Pāua

Pāua is the Māori name given to four New Zealand species of large edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs which belong to the family Haliotidae (in which there is only one genus, Haliotis).

All pāua must remain un-shucked until they are on the land side of the high tide mark so Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) fishery officers can inspect them if required.

More serious offences have resulted in hefty court convictions, including seizure of diving gear, boats, and motor vehicles as well as large fines and in rare cases, imprisonment.

[7] To Māori, pāua are recognised taonga, or treasure, esteemed both as kaimoana (seafood) and as a valued resource for traditional and contemporary arts and crafts.

[8] Pāua shells are frequently used to represent eyes of human and animal figures in Māori carvings, and used as decorations on skirts, cloaks and in earrings.

During the colonial era of New Zealand, British settlers detested the taste of pāua, but had an appreciation for the shells.

The pāua are grown to market size (depending on conditions, this usually takes 2–3 years) in either long trays with inflow of seawater at one end and outflow at the other, or smaller tanks with tipper buckets that regularly dump seawater into the tanks to recreate the wave motion pāua experience in the wild.

Pāua hatch as trochophore larvae and feed on plankton present in seawater pumped into the holding tanks.

When the larvae are ready to settle (usually 7 days at 16 °C; 61°F),[12] they are moved to settlement tanks that consist of many glass plates with small films of diatoms present (usually Navicula minimata).

The diatoms are the main food source for the juveniles until they reach about 3 cm (1") in length; the diet is then switched to a macroalgae species.

The pāua are considered adults around 6 cm (2") in size and are then fed on a meal-based diet until they are ready for processing and sale.

After the pāua are “nucleated,” they are kept in tanks for 2 to 3 years and fed on either seaweed or meal, during which time they coat the insert with nacre.