Cawthron, aquaculture, spat, shellfish, cryopreservation, breeding.

Cawthron is New Zealand’s only regular provider of commercial Pacific oyster spat. One in three oysters harvested by the NZ industry started its life in our hatchery. Most big oyster growers use our spat.

Some advantages of our hatchery spat over wild spat:

Faster growth:	- Selectively bred to outgrow the wild spat (currently by 20-40%) - Faster crop rotation
High uniformity:	- Entire crop handled/harvested at the same time - Lower handling cost - Easier packing - More appealing presentation
Higher grade:	- Selectively bred to produce top grade product
Single seed:	- Easy handling - Excellent shape

We aim to have oyster spat available year-round; however we recommend that you order several months in advance to ensure your supply.

Oyster spat is sold in various size classes, from <5mm to >10mm.

Thanks to selective breeding we can produce spat to your specifications. Such a specific development would take several years but give you a unique and exclusive product suitable for your own branding.

We know how to produce commercial quantities of mussel spat. We are working with industry towards the establishment of large mussel hatcheries.