Aquaculture

Delays in creating any new aquaculture management areas are becoming increasingly frustrating for iwi, who the National Party says are "owed" 898 hectares of marine space in Tasman.

"Not a single new Aquaculture Management Area (AMA), anywhere in the country, has been created in the 730 days since the reforms came into effect," says National Party Fisheries spokesman Phil Heatley.

Heatley believes we now have a cumbersome set of regulations which have "Come to zilch after two full years".

As part of the reforms, which came into force in January 2005, Maori were promised 20% of existing aquaculture space, and 20% of future space.

But rather than purchase existing space, Labour opted to use new space to settle both current and future commitments. However, the Ministry of Fisheries financial review says that 'currently no new space has been created; therefore there has been no accumulation of settlement space'.

That effectively means no existing space has been passed to Maori as promised. "Yet the Ministry's website says Maori are owed 1,943 ha across the regions, or roughly 240 marine farms," according to Mr Heatley.

"The Government of the day will be required to make a cash payment to Maori if the Fisheries Ministry cannot find this water space by 2014.

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