Take aquaculture as an example, where the opportunity is more than exporting shellfish to dinner plates.
Seaweed is rapidly emerging as a global growth sector, with applications across animal feed, human health, and locally sourced fertiliser.
University of Waikato scientists are also discovering natural bioactives that could be used as natural selective herbicides to reduce the primary sector’s reliance on synthetic chemicals, such as glyphosate.
Similar bioactives are also helping combat rust pathogens in native forests and bacterial diseases such as kiwifruit PSA.
The pharmaceutical potential from our coastline is just as exciting.
University of Waikato research has highlighted how compounds linked to marine sponges found off our coast hold promise for breast cancer treatments, building on New Zealand’s wider track record in marine-derived medicines.
However, barriers in pharmaceutical development are still real, from lengthy trials and intellectual property hurdles to the difficulty of synthesising complex natural compounds at scale.
Advances in AI could help speed up discovery, testing, and industrial-scale production of the next generation of natural marine medicines.
Our success depends on building global relationships that can help us make it happen.
A small country like New Zealand needs partners to operate at global scale, turning scientific research into commercialised products much faster than before.
This is where the University of Waikato’s international partnerships come in, creating road maps to make things happen.
The eagerness of visiting European Union ambassadors to see the existing marine research hub at Sulphur Point shows this potential is being taken seriously internationally.
Not only are top European scientists doing research there, but it also shows how closely global partners are watching New Zealand’s next wave of innovation.
The global marine science community is increasingly focusing attention on Tauranga.
Tauranga is hosting the Australia-New Zealand Marine Biotechnology Society conference in August. With 200 delegates from across the Asia-Indo-Pacific region, the conference positions Tauranga as a hub for leading-edge marine research and commercial thinking.
University of Waikato’s proposed new facility, the New Zealand Institute of Marine Futures, has been designed as a place where research, innovation and community intersect.
Tauranga City Council has approved the use of some land at Sulphur Point to build the institute next to the harbour.
The institute is far more than a building. It would be the anchor point for connecting Tauranga into this global scientific network.
The waka-inspired facility is becoming a closer reality with a $10 million donation and further investment conversations underway.
It will connect local businesses into global research pathways, students into work-ready careers in high-value sectors, and Tauranga into an international network that turns clever science into commercial outcomes.
The facility will also include public-facing research labs where the community can watch experiments happening in real time, and a demonstration deck outside the building for the public to observe marine dissections.
No other facility in New Zealand brings together this same mix of capability, location and community involvement.
When the institute opens, people will not just be studying the ocean – people will be building sustainable industries from it.