NZ aquaculture industry to be worth $300m
By SeafoodSource staff
05 November, 2012
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A new aquaculture development strategy to be launched in Bream Bay this week aims to see aquaculture in Northland developed into a NZD 300 million industry employing more than 700 extra workers in less than two decades.
The ‘Northland Aquaculture Development Strategy’ is due to be officially launched by the Minister for Primary Industries, David Carter, at NIWA’s Bream Bay Aquaculture Park on Friday 9 November.
The strategy has been developed over the past 12 months by the Northland Aquaculture Development Group (NADG). The group has five working groups – Finfish, Oyster, Greenshell Mussel, Freshwater and Paua – and their collective membership includes a who’s who of those already working/linked to the local aquaculture sector including industry, iwi, scientists.
The Northland Aquaculture Development Group’s newly-elected chairman, Whangarei-based Ngati Whatua CEO Allan Pivac, says the Government has already set a goal for New Zealand to have a NZD 1 billion aquaculture industry by 2025.
“Northland’s contribution to this national target is NZD 300 million — and at least an extra 700 jobs — by 2030. The NADG is the overarching group which supports the aquaculture sector’s growth and has various working groups set up to deliver this goal.”
“It’s up to these species-specific working groups to deliver the individual targets set by NADG.”
Pivac says the soon-to-be-launched strategy has been developed as a high level plan, with the actual detail to be worked out by the species working groups. All five working groups are currently at varying stages of developing sub-strategies for their respective areas.
“The Finfish Working Group is the most active and is in the final stages of preparing an initial business case before making an application to the Government’s Primary Growth Partnership Scheme.” (The scheme funds projects that make a significant economic impact at a regional level.)
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05 November, 2012