History
Until the 1990s, marine farming was a relatively small industry in New Zealand. But over the course of the next decade, aquaculture grew at a rapid pace, with the demand for water space increasing five-fold. By 2000 it had become clear that the existing ways of managing marine farming could not keep up with the demand. The old system meant marine farmers often faced long delays in having their resource consent applications processed and there was growing concern in many communities that the possible effects of marine farming were not being fully recognised and managed.
In November 2001 the government put an immediate moratorium on new aquaculture applications until reforms could be put into place. That moratorium was extended under the Resource Management (Aquaculture Moratorium) Amendment Act 2002. Originally intended to be in place for two years, this moratorium was extended to 31 December 2004 to ensure aquaculture reform would be consistent with foreshore and seabed `legislation.
Later in 2002, a Waitangi Tribunal claim (Wai 953) raised the possibility of conflict between the aquaculture reform and Treaty principles. This conflict was addressed by provisions in the Māori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Act 2004.
In August 2004 the Aquaculture Reform Bill was introduced for its first reading. In December 2004 the reforms were passed into law and took effect from 1 January 2005.
