Category Archives: Aquaculture

King Salmon apply for 8 new salmon farms in Marlborough Sounds

Posted on December 2, 2011 by skipper

King Salmon have lodged 2 applications with E.P.A (Environmental Protection Agency) to be heard in the 2012 New Year, by a “Board of Enquiry”, ‘for expediency’, whose members are apparently appointed by the Minister of Fisheries.

1) Applying for a Private Plan Change to the existing Marlborough District Council Sounds Plan. (If successful, it would enable King Salmon un-restricted future use of the Marlborough Sounds.)

2) Applying for Resource Consent for approximately 8 new salmon farms immediately.

It is understood that such simultaneous applications, addressing matters of potentially significant local impact, has never occurred before.

Should King Salmon proposed tactic be successful, the time to undertake due diligence ie positive and negative effects on the environment and community will be reduced from approximately 3 years to approximately 9 months.
View video here

Salmon farming in Norway, Canada, Scotland, and Chile, after destroying the seabed beneath and contributing to disease and algae blooms) that devastated their industries, now seek to establish them in our Sounds.

Posted in Aquaculture, Fisheries, Sounds Management, Uncategorized, video | Comments Off

Land Based Salmon Farm

Posted on November 26, 2011 by skipper

Retired scientist Larry Albright raises sockeye salmon in above-ground fresh water tanks which prevents waste from entering open water systems.

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Dive beneath an old Salmon Farm

Posted on November 26, 2011 by skipper

Take a dive with filmmaker Twyla Roscovich at an old salmon farm in the Broughton Archipelago in British Columbia.

Posted in Aquaculture, Fisheries, Foreshore and Seabed, Sounds Management | 1 Comment

Foreshore and Seabed Submission

Posted on June 13, 2010 by skipper

Dear Minister

My wife Takutai and I attended your road show in Blenheim. I raised an issue; you said I would be contacted so there would be further discussion.
Your secretary took our contact details but as yet contact has not been made!

Ownership of the seabed is an issue about perception. In 1850 Maori owned and controlled the vast majority of NZ, the pakeha population was roughly 2,000 people Maori population over 500,000.

The perception of the time was that Maori owned the land and resources; this was guaranteed by Article 2 of the Treaty of Waitangi.

“Full exclusive and undisturbed possession of their lands forests and fisheries.”

This ownership was acknowledged by the New Zealand company who when they purchased the village of Waitohi off Te Atiawa in 1840, also purchased the seabed out as far as Mabel island  so that they could develop a working port.

This is a significant precedent as the NZ Company were heavily involved  in large scale land purchases around Whanganui, Wellington, Blenheim, Nelson, Lyttelton.

I know of no act of parliament where any successive govt ever proclaimed govt ownership of the foreshore and seabed we agree that the 2004 act was an act of modern day confiscation, and a huge black mark against the Labour government.

We saw the act and the furore over access to the beaches as a red herring when the govts real focus was on total ownership, they knew that in the next 100 yrs the countries wealth will be in the unexploited resources under the sea in the form of gold, diamonds, other ores, precious minerals, oil, fish stocks, iron sands etc….

We are pleased that this act is to be repealed and would like to see it adjudicated in the Maori land court and supreme court., we would rather see  the courts ratify ownership as opposed to the “Lets make a deal approach, “ that seems to be favoured by the minister.

This issue over ownership needs to be sorted once and for all or it will continue to haunt future generations, we owe it to our grand children to sort this issue properly, property rights and customary rights.

Heoi ano, the taki that we raised with the minister is a burning issue in the Queen Charlotte Sounds, the issue over the National Govt bill that has allowed for the unfettered growth of aquaculture.

Government has also pressured our local body government  to change our District Plan to open the Sounds up and make it into one great big aquaculture farm.

These licenses are for the right to occupy the seabed for 35 yrs, council draft them as controlled activities which means that when the time frame is up the council have no option but to renew. ( provided they comply with conditions. )

This is the right to occupy in perpetuity, OWNERSHIP OF THE SEABED.

The Queen Charlotte is the only true sheltered recreational area between the Hauraki and Fiordland, and as such needs to be protected and restored, for recreation and tourism, ideally as a National park.

Mr Minister you told me that you weren’t the man to speak to, that I should be talking to the minister of fisheries, Conservation…… I know all that BUT this act is about ownership of the foreshore and SEABED, that this government is happy to sell off to multinational companies with leases held in perpetuity.

The Pelorus Sounds is now full to the eyes with aquaculture farms, now they want to take over the ownership of our seabed as well.

We honestly believe that licenses to occupy our seabed needs to be an issue that is addressed under this act and respectfully request that you acknowledge the issue that we have raised.
The Queen Charlotte Sounds Tourisim industry representatives and Guardians Of The Sounds, are happy to meet with you and discuss this issue in more detail.
Noho Ora Mai,
Pete & Takutai Beech.
Chairman of The Guardians of The Sounds, and Eco-Tour operator in the Queen Charlotte Sounds.

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Submission to Foreshore and Seabed Review panel

Posted on May 24, 2009 by skipper

Kia Ora koutou,

The Guardians of the Sounds would like to acknowledge Maori rights to the Foreshore and Seabed, those rights had never been extinguished through legislation, nor had it ever been purchased, the foreshore and seabed legislation was in our view a modern day act of confiscation.

Guardians have fought long and hard to protect the natural environment of the Totaranui,( Queen Charlotte Sounds.) and the culture and physical health and well being of our people.

The whole foreshore and seabed debarcle started here in Marlborough, as a result of squabbles over  unfair allocation of the seabed for aquaculture farms , this was because of the way that the MDC hearings committee had allowed themselves to be manipulated by the industry players. In other words they had allowed themselves to be corrupted.

