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Aquaculture

Introduction

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The Government has initiated a fundamental review of the 2004 aquaculture law reforms. The Government is concerned that those reforms have not provided a suitable basis for the development of the aquaculture industry, due to the complexity, cost and uncertainty of the current law. The Government is committed to developing an effective and enabling regulatory regime for aquaculture, while recognising the environmental and public character of our marine areas, and the rights of iwi, fishers and other users of our coastal marine areas. The Minister of Fisheries, Minister for the Environment and Minister for Economic Development have released an independent report prepared by the Aquaculture Technical Advisory Group, and are inviting submissions on the proposals set out in the report.

Aquaculture, or marine farming, is a $315 million industry in New Zealand. Our most well known farmed species is the green-lipped mussel, but oysters, salmon and other species, such as paua (abalone) and seaweed, are also being farmed around New Zealand.

Aquaculture relies on unpolluted, nutrient-rich and sheltered waters. There are relatively few places where marine farming can occur – and often these are areas also popular for other activities. More recently, there has been interest in more exposed large offshore marine farms.

The aquaculture industry went through a boom period during the late 1990s, and demand for suitable coastal space increased fivefold. This growth in demand placed regional and unitary councils, other coastal users, and the community, under increasing pressure.

Attempts to minimise local or cumulative environmental effects resulted in bottlenecks, delays and high costs in processing applications for new marine farms, local moratoria, submitter fatigue and poor environmental outcomes. Marine farmers, local communities, and the government wanted change.

The passing of the Aquaculture Reform Act in late 2004 introduced a new regime for managing the environmental effects of aquaculture.

These pages provide information on the aquaculture reforms, including what they mean for local government, the aquaculture industry and the community.

These pages also provide information on what is being done to support local government in its new role. This programme is led by the Ministry for the Environment, in conjunction with the Ministry of Fisheries and the Department of Conservation.

Pages in this section

  • Aquaculture reform
    What the aquaculture reforms mean for local government, the aquaculture industry and communities
  • Implementation programme
    Details on what’s happening to help implement the aquaculture reforms

Contact

You can contact the team by emailing aquaculture@mfe.govt.nz.

Photos used in the aquaculture pages are provided by Graeme Silver, Gisborne District Council (now at Environment Waikato), and Graham Caradus, Tasman District Council.

Last updated: 9 November 2009