop our 'best possible diet' and benchmark that against the commercially available diet. The primary reason for this work is that most science on diet development is carried out on Atlantic salmon. We farm Pacific salmon, so we need to know what's best for them.
He says no antibiotics or hormones are used in salmon feed, but the pigment Astaxanthin is added. "Astaxanthin is a nature-identical essential nutrient that happens to make the fish pink. It is an identical replica of the colorant found in krill and includes an antioxidant that enhances the salmon health and performance."
Topics: science, environment, food
Regions:
Tags: marine farming, salmon, King salmon
Duration: 20'45"
21:20
Sea Urchins and Their 'Landscape of Fear'
BODY:
Do sea urchins live in a 'landscape of fear' and is the mere presence of predatory crayfish and snapper enough to change their behaviour?
EXTENDED BODY:
By Alison Ballance
“Fear is causing them to be more cryptic. It’s a really cool result. Predators don’t actually have to be having a direct effect on the sea urchins to potentially limit how much kelp they graze.”
Arie Spyksma, Leigh Marine Laboratory
When wolves were re-introduced into Yellowstone National Park in the United States, the park’s vegetation began to rapidly change. And it wasn’t that the wolves were eating all the deer – it was that the mere presence of the wolves was causing the deer to spend more time hiding in the forest, and less time out in the open eating grass.
Ecologists call this the 'landscape of fear’, and University of Auckland PhD student Arie Spyksma wonders if the same thing could be happening closer to home – but with sea urchins instead of deer, and snapper and crayfish rather than wolves.
This time-lapse video was made by Arie Spyksma as part of his research. For the first 4 seconds you see a crowd of sea urchins behaving normally. Then, after a white perforated pot containing some crushed sea urchin is introduced, many urchins react to the smell by moving away from the pot. At the same time a number of fish come in to investigate the pot. Arie says the crushed sea urchin is a proxy for a sea urchin being eaten by a crayfish or snapper, and is a way of seeing how the urchins react to their predators. The metal poles and fluttering tape at the left and right of shot are the legs of the tripod holding the time-lapse camera.
Arie has been comparing the behaviour of sea urchins, or kina (Evechinus chloroticus) both inside and outside two marine reserves – the Leigh, or Cape Rodney to Okakari Point marine reserve, and Tawharanui marine reserve. In unprotected areas of the Hauraki Gulf ‘kina barrens’ are a common feature – over-fishing results in low numbers of popular species such as crayfish and snapper, both of which are key predators of sea urchins. As a result, the numbers of sea urchins builds up, leading to the over-grazing of the common kelp, Ecklonia radiata. What happens in a fully protected marine reserve once fishing is prohibited is that snapper and crayfish numbers recover, sea urchin numbers go down and at the same time the kelp also begins to recover.
“There’s a theory known as the trophic cascade theory,” says Arie. “When predator numbers are high they can effectively control herbivore numbers - so herbivores like the sea urchin – which keeps their numbers in check and means that they’re not over-grazing the kelp, and it keeps the ecosystem in a good balance. If those predators are removed then the herbivore populations will explode, they’ll over-graze and then you’re left with a reef that’s got no kelp on it, has got low coralline and turfing algaes, and isn’t as productive and can’t hold as many species.”
The main idea behind the trophic cascade theory is that it is direct interactions between the predators and their prey i.e. the predator eats the prey species and removes it. What Arie is investigating is a growing idea that the indirect effects of predators may be as, if not more, significant.
“By causing the urchin to fear for its life and stay hidden or cryptic, the urchins are not going to be out on the reef as much and therefore might not graze the kelp as much,” says Arie.
Arie has carried out his research both in the field and in the lab at the Leigh Marine Laboratory. To begin with he compared the size and behaviour of sea urchins inside and outside the marine reserves. He observed that the smaller population of urchins inside the marine reserve were more cryptic and spent much more of their time hiding, compared to those outside the reserve which spent much more time out in the open, even when they were quite little (just 40 mm in size).
However, this could have been either because they were hiding from greater numbers of predators in the marine reserve, or that there was simply more food in the reserve so they didn’t have to spend so much time looking for it but could rely on drift algae coming to them as they hid.
To tease those two possibilities apart Arie ran some experiments in the lab, exposing sea urchins to the smell of crushed sea urchins that he hoped would “mimic another sea urchin somewhere in the area being attacked.” He also created scenarios with and without lots of kelp being washed around the tank.
“Then for about three weeks I’d get up every four hours and go and see what the urchins were doing” says Arie. “So by the third week there was a very clear separation between the groups of urchins with and without predator cues. When predator cues [the crushed sea urchin] were present a much higher proportion of the sea urchins were cryptic on a daily basis, and this was regardless of whether there was food present or not present.”
