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