Nick Smith National Environment Spokesperson

Doug Kidd National Fisheries Spokesperson

28 November 2001

Guarded support for aquaculture law reform

The package for aquaculture law reform announced today has been cautiously welcomed by National's Environment spokesperson, Nick Smith, and Fisheries spokesperson, Doug Kidd.

The Government has put a two-year moratorium on resource consents for new aquaculture developments.

"The devil, though, will be in the detail which has yet to be written," said Mr Kidd.

"Even before the legislation appears in Parliament, making the moratorium stick will be no easy task. An earlier moratorium was struck down by the Courts.

"For the moratorium to be effective, it will need to cover not only the granting of more resource consents, as stated by the Fisheries and Environment Ministers, but also the lodging of applications as well.

"We will hold the Ministers to getting the Bill up during April. Only when we have seen it will we be able to make a firm decision to support it," said Dr Smith and Mr Kidd.

Ends

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