Aquaculture reform – Securing a sustainable future for aquaculture

Ministerial Address to the NZ Marine Farming Association AGM
Montana Brancott Winery & Conference Centre, Blenheim

Aquaculture is an important activity for the New Zealand economy.

Our challenge has been to develop a modern legislative framework to support the contribution that aquaculture can make. We have done that.

As a government we recognised the lack of clear law and effective processes governing aquaculture was producing an overload of marine farm applications, causing higher process costs and poor environmental results.

There was a need for change.

I don’t need to remind you that many of you were spending more time and money on expensive legal processes than you were on developing your marine farms and industry.

We set out to address the shortcomings in the poorly integrated coastal planning, aquaculture and fisheries management regimes. That has been achieved also.

The Aquaculture Reform Bill will be ready to be introduced to Parliament by the end of August. I expect the Bill will be passed by the end of the year – to coincide with the lifting of the moratorium and moving forward with a much-improved way of managing our coastal spaces.

The Aquaculture Reform Bill secures a sustainable future for New Zealand’s aquaculture.

I’m confident it balances economic development, environmental sustainability, Treaty obligations and community concerns.

We have listened hard to what you've had to say and we have responded by making changes using the ideas you have given us.

he main thrust of our response has been in five key areas:
1.The Resource Management Act (RMA) will now be the key Act that manages marine space for aquaculture.
2.We have replaced the old dual permit system that involved two separate processes – first an RMA consent then a Fisheries permit – with a streamlined one-stop-shop process through regional councils under the RMA. The Fisheries Act "undue adverse effects" assessment will be done early in the RMA planning process.
3.We have established a regime whereby marine farming must take place in Aquaculture Management Areas (AMAs), which will be established through regional coastal planning processes. Once an AMA is created, the space is tendered, and the successful tenderer may apply for the resource consent for a marine farm.
4.We have also introduced the option for a new private plan change process. Under this process the council invites applications from industry in areas where they may consider marine farming. The industry promoter pays for the plan change and has preferential access to a portion of any space resulting from the private plan change.
5.We have agreed to set aside a 20 percent allocation of the marine farming space for Maori to address the unfinished business of the 1992 Fisheries Settlement.

We have also addressed the other concerns you raised by:
1.Improving clarity for councils on how to manage situations where an existing consent for marine farming expires.
2.Agreeing that licences under the Marine Farming Act will be grand-parented as 20 year consents with a right of renewal if they are in an AMA when renewed.
3.Deciding that for farms under the dual RMA/FA regime the Fisheries permit conditions are deemed consent conditions.
4.Clarifying where farms are "off-site" – i.e. are not exactly on the authorised site – a process will see the site regularised with either the authorisation or the farms moving. The final site will be that preferred on environmental effects and it can be no bigger than the authorisation.
5.Agreeing that all marine farms with resource consents will be deemed to be AMAs unless a coastal plan prohibits aquaculture in that site
I would like to expand on some of the detail.

AMAs
Under the reforms, new aquaculture can only take place in aquaculture management areas – which regional councils will implement through their coastal plans.

We’ve done this so that councils can manage the demand for space in a controlled way. Industry will be able to tender for space in new aquaculture management areas, and successful tenderers can then apply for a resource consent.

Councils can initiate a plan change themselves to create one or more aquaculture management areas.

However, both industry and councils have recognised that there may be times when waiting for the council to begin a formal review of their plan will unnecessarily impede aquaculture industry expansion or innovation.

So, having heard your concerns, we worked with industry and council representatives to find a way to provide extra flexibility in setting aquaculture management areas.

We propose to allow industry to initiate and fund a facilitated private plan change.

Unlike a regular private plan change, the promoter of the plan change will have preferential access to a proportion of the resulting aquaculture management area. If the plan change is successful you can be sure from the outset that you will have access to the agreed portion of the space you applied for.

The Bill will allow, not require, councils to use this mechanism. It is likely that they would only invite such plan changes where there was clear demand for new space. Obviously, they would not be guaranteeing that an application would be successful.

Planning work might show that aquaculture had unacceptable impacts or that the community wished the space to be used for other purposes.

If there were a number of marine farmers interested in the same area, the councils would be able to select a candidate or candidates through some fair process. If there are a lot of you, you might want to consider grouping together and sharing the costs of the plan change.

Existing farms
All existing resource consents and permits will be considered to be an aquaculture management area – spaces where marine farming is permitted.

This avoids having to undertake new planning processes in areas already occupied by marine farms. Past planning and consent processes have already adequately considered the area’s suitability for the majority of marine farms, and to go through a new planning process would only duplicate that work.

This proposal will simplify the planning process and reduce planning costs. This ultimately creates more certainty for your business.

Consents for existing activities
I agree that the current “first-in, first-served” approach to allocating aquaculture space is not the best option when a resource consent expires.

We have amended the Bill to change this. Now, when a marine farm resource consent expires, providing it is still within an aquaculture management area, and the proposed marine farming operation will be substantially the same, the incumbent’s application will be considered first, if he or she meets specified criteria.

