Fish-farmers floundering in net of moratorium

A Government ban catches applications lodged up to eight years ago, writes IRENE CHAPPLE.

Fish farmers are pleading with the Government to relax its ban on new marine farms, citing the threat to huge growth opportunities.

The two-year moratorium is to halt a speculative rush of applications before legislation is revamped to control the booming industry.

Some farmers say the Government should exempt those applications that have chugged for years through the consent process, and will now be blocked.

Gilbert James, chairman of the Coromandel Marine Farmers Association, said some of them had been lodged up to eight years ago. He understood that his own application for a 20ha mussel farm was affected.

The Aquaculture Council wrote to Environment Minister Marian Hobbs this week asking her to let applications proceed if they were already being considered by regional bodies.

"The issue here is one of timing and we submit that in the interests of natural justice, these applicants be given the right to be heard," said executive officer Graeme Coates.

Ms Hobbs said the moratorium, effective from late last month, would allow local authorities time to upgrade their coastal plans.

A key aspect of the new regime, she said, was the restriction of aquaculture to clearly defined management areas as decided by councils.

She would not lift the ban on applications now being processed. "There has to be a cut-off point somewhere," she said.

Oyster farmers, who account for an increasingly important share of the $280 million aquaculture industry, say the strict cut-off date will waste their investment dollars.

Callum McCallum, of Clevedon Coast Oysters, said the industry had undertaken major market development throughout Japan, the US and Europe. His company employs 35 staff and could double that number if further development were allowed. The company has forwarded applications which have so far cost between $50,000 and $200,000 in reports.

Pacific Marine Farms chief executive Dean Moana said the moratorium would also affect Maori initiatives.

The company, which exports 600,000 dozen oysters annually, is owned by the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission, Te Ohu Kai Moana.

Two years ago, it lodged six applications to extend its farming area by 600ha, which are now caught in the ban.

Pacific Marine Farms operates in Coromandel and in the Far North, employing 100 people during the oyster season. Mr Moana said the future of fishing was in aquaculture, and the industry was ideal for regional development opportunities.

A $2.4 million aquaculture project in Northland's Bream Bay, being developed by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, will also feel the ban's impact.

Institute chief executive Paul Hargreaves said the project was due to open in March next year.

The ban would not affect its progress, but would affect future commercial partners, including Maori groups.

But Ms Hobbs said there was no guarantee any application would be accepted when lodged.

The reforms would provide greater certainty for applicants - clarifying where aquaculture was permitted and where it was prohibited.

Mr Coates said there was consensus in the industry that reform was necessary, but there were grave concerns about the cut-off point for application hearings.

Several farmers believed all applications lodged before the November 28 should be heard.