ORA & Save Our Scallops

Venture focus:

Rebuilding Aotearoa’s scallop future through restoration science, wild spat intelligence, low-impact fisheries innovation and regenerative aquaculture.

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Decades of over-harvesting, destructive fishing methods and habitat degradation have decimated scallop beds in Aotearoa.

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Nearly all wild fisheries are now closed and there is currently no coordinated plan to bring them back. There are no hatcheries. No reseeding programmes. No farming. No alternative fishing methods in place — just stranded quota, degraded habitats, and growing reliance on imported product.

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We’re here to change that.

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Learn about Save Our Scallops

Save Our Scallop's impact

Save Our Scallops is an ORA-led public-good recovery platform created to rebuild scallop abundance in Aotearoa. We combine restoration trials, wild spat and stock intelligence, grow-out systems, monitoring, iwi/community partnerships and low-impact fisheries innovation to support the recovery of wild scallop populations and the future transition of the fishery.

See our stories

80mm

Scallop Target Growth/annually

95%

Nursery survival to 40mm

9000

Scallops reseeded to wild

70%

Pilot grow-out survival to 80mm

Spat collection sites in Hauraki Gulf & Northland

$1.7m

Invested to date via ORA to lead recovery

Our work

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Scallop aquaculture, whilst common globally, has never been deployed in New Zealand. Save Our Scallops is developing scalable methods for scallop aquaculture to supply premium markets and give back scallop spat to assist in restoring wild scallop populations.

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Using R&D to advance hatchery, farming, restoration, and low-impact fishing methods, we innovate across industries to pioneer a regenerative seafood category at home.

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We validate scalable grow-out methods to support commercial scallop aquaculture, trialling international best practice in equipment and methods while partnering with indigenous iwi, science, industry and markets.

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We have outplanted over 9000 cultivated scallops into depleted beds to maximise survival for wild population recovery, and a further 40,000 are planned in 2026-27.

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Our work with indigenous iwi and hapū aims to create jobs, benefit coastal communities, and prove that seafood can be regenerative.

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Save Our Scallops is seeking $3 Million NZD, with $1.7m already committed. Join us, as we

restore wild scallop beds and biodiversity through scalable, restorative aquaculture from hatchery to release.

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ORA’s work is helping de-risk the foundations for a new scallop economy where restoration, science, premium seafood, aquaculture and low-impact harvest can reinforce each other. A separate commercial venture, Scallops Aotearoa, is being developed to test and scale these pathways over time.

How we get there

Rebuild supply

Aquaculture and restoration methods are optimised with nursery and grow-out trials, and by adapting international innovation and techniques for local conditions. We have led farm and restoration trials for 3+ years alongside iwi, our farming partners, and the University of Auckland.

Support low-impact harvest and fishery transition

We are testing methods for harvesting scallops using low-impact techniques such as potting and hand-gathering, with the goal of finding commercially viable alternatives to dredging of the fishery. Our work aligns with Fisheries NZ to help forge a pathway toward sustainable fisheries transition.

Restore wild populations

We prioritise targeted restoration in the new Hauraki Gulf Marine Protected Area network and key protected broodstock locations. We deploy targeted reseeding, survival monitoring, biomass rebuild in wild populations of scallops and recruitment learnings to build the evidence base for recovery.

Enable regenerative seafood pathways

ORA’s public-good work helps de-risk future commercial models, including Scallops Aotearoa. This work also helps de-risk a future regenerative seafood venture, Scallops Aotearoa, which is being developed outside ORA to explore premium market, aquaculture and low-impact supply pathways.

Why it matters

• The New Zealand scallop, Pecten novaezelandiae, is a remarkable species

• Scallops have reached the point of collapse

• Degraded habitat, low biomass and weak recruitment reduce recovery

• Closed scallop fisheries means kiwis can’t access local scallops

• No scallops means lost regional seafood identity and commercial value