Source: Northland Regional Council
Resource consent has been granted for three experimental Northland ‘ocean gardens’ that will be used for research that ultimately aims to feed whanau and repopulate local fish and seafood stocks.
Applicants NgātiWai Ki Whangaruru Whenua Topu Trust, Kaingahoa Marae and the Otetao Reti Marae applied as a group to the Northland Regional Council for each to use one hectare of marine space to undertake non-commercial, marae-based aquaculture activities.
The council processed the non-notified applications for the initiatives dubbed ‘māra moana’ (ocean gardens) together and consents were granted today (subs: Wednesday 01 October) for a term of a 35-years.
One of the māra moana is proposed for Whapukapirau Bay in the outer Bay of Islands and is associated with the Kaingahoa Marae (Patukeha), another is proposed for Bland Bay, associated with NgātiWai Ki Whangaruru Whenua Topu Trust (Ngātiwai), while a third at Kauri Point in the Whangaruru Harbour is associated with the Otetao Reti Marae (Ngātiwai).
The aquaculture structures initially proposed for the māra moana are similar to conventional mussel farming backbone lines that will be secured in place with two-ton concrete mooring blocks. The backbones will have two surface lines separated by mussel buoys at regular intervals.
“These backbone longlines will act as a base structure to attach and support cultivation ropes and various equipment for research and spat collecting and grow out of mahinga kai species which may include various gastropod, bivalve crustacean and seaweed species.”
Each area will be progressively established by respective marae with the ultimate aim of improving traditional customary kaimoana provision for marae and developing methods for repopulating local fish and seafood stocks.
In its consent decision the council said the māra moana were within areas mapped in its Proposed Regional Plan (PRP) maps as ‘Aquaculture Exclusion Areas’ and ‘Significant Ecological Areas’. The proposed māra moana in Whapukapirau Bay was also located within a mapped Te Hā o Tangaroa Protection Area known as te Rākaumangamanga Rāhui Tapu.
However, the council says the PRP provides a rule for marae-based aquaculture in significant and development areas and the Te Hā o Tangaroa Protection Area rules did not apply to aquaculture activities.
It says the adverse effects on the environment of the māra moana had been determined to be no more than minor.
The proposed māra moana in Bland Bay and Kauri Bay are not located within an area identified in PRP maps as having either outstanding natural character or high natural character values. The māra moana in Whapukapirau Bay is located within an area mapped in the PRP as having high natural character.
The council says due to the small area to be occupied by the structures and the limited number of lines likely to be established, the effects on visual amenity and natural character at each location is likely to be low.
The māra moana structures and layout have also been specifically designed to be as open, passive and subsurface as possible in order to allow currents and waves to pass through.
The stocking densities of any species will not be high enough to have a more than minor impact on the quantity of nutrients and plankton consumed, and the quantity of waste generated will be low. Routine inspections of the māra moana by kaimahi will help ensure marine mammals are not caught in structures.
The council noted structures imported into the māra moana had the potential to act as a vector for marine pests. To ensure that these risks are minimised a Biosecurity Risk Management Plan for the establishment and operation of each māra moana has also been required as a condition of consent.
“The applicant has advised that the vessels will be launched and retrieved from the beach, (and) regularly inspected and cleaned.” “All equipment related to the farm, including spat devices or buoys to be deployed or retrieved from the farm will be transported by a local vessel.”
The council says Ngātiwai Trust Board, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Hine and Ngāti Kuta each had an iwi/hapū environmental management plan relevant to the locations of this activity.
“These plans have been taken into account during the processing of the application and the granting of this consent is not considered to be contrary to the objectives and policies contained within these plans.”
The council says the presence and operation of the māra moana would not have adverse effects on any taiāpure, mātaitai or Māori non-commercial fisheries.
Their potential undue effects on commercial, recreational and customary fishing had also been separately considered by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) which had not amended the areas or conditions imposed by the council.
