Tuesday, 14 December 2004

United Future, ORNZ welcome Aquaculture Bill

United Future and its affiliated party, Outdoor Recreation New Zealand, today welcomed the introduction of the Aquaculture Reform Bill.

In a joint statement, ORNZ chairman Paul Check and United MP Bernie Ogilvy said, “The Bill is a great step forward for recreational fishermen from January 2005 onwards.

“The introduction of the Bill has answered many of the problems caused by the ‘gold rush of diggers’ in the nineties, and the subsequent three year moratorium put in place by this government.

“The passing of this Bill into law this week will open the way for new farms to begin, and farms in progress to happen under the certainty of law.

“We applaud this progress for present and new farmers, with its obvious potential annual $1 billion economic benefits to the country while at the same time achieving the final settlement of iwi rights.

“Under the new legislation no more farming can occur without all Aquaculture Management Areas (AMAs) being approved by local councils and authorities. This is only after meeting the very high environmental threshold of an Undue Adverse Effect (UAE) test.

“This allows all fishers – commercial, customary and recreational – to be publicly heard and fully satisfied before an AMA can be designated for farming.

“The recreational fisher can raise any legitimate effect, along with any adverse, as well as ensuring all undue effects are zero for all fishers.

“As recreational fishers, we are glad that this test has been placed into legislation to keep out the “gold rush” people who were farming anywhere without approval and damaging fish stocks through pollution.

“The local Councils who are responsible for AMAs now have some real power to make decisions on behalf of all submitters.

“This is a good week for New Zealand recreational fishers and we await the passing of this Bill this week. It is great win-win for recreational fishers,” said the two men.

ENDS

© Scoop Media