Marine farm approved

Nelson-based Jackson Bay Mussels Ltd plans a 45.5ha farm 1km offshore in Jackson Bay, north of Fiordland.

In June the ministry gave preliminary approval for the farm and has since received just two submissions on the proposal.

One was from Jackson Bay Mussels supporting the application, and the other from Te Runanga O Makaawhio stating its interest in ensuring the farm would not affect mussel beds at Neils Beach, which the runanga use.

"We believe the farm will not unduly affect the fishing in the area, or the marine environment and protected species in the area," ministry aquaculture manager Dan Lees said.

A Jackson Bay Mussels director, Bill Wallace, said the company now had to begin meeting West Coast Regional Council conditions, starting with the work of monitoring Hector Dolphin numbers and movements.

To protect the bay from noxious undaria weed, the company must not use second-hand equipment.

Farm development would probably not start until early next year.

"The first thing we have to do is prove we can actually catch commercially viable quantities of spat (which mussels grow from)," he said.

Development of the 78-line farm would be incremental and constantly monitored against regional council and Environment Court rules. At the earliest, the farm would be fully developed in four years.

Wallace said opponents of the farm were well-intentioned with genuine concerns, but said those concerns had been met through stringent regional council and ministry conditions.

The West Coast Regional Council initially turned down Jackson Bay Mussels' resource consent application, but the company successfully appealed to the Environment Court.

New Zealand Marine Farming Association executive officer Graeme Coates said the decision was a positive one after several years work.

Coates said salmon, mussels and oysters brought in over $300 million in sales revenue a year, with mussels earning $230m, the largest seafood earner in New Zealand.

Forest and Bird field officer Debs Martin said the ministry approval did not differ greatly from what was approved by the Environment Court in May. Forest and Bird opposed Jackson Bay Mussels' original resource consent for a proposal several times larger than the approved farm.

It said the farm would interfere with a nursery area for Hectors Dolphin and the navigation of Fiordland Crested Penguins.

Undaria weed could also be introduced, as it had been to farms at the top of the South Island, it said. The area is also located in the South West New Zealand Heritage Area