The company behind the farm, Pare Hauraki Kaimoana, is owned by the Hauraki Māori Trust Board, representing the interests of 12 local iwi.
Some estimates for the facility put annual production levels as high as 8000 tonnes of kingfish, a highly prized sporting and eating fish that is consumed raw or cooked.
Farmed kingfish typically has slightly different attributes to wild-caught, with a higher fat content and less of a mineral taste.
The project is expected to create 452 full-time jobs and have an economic benefit of $135 million a year.
Pcj wrote: Can only be good for the fishery. Surely it will attract species like the mussel farms do?? |
Fish farms are different to mussel farms. The mussels filter feed (cleaning the water as they do it) and create a food source for the snapper etc. while a kingfish farm has to be fed and the waste dropping to the seabed beneath the pens could have a detrimental effect. Also the concentration of fish could create a source of infection should something get into the penned population.
I am not against the fish farm but am reserving judgement until info on the broader impacts are released (which was out of scope of the decision in the article).
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