Fish farm applications back on the table

Dozens of applications for fish farms which have been frozen since 2001 are to be cleared to proceed under the latest stage of aquaculture law reforms.

No applications for fish farms lodged since 2001 have been granted, but the Government has indicated it wants to create a framework to free the industry to expand.

Aquaculture New Zealand has said the industry could triple in size to sales of more than $1 billion by 2025 if the law was reformed.

In 2001 a moratorium on applications for new aquaculture space was imposed because of concerns at the number of applications being lodged.

This moratorium expired at the end of 2004 when a new round of legislation was brought into force requiring the creation of Aquaculture Management Areas (AMAs) to regulate where fish farms were allowed.

However, no AMAs have been established.

About 60 applications for 8066 hectares of sea space, which were lodged before the moratorium was imposed, have been in limbo ever since.

Yesterday the Government announced it would scrap the AMA concept, meaning applications for new fish farms will be considered under the Resource Management Act, with an additional test to determine whether the activities would adversely affect wild fishing in the area.

Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Phil Heatley said the reforms would allow historical and future applications to progress.

"This reform will effectively free up the bottleneck that has kept industry growth in limbo for many years."

In other changes announced yesterday, the Government will impose changes on the regional coastal plans in Tasman and Waikato, to allow applications for finfish farming, which is currently banned.

Farming species such as salmon is highly lucrative, generating at least 10 times as much revenue as mussel farming on the same surface area.

Mr Heatley said the Cabinet had considered lifting restrictions on areas where aquaculture is prohibited, but decided this was "a bridge too far".

A new fund will be established to cover the costs of the planning process, which will be repaid by levies on new fish farms.

Both the Government and the industry have admitted that the current system, which imposed planning costs on councils but provided no mechanism for them to be recouped, gave little incentive for local politicians to explore aquaculture.

The proposed changes will be put before a select committee later this year and will not come into force until at least next year.

Mike Burrell, the chief executive of Aquaculture New Zealand, said the law was enormously complex and although the industry needed reform, it understood that this would take time.

"We want to get it right," he said.

- © Fairfax NZ News