Aquaculture reform background
On 1 October 2011 aquaculture legislative reforms came into effect. These changes are intended to foster environmentally sustainable aquaculture in New Zealand.
To learn more about what the reforms mean to aquaculture visit here>>
If you would like further information on aquaculture reform, please email your question to: aquaculturereform@fish.govt.nz.
Timeline of aquaculture legislative reforms
12 December 2008 – Government announces that rules governing aquaculture to be overhauled.
29 July 2009 – Aquaculture Technical Advisory Group announced. The group’s role is to provide expert input into the aquaculture reform process.
15 October 2009 – The Aquaculture Technical Advisory Group’s report “Re-Starting Aquaculture” is made publicly available.
05 November 2009 – Final round of consultation begins before aquaculture legislation reforms are drafted.
08 February 2010 – Over 220 submissions received on aquaculture legislation consultation.
27 April 2010 – Government announces proposed changes to aquaculture legislation.
22 July 2010 – Government announces further proposed changes to aquaculture legislation.
09 November 2010 – Aquaculture Legislation Amendment Bill (No 3) (the Bill) introduced to Parliament.
16 November 2010 – The Bill has its first reading and is referred to Select Committee (the Primary Production Committee).
09 May 2011 – Select Committee reports back on the Bill.
17 May 2011 – The Bill has its second reading which includes a number of changes suggested by the Select Committee.
08 August 2011 – The Government introduces further amendments to the Bill by Supplementary Order Papers (SOPs).
16 August 2011 – Aquaculture legislative reforms agreed by Parliament.
01 October 2011 – Aquaculture legislative reforms came into effect. The reforms make changes to the Aquaculture Reform (Repeals and Transitional Provisions) Act 2004, the Fisheries Act 1996, the Māori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Act 2004, and the Resource Management Act 1991.
Background information sheets
Cabinet Papers and Regulatory Impact Statements that informed SOPs
Download Cabinet Paper 512 – Undue Adverse Effects Test – Further options to provide a better balance between fishing and aquaculture (PDF 601KB)
Download Regulatory Impact Statement UAE Test (PDF 149KB)
Download Cabinet Minute Undue Adverse Effects Test – Rescind Threshold (PDF 65KB)
Download EGI Minute of Decision Undue Adverse Effects Test – Further options to provide a better balance between fishing and aquaculture (PDF 279KB)
Download NZIER QA for UAE Valuation Formula (PDF 3.87MB)
Download Cabinet Paper 515 – Proposed New Marine Farm Zone off Coromandel (PDF 293KB)
Download Regulatory Impact Statement - CMFZ (PDF 151KB)
Download EGI Minute of Decision - CMFZ (PDF 61KB)
Download Cabinet Paper 517 – Aquaculture Reform Paper: Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement: Final Recommendations (PDF 1.01MB)
Download Regulatory Impact Statement Settlement (PDF 5.62MB)
Download EGI Minute of Decision Settlement (PDF 138KB)
Download LEGC Aquaculture in New Zealand Part 1 - Preliminary analysis (PDF 2.89MB)
Download LEGC Aquaculture in New Zealand Part 2 - Supplementary analysis (PDF 2.14MB)
Below is a series of information sheets that were developed to assist the public in learning more about the Aquaculture Legislation Amendment Bill (No 3) as it was introduced into Parliament on 9 November 2010. Please note that these information sheets have not been updated and are meant to provide background information.
Download Information sheet 1: Overview of the reforms (PDF 106KB)
Download Information sheet 2: Planning and consenting (PDF 108KB)
Download Information sheet 3: Undue adverse effects on fishing test (PDF 108KB)
Download Information sheet 4: Delivering the Maori Commercial Aquaculture Settlement (PDF 100KB)
Download Information sheet 5: Implications for the aquaculture industry and applicants (PDF 108KB)
Download Questions and Answers on the Bill. (PDF 20KB)
Additional information on specific aspects has also been prepared. This includes:
Download Information on continuing existing aquaculture: ‘’re-consenting” (PDF 115KB)
Download Information on proposed access to alternative allocation methods (PDF 141KB)
To assist in understanding the effect the proposed amendments introduced in November 2010 will have, the affected Acts have been marked up with amendments in the Aquaculture Legislation Amendment Bill (No 3).
