Backdown on ban welcomed by farmers

By IRENE CHAPPLE

The aquaculture industry was claiming victory yesterday after the Government backed down on its two-year ban on new marine farms.

In a report to Parliament, the Resource Management (Aquaculture Moratorium) Bill's select committee recommended relaxing the cut-off date for processing marine farm applications.

The Government's moratorium on new marine farms was applied retrospectively from November 28 last year and caught farms still in the planning process at that date.

The committee recommended exemptions for marine farm applications that had already been publicly notified, or accepted by a regional council as a completed non-notified application, before November 28.

Applications that had not been notified before that would remain frozen.

Fisheries Minister Pete Hodgson said the Government was comfortable with the change.

He said it had not been possible to consult the industry before announcing the moratorium, as this would have undermined its aim of preventing a rush of applications.

The change means a further 113 applications will be processed for 14,508ha of marine farms. Around 90 applications covering more than 30,000ha remain frozen. Marine farms at present total 4725ha.

The compromise followed an outcry from commercial operators and Maori, who believed the ban was a blunt instrument that would cost millions in lost business and thousands of jobs.

Most commercial submissions were opposed to the bill, arguing that natural justice should see applications lodged under previous law allowed.

Applications that could cost thousands to prepare had been put forward in good faith.

The select committee also recognised a "disproportionate" impact on Maori, which had interests in 90 per cent of the notified applications.

The chief executive of the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission, Robin Hapi, said the change "softened the blow somewhat".

Although the commission would have preferred all applications lodged before November 28 to be processed, the committee's proposals benefited the majority of applications for water space lodged by Maori.

"Aquaculture is a growing part of the New Zealand fishing industry, and Maori have much to offer," said Hapi.

The focus for Maori concerns was on the cut-off date and Hapi said the implications of other recommended changes were still being assessed.

One concern was uncertainty over how Aquaculture Management Areas (AMA) would be developed, and the impact on commercial fishing.

Criticism that the two-year length of the moratorium was unrealistic drew various suggestions from the committee on streamlining the process.

It recommended giving councils the power to create AMAs, and a requirement for assessments on the effect of aquaculture on other uses of the coastal marine areas concerned, including fishing.

Hapi said this could create practical difficulties that would need to be worked through, and refinement was still necessary.

But "the fact the select committee has been prepared to listen to our concerns does provide us with some hope that more sensible outcomes can be achieved in the longer term".

Seafood Industry Council policy manager Nici Gibbs said satisfaction with changes to the cut-off date had been dampened by concerns that the AMA recommendations preempted longer-term statutory reforms.

"We are not happy about the link between the moratorium and the main aquaculture reforms," said Gibbs.

"We have not yet had an opportunity to submit on those.

"I think [the recommendations] have been made for pragmatic reasons, and the intent is good.

"But these are things that still need to be debated."