The history of Aquaculture Management Areas (AMA) in Northland
The path to establishing new Aquaculture Management Areas (AMAs) in Northland has been lengthy and complex.
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Prior to January 2005: Dual permitting system
Prior to January 2005 a dual permitting system for aquaculture required applicants to first gain a resource consent under the Resource Management Act (RMA) 1991, and then a permit from the Ministry of Fisheries under the Fisheries Act 1983.
A fivefold increase in demand nationwide for marine farms in the late 1990s highlighted a need for a more controlled planning regime and the need for better integration between coastal planning, aquaculture and fisheries management, and the agencies involved.
“Regional and unitary councils were left dealing with applications for marine farms on a first-come, first-served basis, with little guidance on how marine farming fitted into overall coastal management. The results were bottlenecks and high processing costs for applicants, submitter fatigue, costly delays in developing regional coastal plans, local moratoria and poor environmental outcomes as there was little strategic direction on the location of marine farms to deal with their cumulative effects. Marine farmers, local communities, fishers and the Government wanted change.”
(Source: Ministry for the Environment)
August 2000: Government begins consultation on improvements
In August 2000 the government began consulting about how to improve the aquaculture management regime in New Zealand. In November 2001 a two year national moratorium on new marine farm applications was put in place pending the reforms.
In March 2002 the moratorium was extended to 31 December 2004 to ensure the aquaculture reform would be consistent with the foreshore and seabed policy.
In anticipation of the government’s reforms between December 2002 and March 2003, Northland Regional Council consulted the public about developing constraints maps.
Read the press release: Time running out to have initial say on Aquaculture Management areas
December 2003: Council asks for public feedback on possible Aquaculture Management Areas
In response to public feedback on the constraints maps, the Council did more map work and in December 2003 asked for public feedback on possible Aquaculture Management Areas.
Read the press releases:
• Second round aquaculture consultation
• Aquaculture feedback tour
April 2004: 19 possible Aquaculture Management Areas identified
Having identified 19 potential AMA’s the Council’s Aquaculture Project went on hold in anticipation of new legislation from central government.
Read the Aquaculture Update April 2004 (99 KB)
Read the press release: 19 potential AMA areas shortlisted
January 2005: New aquaculture legislation introducted
In January 2005, the Government introduced new Aquaculture Legislation and the Council reassessed their proposed approach to aquaculture management. During this period the list of potential Northland AMAs dropped to 18.
Find out about the new legislation on the Ministry for the Environment website
January 2006: Council adopts Invited Private Plan Change Approach
In January - February 2006 the Council announced their decision to adopt an Invited Private Plan Change (IPPC) approach to establishing AMAs (no longer advocating any particular AMAs) and asked the public for feedback on Draft Plan Change 4, the framework that would be used to evaluate requests for IPPCs.
Read the press release: New aquaculture regime could save ratepayers huge sums
Read the newsletter (231 KB)
June 2006: More detailed work carried out by the Council on Draft Plan Change 4
In response to public feedback Council decided to do more collaborative work on the detail of Draft Plan Change 4. Between June and August 2006 they hosted three technical workshops with key stakeholders including industry, environmental and community groups.
These workshops worked out detailed issues and objectives, policies, methods, rules and information requirements to include in Proposed Plan Change 4.
The Council has also developed a Proposed Threshold Test for deciding whether to publicly notify requests for private plan changes (to establish AMAs) and maps to help inform Council’s decision making.
February 2007: Submissions close for Proposed Plan Change 4 and supplementary documents
The public were able to make submissions on Proposed Plan Change 4 between 28 October 2006 and 14 February 2007. During this period the Council held four ‘open-day’ information events around the Region. In the end, 333 submissions were received.
Find out more about what happens now
June to August 2007: Further submissions received
A summary of the 333 submissions was notified in June. Further submissions were made in support of, or in opposition to the original submissions. Futher submissions closed in August 2007.
November - December 2007: Hearings
Hearings were held for Proposed Plan Change 4 and associated Local Government Act documents.