Aquaculture in New Zealand - Legislation and Administration

Legislation and Administration

Marine farmers usually look for sheltered and unpolluted waters rich in nutrients. Often these areas are also desirable for other purposes. In the late 1990s, demand for coastal aquaculture space upsurged, increasing fivefold. Aquaculture consents developed haphazardly, with regional councils unsure about how marine farms might impact coastal environments. By 2001, some councils were inundated with marine farm applications, and were operating with inadequate guidelines for sustainably managing the coast. As the Ministry for the Environment put it: "Attempts to minimise local or cumulative environmental effects resulted in bottlenecks, delays and high costs in processing applications for new marine farms, local moratoria, submitter fatigue and poor environmental outcomes. Marine farmers, local communities, and the government wanted change."

In 2002, the government stopped issuing consents for more new marine farms while they reformed the legislation. The consents had operated under a system overseen by both the Ministry of Fisheries and the regional councils. The reforms aimed to streamline these applications for both freshwater and marine farms. Industry farmers objected to the moratorium, on the grounds that delaying expansion and diversification could not be in the interest of the industry. Māori groups considered they were especially affected since they were the main applicants for coastal farms.

This took three years, and in early 2005, Parliament passed the Aquaculture Reform Act 2004, which introduced the new legislation. The act amends five existing acts to cope with the new environmental demands, and creates two new acts, the Māori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Act 2004 and the Aquaculture Reform (Repeals and Transitional Provisions) Act 2004. The legislation and administration of aquaculture in New Zealand is complex for such a small industry. A more comprehensive overview can be found here.

Aquaculture is administered in New Zealand through labyrinth bureaucracies, with consequent diluted responsibilities. No single ministerial portfolio or government agency is responsible. As an example, in 2007 the government released a strategy on aquaculture. This strategy was endorsed by six government ministers with the following portfolios: fisheries, environment, conservation, local government, Māori affairs, industry and regional development. Further, there were five government departments directly involved in the preparation of the strategy. As another example, the access to marine and freshwater aquaculture sites are under the control of 17 regional local government agencies with yet more oversight by various central government agencies.

Despite many further consultations and incentives, no new aquaculture space was created under the new legislation for another four years. This coincided with a change in government at the end of 2008, which announced that the aquaculture reforms are to be overhauled.