So, Arie concludes, it seems that ‘fear’ of predators was shaping how urchins behaved in the lab, and subsequent work he has done back out in the field, filming how urchins react to different cues (crushed fish versus a crushed sea urchin, for example) certainly backs up this result. Our underwater world, then, really does seem to be a ‘landscape of fear.’
Topics: science, environment
Regions:
Tags: sea urchin, kina, crayfish, snapper, marine resserves, fishing, Leigh Marine Laboratory
Duration: 15'19"
21:34
Sleep Apnoea
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Ruth Beran's award-winning feature on sleep apnoea follows Maui Stewart to the sleep clinic on a journey to better health
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By Ruth Beran
This programme won the Best Feature or Documentary at the 2012 New Zealand Radio Awards, and was first broadcast on 17 February 2011.
Maui Stuart before his diagnosis of sleep apnoea (left), and after (right) in the room where he had the overnight sleep study with Jessie Bakker (images: Maui Stuart and Ruth Beran)
In this two-part story, Ruth Beran meets Maui Stuart who was recently diagnosed with sleep apnoea after an overnight sleep study at WellSleep, a sleep investigation centre based at Wellington's Bowen Hospital.
Jessie Bakker from the University of Otago, Wellington who worked at WellSleep explains what sleep apnoea is, how it is diagnosed, what happens during a sleep study, and demonstrates the gold standard treatment - a continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP) machine.
A CPAP machine and leads used in overnight sleep studies(image: Ruth Beran)
Jessie Bakker recently led a study analysing why some people in the community are less likely to continue with CPAP treatment. The first part of the study was based on a questionnaire of 127 patients living in the Greater Wellington area, and found that ethnicity did not independently predict compliance with CPAP after measures like socioeconomic deprivation and education were factored in.
The second part of the study involved three focus groups where eight New Zealand Europeans, five Maori and five Pacific patients, and while discussions did touch on culturally-specific aspects, all groups discussed common problems like financial barriers to CPAP use, feeling overwhelmed with the CPAP educational material, and the importance of role models.
Maui Stuart benefited from the discussion group, and has been changing his life ever since he was diagnosed with sleep apnoea. He has continued with CPAP treatment, has changed his diet, and is now doing regular exercise. He has lost over 25 kilograms so far, and his goal is to swim the Cook Strait.
Topics: science, health
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Tags: sleep apnoea, sleep, snoring, CPAP machines, weight loss
Duration: 25'30"
21:48
North Island Brown Kiwi Genome
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The genome of the North Island brown kiwi has just been published by an international team of researchers
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By Alison Ballance
The North Island brown kiwi has just joined kea and rifleman in an exclusive club – birds that have had their entire genome sequenced.
There are 10,000 or so species of birds worldwide, and the genomes of just 50 of those have been worked out. That three New Zealand birds are amongst the 50 is testament to how unusual our avifauna is.
The work, 'Kiwi genome provides insights into evolution of a nocturnal lifestyle' has just been published in the journal Genome Biology by a team of German and Australian researchers. What they have found in the genes confirms that kiwi are pretty much colour blind, but are super-sniffers when it comes to smell.
This infrared video of a male North Island brown kiwi calling was recorded by Dr Isabel Castro and her team.
Conservation genomics researcher Dr Tammy Steeves at the University of Canterbury says that bird genomes are much smaller than mammal genomes, but that the kiwi genome is one of the largest bird genomes.
“On average bird genomes are about one billion base pairs,” says Dr Steeves. “And the kiwi genome is about one and half billion base pairs.” This compares to 3.2 billion base pairs in the human genome.
“Bird genomes are usually about a third of the size of the human genome, and that’s one of the things that makes them so fascinating,” says Dr Steeves.
“They’re very compact and they don’t have a lot of what we call repetitive elements or repeating DNA sequences, and they’re also highly conserved, so even when we look across very distantly related birds they have very, very similar genomes.”
There are five species of kiwi in New Zealand, and they belong to a group of flightless birds known as ratites, which includes the extinct moa as well as ostriches, emus, cassowaries and rheas.
Genetics and genomics researcher Professor Neil Gemmell, from the University of Otago, says the publication of the North Island brown kiwi genome is significant.
“It’s a pretty major achievement,” says Prof Gemmell. “Kiwi genomes are a little bit bigger than most bird genomes. It’s the first kiwi genome sequenced in its entirety, and I think it’ll be a really useful resource for future kiwi research in New Zealand.” He says it should also improve our understanding of how kiwi fit into the ratite group of birds.
he researchers of the North Island brown kiwi genome were particularly interested in investigating the genetic components of the bird’s unusual flightless, nocturnal behaviour, especially their olfactory receptor genes and their vision receptor genes.