The documents/ Acts are:
Part 1 – Amendments to Aquaculture Reform (Repeals and Transitional Provisions) Act 2004 (PDF 1.65MB)
Part 2 – Amendments to Fisheries Act 1996 (PDF 1MB)
Part 3 – Amendments to Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Act 2004 (PDF 1MB)
Part 4 – Amendments to Resource Management Act 1991 (PDF 3.38MB)
These documents reflect the Bill as introduced. They have no official status, and as the changes proposed by the Bill are still subject to parliamentary process, do not reflect the law as currently in force.
Additional information sheets and background information on changes to the Waikato and Tasman regional coastal plans was prepared when the Bill was introduced. These are available at - Changes to Waikato and Tasman plans.
August 2011 – Government introduces further amendments to the Bill by Supplementary Order Papers
On 8 August 2011 the Government introduced amendments, by supplementary order paper (SOP).
Many of the proposed changes were minor or technical amendments to improve the workability of the new law.
More substantive changes were made in provisions relating to the Māori commercial aquaculture claims settlement, the undue adverse effects (UAE) on fishing test, and to establish the Coromandel Marine Farming Zone.
Questions and answers about these amendments can be downloaded below.
Download Questions and Answers (PDF 92KB)
Download information sheets on the supplementary order papers (PDF 114KB)
JULY 2010 – GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES FURTHER DECISIONS ON AQUACULTURE REFORM
Cabinet’s July 2010 decisions cover:
- The transition to the new law of existing marine farms, outstanding applications and interim Aquaculture Management Areas
- Achieving the reform objectives through regional coastal plans
- The regulation-making power previously agreed in principle
- Funding Resource Management Act plan changes and related activity
- The Aquaculture Legislation Amendment Bill (No 2)
- A report back on planning and consenting including allocation tools, reconsenting, and consent lapsing.
The Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture’s July 2010 media release on aquaculture reform can be found here>>.
Questions and answers about the July 2010 decisions on aquaculture reform can be downloaded below.
Download Questions and Answers Paper 2 (PDF 56kb)
The July 2010 Aquaculture Reform Cabinet paper, the Cabinet minutes and the regulatory impact statement can be downloaded below. Some material on matters where policy is still being developed has been withheld where it is considered necessary to protect the confidentiality of advice given by Ministers or officials. This is consistent with sections 9(2)(f), (g) and (j) of the Official Information Act 1982.
Download Minute of Cabinet decisions on Paper 2 (PDF 623kb)
Download Cabinet Paper 2 (PDF 2 MB)
Download Regulatory Impact Statement Paper 2 (PDF 2 MB)
APRIL 2010 – GOVERNMENT’S PLANS FOR AQUACULTURE REFORM
The Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture’s media release (April 2010) on aquaculture reform can be found here>>
Questions and answers about the aquaculture reforms can be downloaded below.
Download Questions and Answers (PDF 121KB)
The April 2010 Aquaculture Reform Cabinet papers, Cabinet minutes and the regulatory impact statement can be downloaded below. Some material on matters where it is considered necessary to protect the confidentiality of advice given by Ministers or officials. This is consistent with sections 9(2)(f) and (g) of the Official Information Act 1982.
Download Minute of Cabinet decisions on Paper 1 (PDF 320kb)
Download Cabinet paper 1 (PDF 4.0MB)
Please note this is a large document and may take some time to download.
Download Cabinet paper 1a and 1b and minutes 1a and 1b (PDF 488kb)
Download Regulatory Impact Statement (PDF 1.4MB)
Download Regulatory Impact Statement – Accompanying Table (PDF 64kb)
NOVEMBER 2009 – TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP REPORT AND CONSULTATION MATERIAL
An Aquaculture Technical Advisory Group was convened in 2009 to consider the existing regulatory framework and advise on changes that would help to kick-start aquaculture. The Technical Advisory Group’s report and material from consultation on that report can be viewed here>>.