What if I have concerns about external sources of water pollution on my farm?
In some areas, water quality can be a real concern for marine farmers and pinpointing the exact cause of the pollution is often a challenge. Human-induced pollution can occur from land-based activities, e.g. agricultural run-off, accelerated erosion, urban stormwater run-off and poorly maintained septic tanks, or from water-based activities, e.g. boating, swimming and oil spills. At other times, water quality may be affected by natural occurrences, e.g. coastal upwellings, algal blooms or bird droppings.
Regional councils and unitary authorities are also responsible for administering the Resource Management (Marine Pollution) Regulations 1998. The regulations include rules on dumping, incineration, and control of discharges from vessels. In 2002, an amendment to the regulations was passed to increase the protection for marine farms, customary fishing reserves, and marine reserves from sewage discharges from boats. The regulations now provide for two standards of treated sewage for boats, Grade A and Grade B onboard sewage treatment systems.
If you have any concerns about water pollution or want to learn more about water quality programmes contact your regional council or unitary authority.
Marine oil spills
In terms of marine oil spills, New Zealand has adopted a three-tiered approach: 1) Individual sites and vessels from which a spill of oil is possible are responsible for responding to a spill on their site. 2) Regional councils, led by regional on-scene commanders trained by Maritime New Zealand, respond to marine oil spills within their regions that exceed the clean-up capability of Tier 1. 3) Maritime New Zealand manages the response, when, due to size, cost or environmental impact, responding to a spill exceeds the capacity of the resources available at both Tier 1 and Tier 2.
