Aquaculture agreements and arbitration

Pre-request and negotiated aquaculture agreements

Aquaculture agreements allow quota owners to be compensated by marine farmers for the adverse effects of marine farms on commercial fishing. A negotiated aquaculture agreement can be made when an aquaculture decision is a reservation due to undue adverse effects on a quota stock. If a negotiated aquaculture agreement is made for the quota stock, the reservation area can be developed for marine farming.

Marine farmers can also make pre-request aquaculture agreements with quota owners before the Ministry is asked to make an aquaculture decision. A pre-request aquaculture agreement must be lodged after an applicant has applied for a coastal permit and before the council requests and aquaculture decision. Quota stocks covered by a pre-request aquaculture agreement do not get assessed in the UAE test.

Whose agreement is needed?

A marine farmer must get agreement of enough quota owners so that at least 75% of quota shares for a stock are covered by the agreement. For negotiated aquaculture agreements, if there is agreement for at least 75% of the quota shares, the marine farmer may apply to the High Court to get consent on behalf of the remaining quota owners to reach the required 100%.

Any quota owners who do not consent to a pre-request or negotiated aquaculture agreement are entitled to receive compensation like quota owners who signed the agreement.

Negotiated aquaculture agreements must be lodged within six months of the aquaculture decision, unless an extension of time is granted by the Ministry. The six months is paused during any judicial reviews, applications to the High Court and/or the arbitration process.

Arbitration

Arbitration is an option whether or not a negotiated aquaculture agreement is reached, with or without an attempt to negotiate. A marine farmer may request an arbitrator to decide the amount of compensation to be paid to affected quota owners. However, an arbitrator can only determine compensation if the arbitrator first decides that the proposed marine farm would provide more economic value to New Zealand than the affected commercial fishing.

If compensation is required, the arbitrator uses the method specified in regulations to determine how much the marine farmer must pay the quota owners. To proceed with the proposed marine farm, the marine farmer must then lodge a compensation declaration stating that payment to the quota owners has been made.

Like negotiated agreements, compensation declarations must be lodged within 6 months of the aquaculture decision, unless an extension of time is granted by the Ministry. This six month period is paused during any judicial reviews, applications to the High Court and/or the arbitration process.

What is FishServe’s role?

FishServe, on behalf of the Ministry, receives applications for aquaculture agreements and compensation declarations and registers them if they meet the requirements of the Fisheries Act 1996. FishServe also holds the quota owners register and can provide a list of quota owners for pre request and negotiated aquaculture agreements or the arbitration process.

See FishServe’s website to obtain forms for aquaculture agreements and compensation declarations and access to the registers for aquaculture agreements and compensation declarations.

Fees

As of 1 October 2011 the fee for lodging an aquaculture agreement or compensation declaration is $276 for one stock plus $24.15 for each additional stock. The fee is charged under Part 4 of Schedule 2 of the Fisheries (Commercial Fishing) Regulations 2001.

When do agreements expire?

Pre-request aquaculture agreements come to an end if the application for the coastal permit they relate to is declined or withdrawn. Negotiated aquaculture agreements and compensation declarations expire when the relevant coastal permit expires, unless the permit is replaced by a new permit.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

An information sheet with more detail on the aquaculture agreement process and compensation declarations is available below.

 Download Aquaculture agreements and arbitration (PDF 333KB)