These criteria include complying with the regional coastal plan; showing a good track record in meeting your consent conditions; and whether your marine farm demonstrates current industry good practice.

We have removed the possibility of existing farmers being "gazumped". If another business puts in a consent application before you, you will be asked if you also want to put in an application. If you do, your application will be considered first.

However, if you fail to meet the criteria I just outlined, then the next person in line may be considered, and so on.

I believe this policy matches closely what you wanted. However, we have added the assessment criteria to acknowledge good industry players and encourage best practice.

This is public space, and we want to ensure it is used wisely. We have stopped short of creating rights in perpetuity, while still giving you the certainty you need to invest in the future of your industry.

Farm Location
You also told us that there are a significant number of farms that for various reasons are not located exactly on their permitted site. As an industry you were concerned this might adversely count against you. This Bill outlines a remedy to this situation.

The onus will be on you to check your site and make sure you and the council agree on where it should be. If there is an irregularity, then you will be able to seek council agreement about moving your authorization to match your farm. This will involve significantly less hassle than having to move your farm to match the paperwork.

Recognising Maori interests
I would like to take this opportunity to spell out just how and why the settlement of Maori interests in marine farming is important and how it will affect the industry.

The Government intends to provide iwi with, where possible, an allocation of an area equivalent to 20 percent of the total marine farming space approved since 1992, and 20 percent of any new marine farming space within a particular region. This would include 20 percent of any new space generated through an industry initiated private plan change.

This proposal represents a sound basis for Maori and the marine farming sector to move forward. We have tried to align the aquaculture settlement with the 1992 Fisheries Settlement – aquaculture being the unfinished business of the 1992 Settlement. This proposal is a full and final settlement of Maori claims to commercial marine farming space, post September 1992.

This is an important step. Settling contemporary commercial claims removes a major impediment to progress and certainty. It will also allow Maori to continue to be a major contributor to the development of the aquaculture industry.

In order to obtain space equivalent to 20 percent of space already allocated since 1992, the Crown would look to achieve this goal by providing new space if it is available. The Crown may purchase space currently being used for marine farming on a willing buyer/willing seller basis. If this is not possible, the financial equivalent may be provided to Maori.

No existing farmer will be forced to quit their farms nor will anyone be compelled to agree to a sale – willing seller means exactly that, the seller is happy to sell.

Any marine farming space provided to iwi would be subject to all general Resource Management Act requirements.

The council will have the role of identifying and setting aside a representative slice of space in aquaculture management areas to be allocated to Maori.

Initially marine farming space allocated to Maori would be provided to Te Ohu Kai Moana Trustee Limited to hold for direct allocation to iwi – those same iwi who were entitled to receive an allocation of inshore fisheries quota under the 1992 Deed of Settlement.

Transitional policies
Transitional policies will be in place to manage the shift of current consents and permits into the RMA.

If you have an existing permit, then you will be able to proceed as expected. Existing farms licensed under the Marine Farming Act will get consents lasting 20 years and a right of first refusal for the next consent period if the regional coastal plan provides for aquaculture. Farms with both Fisheries and RMA approvals will continue with their permit.

If you have an application in process and you are not held up by the moratorium, then your application process continues. If, however, you were caught by the moratorium, then your application remains on hold until the council’s plan is changed to provide for aquaculture in the place you have applied for.

So how are we going to implement these changes and make them work?

Once the law is in place we will focus on an implementation programme to help industry, councils and Maori to put the law into practice.

I have found the meetings I have held with both the industry and regional councils to be very useful. As you can see they have helped us refine our policy to ensure that it provides the best response to the wide range of interests in coastal space. I intend to continue my close liaison with all interested parties as we move forward – I believe our meetings provide an opportunity to monitor progress and to address issues before they become problems.

As the work becomes more focused on implementation rather than policy development, however, you will need to shift your focus to working more closely with regional councils. They will be responsible for the key implementation work, particularly the evolution of regional coastal plans to give effect to the policy.

There are officials here today who are available to discuss the details of the reforms package. I suggest you make the most of them. Also, we have organised an industry workshop for next week to assist you to better understand the reforms and their implementation.

Cutting Costs
Finally, those of you with marine farm applications currently moving through the Ministry of Fisheries permit approval process will be pleased to learn that I have cut the cost of processing permits by around a third, through the establishment of a National Allocations Team at the Ministry of Fisheries.

I am very pleased we are proposing to pass on lower costs to applicants. The average cost of processing a small-medium marine farm application (2ha to 50ha) would be around $10,000. The actual cost however, will depend on the complexity of an application.

Conclusions
I would like to again express my thanks for your constructive and valuable input to these reforms.

The issues and ideas you have raised have helped to shape the aquaculture reforms. I also thank you for your patience. While it has taken time to reach to this point, I am confident we are proposing a workable solution that will take us into a future that will see the exciting potential of the marine farming industry realised.

Once the Bill is introduced in the house, expected to be later next month, it will then go through the normal processes to become law. That means there will be further opportunities if you wish to have your say on the reforms before Select Committee.

In turn, we look forward to working alongside you to help the make reforms a reality and ensure as smooth a transition as possible.