Two appeals put forward to the New Zealand High Court against King Salmon’s proposal to develop new fish farms in the Marlborough Sounds have been rejected.
The original approval for King Salmon to develop four new salmon sites was granted in February 2011. But then appeals against the Board's decision were lodged in the High Court by both Save Our Sounds and The Environmental Defence Society (EDS).
New Zealand Conservation Minister, Dr Nick Smith, has welcomed the rejection of the appeals pointing out that the impact of the development on recreation and conservation is minimal because it only affects 6 hectares out of more than 100,000 of water space.
The government says that the new farms should generate an additional NZ$60m per year in export income and should create around 200 jobs. It has high aims for aquaculture and wants to build a sustainable aquaculture industry worth NZ$1bn by 2025.
New Zealand King Salmon CEO Grant Rosewarne said that the new space will provide for increased production, but will also enable more effective implementation of some “great environmental care practices such as bio-secure farming.”
Meanwhile EDS Chairman Gary Taylor disagrees. “We appealed two of the four approved sites: Waitata and Port Gore.The High Court has disallowed our appeal on both sites”, he said.
“I’m very concerned that notwithstanding clear policies in the NZ Coastal Policy Statement that protect outstanding natural landscapes – the very best bits of New Zealand’s coasts – the Court has not found an error of law in the earlier decision."
He added that EDS will be analysing the decision carefully over the next few days and taking legal advice.
