The commercial fishermen of Nelson informed that they will file court proceedings against the Tasman District Council and the Ministry of Fisheries this week. According to them the mussel farms, in Tasman Bay and Golden Bay, will significantly affect fishing operations, fish stocks and the environment. They claimed that the non-notified farm approvals cover space that had been approved for spat catching.
Recently the council has approved the Ring Road Consortium’s progressive development of mussel farms covering 323ha in Golden Bay and 270ha in Tasman Bay. It was last month when the ministry approved Tasman Bay Mussels’ application to farm over 479ha about 6km offshore from Motueka. But the ministry last year declined the same application because of concerns over the impact on snapper trawling. It said it did an about-face after the company provided new evidence, including affidavits from commercial fishermen.
According to the Nelson commercial fishermen said that if the council or ministry did not believe there was a need to consider effects when a change of activity occurred, then aquaculture legislation needed to be amended. They also said that the Government has failed both the fishing industry and aquaculture interests in requiring expensive court fights, rather than clarifying the issue.
Challenger FinFisheries Management Company chief executive Carol Scott said the lack of notification failed to provide adequate knowledge of the potential impact of the marine farms on the fishing environment, or fish stock development. It is true that some of the approved areas were adjacent to important scallop sites and juvenile snapper sites which had been closed by fishermen to help restore stocks.
