Harbour power plan sparks fish stock fears

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A multimillion-dollar marine power station in the mouth of New Zealand's biggest harbour could have a huge effect on fish stocks, experts say.

Crest Energy Kaipara hopes to install 200 underwater turbines in Kaipara Harbour, Northland, and wants exclusive occupancy of the entrance to the 94,700hectare harbour.

However, Te Uri o Hau hapu has threatened to lodge a contemporary Treaty of Waitangi claim, in a move that would reignite the seabed and foreshore debate.

Crest has been granted resource consent by Northland Regional Council for the scheme which is predicted to eventually produce up to 3 per cent of the country's electricity supply.

However, the approval prompted appeals to the Environment Court, which completed lengthy hearings in Whangarei last week and is yet to rule.

Research by Niwa scientists in March revealed that 98 per cent of snapper from Ninety Mile Beach to Mana Island, near Wellington, spawn in the Kaipara.

"Any negative impacts on the production of juvenile fish in the harbour will cascade through into a much larger coastal ecosystem, ultimately having a huge effect on the abundance of fish over a 700-kilometre coastline," fisheries ecologist Mark Morrison said in a Niwa statement presented in evidence to the court.

Crest told the court that the five- storey-high turbines would have no environmental impact. Although Crest's plans, on a map, block only part of the mouth, it wants the only navigable channel and exclusive use for 35 years.

A Crest environmental consultant, Luke Gowing, said in evidence that the "effects of the proposed installation and operation of the cables and marine turbines will have no more than minor effect on the biological resources and fishing activity within the Kaipara Harbour".

Marine organisms in the harbour or on the seabed "are adapted to the highly dynamic environment and elevated turbidities that occur naturally in the harbour", he said.

The hapu, part of Ngati Whatua, is legally Kaipara's guardian. Wiremu Wright, of Te Uri o Hau, told the court the turbines would close the harbour to all navigation and other use, except for Crest, severely prejudicing its rights. "Now our fish are gone, our land denuded and our waterways are dying, still they come for the very sand beneath our waves and the power of our harbour.

"Not only has the Crown determined that the seabed is not allowed to be owned by Ngati Whatua but that it can be given freely to be used for the exclusive benefit of a single developer [in this case one who is total stranger and newcomer] to the Kaipara," Mr Wright said, pointing to a Treaty claim if Crest won consent.

Te Uri o Hau Settlement Trust has a claim before the High Court for customary rights to the area under the Foreshore and Seabed legislation.

- © Fairfax NZ News