Well after all their posturing it is happening again, the MDC have stuck a backroom deal with the  aquaculture industry, they are seeking a variation to the district plan which will get rid of the tendering process,and allow aquaculture companies to apply for private plan changes to select AMA areas.( Aquaculture Marine Areas. )    All this without public consultation.

If a company wants a farm in an area that is not designated as an AMA it can apply to the MOF’s and they will allocate them with an experimental license.

This will mean that the seabed of the Marlborough Sounds will end up being owned by large multinational companies who will monopolize the seabed , the terrible pollution that results from aquaculture farms will ruin the sounds environment and the Sounds people will be powerless to stop it.

You might well say that marine farmers don’t own the sea bed that they only have a right to occupy for a period of time, that’s correct technically, the term is usually for 25 yrs , however we have tried to get salmon farms removed when their time was up but was told that  council  could apply new  conditions, but could not remove the farms.  So once they are allocated these companies have a transferable right to the seabed in perpeturity.

The Port Company a subsidiary of the MDC have recently embarked on a course of action which will give them not ownership per say, but absolute control of the foreshore and seabed of Shakespear bay, Waikawa Bay and whatamungo Bays.

This is over allocation of boat moorings and the right to occupy the seabed. When coastal occupancy charges are introduced the MDC will be making a fortune out of the seabed allocations in the Marlborugh Sounds and Maori wont have a bar of it.

The Port Company also have plans for a massive marina development in Waikawa Bay, out over our cockle beds and are steaming ahead with these plans over top of Iwi objections.

These are all issues that need to be addressed by the Foreshore and Seabed Act, the implications are far more serious than just concentrating on public access.

Another thing to be wary of is that all NZ Port companies are council owned and their returns are very poor, any council accountant will tell you it would be far better financially for them to privatize, this would inevitably result in foreign ownership of NZ Ports.

An interesting thing was discovered during the claims process, and that was that when Picton town was purchased by The NZ Company from Te Atiawa they also purchase ownership of Picton Harbour, so back then it was acknowleged that Maori had legal ownership of the seabed.

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Private Plan Change to create AMA Areas

Posted on April 15, 2009 by skipper

Sounds property owners , Tourism operators, recreational users, Sounds property owners, tourism operators, recreational users, fishermen, divers, walkers all need to be aware of the Councils current intent to have a variation to change the Sounds plan to get rid of the current Tendering process. This will enable any company applying for an AMA area can be assured they are successful in the resource consent process that they will be granted that area.

The government have instructed local government to create AMA (aquaculture marine areas.) This would be an unpopular move, council have collaborated with the aquaculture industry and told them if they get rid of the tendering process and give them surety the industry can then apply for whatever areas they want as AMA’s (eg areas which are currently prohibited)

This will facilitate another gold rush of applications. I realise the current state of the economy is not conducive to growth but it will pick up. As soon as demand exceeds supply the private plan changes will flood in. At the moment rules in the current plan are not robust enough to regulate or do compliance properly.

Council know and has said later this year they will have a variation to rewrite the Aquaculture laws.

This is fundamentally wrong, they are going to get rid of the tendering process. This will allow industry to choose their own AMA areas and have surety. Knowing that the public won’t be able to affect the process and later after the damage is done they will have an upgrade of the Aquaculture laws.

You say that the industry need surety; the public need surety as well.

This is the cart before the horse.

Council says it is user pays and why should the public have to fund AMA applications for the benefit of industry. That sounds reasonable, unfortunately we know what the end result of these changes will be. The establishment of AMA areas should have been a process instigated by council through a public consultation round so that the public have a chance to say if, where or not at all, with this process Industry chooses and the public have to use a very expensive process using lawyers to object.

The Sounds will become one great big aquaculture farm. We will be unable to stop it, at the hearings the applicants will have a couple of lawyers, RMA consultants, landscape architect, expert witnesses and if the public cannot match their line up, and of course we cannot, the economic argument will win every time. It will allow for privatisation of our sea bed.

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Submission re Marine Environment and Blue Cod Fishery

Posted on August 31, 2008 by skipper

Submission re Marine Environment and Blue Cod Fishery in the Marlborough Sounds.
April 2008, Danny and Lyn Boulton

To embrace eco-system based and integrated management preserving a minimum of 35% of the coastal area of the Marlborough Sounds.

‘Before you say no be sure you understand the science and evidence that supports this submission’.

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Regional Policy Statement 2008

Posted on August 31, 2008 by skipper

Kia Ora ,

These are thoughts on the need to develop long term strategic planning for

Totaranui Queen Charlotte Sounds.

I have limited this submission to Totaranui, QCS , My knowledge of Hioere,Pelorus is limited and judgements on its future is best left to persons who are better aquainted than myself, the only suggestion is that Tenneson Inlet Worlds End and d’Urville, Is French Pass should be made into MPA’s and don’t allow those wonderful big outer Sounds inlets like Port Gore and Titirangi be made into AMA areas, it is their seclusion that makes them so special don’t allow them to be fulled up to the eyes with aquaculture

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Posted in Aquaculture, Fisheries, Forestry, Methyl Bromide, Sounds Management, Submissions and Letters | Comments Off

Damage to the Sea Floor

Posted on August 31, 2008 by skipper

As stated in our article on Aquaculture, there is an urgent need to have scientific research carried out on the effects of mussel farming in the Marlborough Sounds, before any further licenses are granted. In the absence of this research it is left to lay-persons to do the best they can to assess the situation as they see it. This article is just such an attempt to assess the damage being done to the sea bed under the mussel farms, which we see as only one of the negative effects of mussel farming. Because the effects can easily be seen, we feel that the lay-person can form an opinion on this area of concern.
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