Huge sea farm approved

By Jo-Marie Brown

Approval has been given for New Zealand's largest marine farm - 4km long by 9km wide - planned for the Opotiki coast.

The farm is predicted to eventually earn more than $35 million annually in exports.

A 4750ha greenshell mussel farm will be established 6km out to sea after Environment Bay of Plenty granted resource consent to Eastern Seafarms this week. Environment Minister Marian Hobbs was expected to give final written approval by the end of this month.

The multimillion-dollar farm would be restricted to 1900ha for the first five years but once expanded would more than double the area covered by marine farms in New Zealand.

Local community leaders say the development would create 500 jobs, throwing Opotiki an economic lifeline.

Its unemployment rate of 16 per cent is more than twice the national average.

Opotiki Mayor John Forbes yesterday praised the Whakatohea Maori Trust Board, which is 40 per cent shareholder in Eastern Seafarms, for its involvement.

"I think their kaumatua have demonstrated real vision, leadership and courage.

"We are the most-deprived district in the country.

"The Index of Deprivation shows one home in five doesn't have a telephone," Mr Forbes said.

"We are the least well-off community in New Zealand and this is a major thing for us."

Trust board secretary Tahu Taia said the employment opportunities were a major reason the iwi teamed up with Tasman Mussels and New Zealand Seafarms for the project.

The farm would be set up over the next two years.

The trust board hoped to convince its two partners to build a packaging and processing factory in Opotiki.

Proximity to the farm itself and to an export port at Tauranga would hopefully sway them, Mr Taia said.

"I believe that we can do this. We have a major kiwifruit packaging [plant] here ... so there's a degree of expertise."

At full capacity, the farm was expected to produce 15,000 tonnes of greenshell mussels annually. Based on present export prices, this would fetch $36.8 million.

Rows of mussel "curtains" would hang 10m below the sea surface but would not interfere with shipping channels.

The mussels were likely to attract other fish such as snapper and recreational fishermen would be welcome to anchor within the farm to control numbers.

Mr Taia said Eastern Seafarms was relieved its application was not halted by the two-year moratorium announced by the Government last November to revamp the booming aquaculture industry.

The ban, which came into force in March, allowed 140 applications which had already been publicly notified to proceed.

Aquaculture Council executive officer Graeme Coates said the majority of those applications were to extend existing farms.

The Opotiki project was a substantial development.

A report by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research has estimated the two-year ban could cost up to $400 million in lost opportunities.

Mr Coates said the industry wanted the Government to pass its reforms quickly so regional councils could implement them and begin processing applications again. A reform package should be announced in July, he said.

"The potential of this industry is huge and every year there's a delay ... is another year we lose $50 million to $60 million."

Last year marine farms earned $270 million from exports.