This paper addresses the conference themes by describing a Maori commercial fishing enterprise pursuing innovation that will deliver commercial added value while caring for the environment. In 2013 Cawthron Institute and industry partners Waikawa Fishing Company were granted six years’ Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) funding to investigate two options for new directions for New Zealand’s scampi (Metanephrops challengeri) fishery beyond the practices of the current deep water trawl fishery. In this paper we detail the economic rationale for this research, and report progress in the development of innovations for scampi aquaculture and pot fishing industries.