New marine farms stirring out at sea

25-01-2010 | Hugh Stringleman

The first new sizable marine farms to be constructed in New Zealand in more than a decade are under way.

Meanwhile, Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley is determined to break the marine farm and resource management log jam during 2010.

Officials in his department are at work drafting an Aquaculture Amendment Bill for introduction to Parliament by the middle of the year.

The Government proposes to take a more directive approach, with centralised planning and approval processes, rather than leave the intending or expanding aquaculture businesses to battle through local government consents.

There is nothing, except perhaps wind farms, which galvanises local opposition more than the prospect of a favourite cove being filled with sticks and spat.

Even offshore (out of sight) farm proposals for Bay of Plenty, Firth of Thames, Clifford Bay and Pegasus Bay have been strongly opposed by recreational and commercial fishers.

Ngai Tahu is behind two large eastern South Island seaboard farms and Sir Tipene Regan commented before Christmas that it has spent millions of dollars and more than 10 years on the quest.

He was speaking after the Ministry of Fisheries approved 10 applications covering more than 3000ha of new space in South Island waters.

These farms and others recently approved by Fisheries are a result of applications begun under the pre-2005 Aquaculture Management Areas (AMA) regime.

They had virtually no chance of local approval under the Resource Management Act (RMA) - that whirlpool into which all new farm proposals were thrown by Helen Clark's Labour-led government in the early 2000s.

But just to make sure they couldn't swim, that government initially had a three-year moratorium on all proposals which were under way.

Heatley told the Aquaculture New Zealand conference in November that the previous government's aquaculture reforms didn't work, with no new marine farming space populated since 2004 and little prospects of some in the future.

The ability to research and innovate was being stifled by inflexible rules that limited the ability to advance new technologies and higher-value species, he said.

So he appointed a technical advisory group (TAG) under former Marlborough MP and fisheries minister Sir Doug Kidd.

The TAG reported with 57 recommendations, which Heatley then sent out to interested parties for reaction and input before legislative drafting.

Heatley emphasised his focus was on the regulatory bottle-necks, in order to get the marine farming industry moving again.

"Aquaculture has suffered from the lack of a lead minister and agency. The advisory group says there are too many cooks and no recipe," he said.

The industry is currently exporting $360 million worth of product annually and has an ambitious target of $1 billion annual earnings by 2025.

That target was first set in 2001 for 2020, but the existing industry entered what it now calls the "lost decade" in which no expansion into new water space was possible.

Greenshell mussel, oyster and king salmon sales increased some 50% from 900 existing farms on 12,000ha, but grew 230% in the decade previously, when most of the existing farms were established.

This country became a world-leader in shellfish cultivation, with wonderful new food products and health benefits.

From 2005, local government was charged by the Labour-led administration with developing new coastal plans to create AMAs where operators could apply for marine farming space.

The reality is that councils were reluctant to spend ratepayers' money investigating new areas when every suggestion created an outcry from a vocal minority.

National's victory in 2008 gave Heatley the chance to facilitate new aquaculture consents, in parallel with the Government's RMA changes, and attempt to create new water-farm space for the Maori Aquaculture Claims Settlement Act.

This requires either 20% of existing marine farm space or a substantial cash settlement in 2014, plus 20% of any new space.

The advisory group's key recommendation is to remove regulatory barriers to aquaculture by lifting the prohibition on aquaculture outside AMAs and use flexible zoning.

This means new applications for new aquaculture consents could be received from day one of the new regime and gives central government a strengthened role.

It suggests the environment minister be able to bypass regional councils and insert rules for marine farms directly into coastal plans.

This "call-in" provision, which it is presumed would be sparingly used, has angered environmental groups, who claim that without hard-and-fast rules public confidence in the planning process will be undermined.

Ironically, the TAG recommendations are going to add another layer of complexity on top of what is already a tangled mass through which any new marine farm must proceed, but that hasn't stopped critics alleging a return to "the bad old days of open slather".

Aquaculture New Zealand chief executive Mike Burrell, who was on the TAG, said a guiding principle was to make sure new marine farms "are put in the right places" as both the public and the industry require.

"It is not proposed that aquaculture opt out of the RMA, but that the approval/consent process be as practical and streamlined as it can be," he said.

Burrell welcomed Federated Farmers' support for aquaculture reform, while noting that his members were not clamouring for the chance to farm trout.

To mollify concerns among the public, particularly in the use of the Hauraki Gulf, which is the playground of the big voting population of Auckland, Burrell said his organisation's $1 billion sales target does not presume a trebling of existing water space.

Selective breeding for genetic progress, new species of shell and fin fish, and marine plants and open water fin-fish farming will all help achieve the target, especially when all suitable coastal space has been allocated, Burrell said.

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