Public consultation on proposed new marine farming zone in the Coromandel - February 2011
In December 2010 the Government established an Aquaculture Ministerial Advisory Panel to seek public input on a proposal to create a Coromandel Marine Farming Zone. The panel was supported by the Ministry of Fisheries Aquaculture Unit.
The panel considered a proposal for a 300-hectare aquaculture zone located in the southeastern Hauraki Gulf and west of the Coromandel Township. Under the proposal, applications for fish farming would be allowed to be lodged in the proposed zone. The proposal would amend the Waikato Regional Coastal Plan by removing the prohibition on new aquaculture in the proposed zone.
Consultation Process
Written submissions for this proposal were accepted from 17 December 2010 to 9 February 2011. Submitters who wished to speak to their submissions were invited to attend panel hearings from 9 February to 12 February. Panel hearings were held in Auckland, Thames, and the Coromandel Township.
Download the public consultation document (PDF 676KB)
Download the NIWA report (PDF 5.15MB)
Please note: this is a large document and may take some time to download.
Download the NZIER report - Kingfish (PDF 222KB)
Download the background planning report (PDF 129KB)
Download information on fish feed (PDF 1.1MB)
Download the following maps
What happened with your feedback?
Submissions received were considered by the Aquaculture Ministerial Advisory Panel and informed the panel’s report to the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture on the costs and benefits of the proposal. The panel reported to the Minister at the end of February 2011.
Download Summary of all submissions received by 13 February 2011. (PDF 321KB)
Download the Ministerial Advisory Panel Report (PDF 1.52MB)
Download Waikato Marine Fish Farming: Site Investigation (PDF 884KB)
All written responses will be public information. Responses may be the subject of requests under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). The OIA specifies that information is to be made available to requesters unless there are sufficient grounds for withholding it. While we will take into account any specific request you make for us to keep information confidential, we cannot guarantee that information you provide us with will not be made public. Any decision to withhold information requested under the OIA is reviewable by the Ombudsman.
What’s happened since the report was given to the Minister?
On 8 August 2011 the Government introduced amendments to the Aquaculture Legislation Amendment Bill (No 3) by supplementary order papers (SOP) that includes the establishment of the Coromandel Marine Farming Zone.
On 16 August 2011 legislative reforms were passed. The reforms will come fully into effect on 1 October 2011 and include changes to the Waikato Regional Coastal Plan that will:
- establish a new 300-ha marine farming zone in the Firth of Thames within which applications can be made to farm finfish species
- provide for a staged approach to development of the zone with monitoring between stages to ensure that environmental limits are not exceeded
- set overall limits on nitrogen
- provide for settlement obligations to be met by setting aside 20% of the zone for settlement purposes
- provide that the remaining 80% will be allocated using a weighted attribute tender process, to ensure the zone is used as intended under the law.
To learn more about the aquaculture legislative reforms visit Aquaculture Reform section.
Aquaculture Ministerial Advisory Panel
The three-member Aquaculture Ministerial Advisory Panel was chaired by the Hon Sir Doug Kidd and included Mark Farnsworth and Justine Inns.
Hon Sir Doug Kidd
The Hon Sir Doug Kidd will chair the panel. Hon Sir Kidd is a previous Minister of Fisheries and Speaker of the House of Representatives. He is also a member of the Waitangi Tribunal. Hon Sir Kidd was also the Chair of the Aquaculture Technical Advisory Group (TAG) in 2009 that provided advice on the aquaculture legislative reforms.
Mark Farnsworth
Mark Farnsworth is a past Chair of the Northland Regional Council and has extensive experience of the RMA and decision making. He is also a member of the Local Government New Zealand national council and is accredited under the Making Good Decisions programme (a programme to certify RMA practitioners). Mr Farnsworth was also on the Aquaculture TAG.
Justine Inns
Justine Inns is a Partner with Oceanlaw New Zealand and has a strong legal background in fisheries and aquaculture. She has worked with Māori on a wide range of coastal issues including aquaculture. Ms Inns is a member on the Aquaculture Reform Bill Settlement Technical Advisory Group.
Download the Aquaculture Ministerial Advisory Panel Terms of Reference (Pdf 17KB)