Aquaculture Industry fears loss of $400m

By IRENE CHAPPLE

Lost opportunities for the aquaculture industry as a result of the proposed two-year moratorium on new marine farms could cost up to $400 million, says the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research.

Its report was used by Pegasus Bay Aquaculture during this week's select committee hearings on the Resource Management (Aquaculture Moratorium) Bill.

The report concluded that a ban on new farms would have detrimental effects likely to last a decade.

"A benefit/cost analysis is highly likely to show that such a moratorium is not the best option on environmental, social and economic grounds," said the report.

"The briefing paper contains no reasonable discussion of the costs of truncating growth ... "

It says there is no convincing argument why the present approval system for marine farms cannot continue while new policy is formulated.

The report uses Marlborough as a case study, saying there were no identifiable benefits from the area's 1996-1999 moratorium.