“We know that kiwi have poor eyesight – they have some adaptations for nocturnal viewing but their sense is quite under-developed,” says kiwi ecologist Dr Isabel Castro from Massey University.
“But they have a fantastic sense of smell – they have a very big area of the brain that is devoted to the sense of smell. One of the things that you notice when you’re working with kiwi in the wild is that they use their scent of smell and their scent of touch for everything.”
A previous study had identified a number of olfactory receptor genes in brown kiwi, but this new research has added to that tally.
“What this new group is doing is a more advanced way of looking at it,” says Dr Castro.
“We already knew that kiwi had a lot of olfactory receptor genes, but [what the new study reveals is] that they might be more sensitive to more smells than we ever thought before.”
While brown kiwi had similar genes for black and white vision to other vertebrates, the researchers identified mutations in the blue and green vision receptor genes that rendered blue and green colour vision absent.
Still no answers for why kiwi lost flight
The German and Australian researchers estimate that kiwi adapted to a nocturnal lifestyle about 35 million years ago (30-38 million years), soon after the then-flighted birds flew to New Zealand.
While the team also investigated the genes involved in limb development, they weren’t able to draw any conclusions about when kiwi lost their wings.
The researchers suggest that competition with moa drove the smaller kiwi to a nocturnal life style, but Dr Castro says this seems unlikely. Rather than competition from much larger herbivorous moa, she suggests that competition from smaller insectivorous birds - and predation by avian predators such as falcons and eagles - probably drove the small ancestral kiwi to become active at night.
As far as on-the-ground conservation management of this threatened species goes, conservation genetics expert Dr Helen Taylor, from the University of Otago, says the sequencing of the brown kiwi genome doesn’t mean much immediately.
“But it does mean that we’re making progress towards being able to get large-scale genetic data sets for [all kiwi species] more easily and more cheaply. It will act as a guide for doing genotyping by sequencing across North Island brown kiwi and across other species of kiwi as well," she says.
"And the nice thing about those techniques is that it allows us to get really high resolution genetic data so we can make better decisions about what genetic diversity they have, what population structure there is and these kinds of things are very helpful for informing good conservation management.
“These are things we can address with current genetic tools... But what genomic tools mean is we can get at this data in a much more high resolution way and get much more accurate answers.”
Prof Gemmell says that, with the brown kiwi genome now sequenced, it should be easier to do the others.
"You’re not trying to assemble things from a blank slate... You’re working from a framework where you can actually take the sequences you generate form the other kiwi species and you align them against that matrix.”
More bird genomes on the way
The genomes of a number of New Zealand birds are being worked on at the moment – among them little spotted kiwi. This work is focusing on the transcriptome of the little spotted kiwi and is being led by Dr Kristina Ramstad at Victoria University of Wellington.
Prof Gemmell and Dr Steeves both expressed disappointment that no New Zealand-based researchers were involved in the work.
“It certainly doesn’t matter from the quality of the science,” says Dr Steeves. “The science is very good and it’s very exciting. And what I would like to see moving forward, particularly on the conservation front, is that we see the involvement of local expertise.”
She says when it comes to kiwi conservation management it is important to involve all the stakeholders, which includes the Department of Conservation and local iwi and communities.
A brief history of genome sequencing
The first genome to be sequenced, in 1976, was a small single-stranded RNA virus called Bacteriophage MS2. Its genome comprised just 3569 pairs.
The first animal to have its genome sequenced was the fruit fly Drosophila in 2000.
The human genome was sequenced in 2001.
In 2004, the red jungle fowl became the first egg-laying animal to have its genome sequenced.
The human genome has 3.2 billion bases. Compared to mammals, bird genomes are quite small. Dr Steeves says bird genomes average 100 billion base pairs, but the kiwi genome is quite a bit bigger, with 1.5 billion base pairs.
Topics: science, environment
Regions:
Tags: genome sequencing, genome, genetics, conservation, kiwi, flightless birds, genes
Duration: 21'46"
9:06 Our Changing World
Science and environment news from New Zealand and the world.
10:17 Late Edition
A review of the leading news from Morning Report, Nine to Noon, Afternoons and Checkpoint. Also hear the latest news from around the Pacific on Radio New Zealand International's Dateline Pacific.
11:06 Music 101 pocket edition
A contemporary music magazine with interviews and music from New Zealand and overseas artists, coverage of new releases, tours, live sessions, music festivals and events.
===10:00 PM. | Late Edition===
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Radio New Zealand news, including Dateline Pacific and the day's best interviews from Radio New Zealand National
===11:06 PM. | Music 101===
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Music, interviews, live performances, behind the scenes, industry issues, career profiles, new, back catalogue, undiscovered, greatest hits, tall tales - with a focus on NZ (RNZ)