Otago Harbour To Receive Shellfish Growing Status

SOUTHERN CLAMS MEDIA RELEASE 23 January 2009

Otago Harbour To Receive Shellfish Growing Status

The New Zealand Food Safety Standards Authority (NZFSSA) is about to approve the middle banks of Otago Harbour as compliant with shellfish food safety standards. This means that if shellfish were harvested commercially from this area of the harbour, the quality of the shellfish would comply with the strictest standards in the world.

The impending approval follows the completion of a 27month sanitation survey, managed by the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board. The survey was funded by Southern Clams who have applied for a special permit to research the impact of harvesting clams from an area in the middle banks equivalent to 4% of the harbour.

Director of Southern Clams, Roger Belton says the approval is a huge endorsement of the work the DCC has carried out over the last nine years, in particular removing all outfalls of sewage into the harbour and improving the quality of wastewater that is discharged into the harbour.

He says, "It's a fantastic result and I publicly congratulate the DCC for what they've achieved. Otago Harbour would now be one of the cleaner inshore shellfish growing areas in the country."

The only times regulatory limits are expected to be exceeded are after very heavy rainfalls when shellfish should not be harvested for two to three days following the heavy rain.

The shellfish growing status along with the identification of a large enough resource to sustain a fishery are the two prerequisites required by the Ministry of Fisheries before a commercial fishery can be established.

An independent survey, commissioned by Southern Clams, surveyed 180 hectares in the middle banks, an area less than 4% of the entire harbour, and measured the biomass at 13,500 tonnes. These middle banks are inaccessible without a boat, and very rarely visited by the public.

Belton says, "The size of the resource is such that it can cater for everyone; recreational and customary users and provide for a sustainable fishery that contributes to the local economy. News that the quality of the shellfish meets food safety regulations is great news for everyone."

Public consultation on Southern Clams application for a special research permit is expected to begin shortly. Belton is confident that the value of the research will be embraced by all stakeholders especially those who've expressed concern in the past about the impact of harvesting shellfish in the harbour.

He says, " I've had feedback from a number of recreational fishers and some members of the local runanga who are not convinced that the impact will be as minimal as it has proved to be with our commercial harvesting in Blueskin Bay, where after 6 surveys over 25 years, the shellfish resource still measures the same as the day we first began harvesting.

" I want to allay those fears and even though there's no assurance that Southern Clams would be given rights to commercially harvest after the five years of research, I'm prepared to make the investment.

"The findings of the research will be there for whoever has the right to commercially harvest. If the present mataitai application was successful then the local runanga themselves would benefit from the research should they at anytime, under the discretionary powers of the mataitai, choose to allow a commercial fishery ."

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