World's largest mussel farm a step closer

Mussel farming involves anchoring ropes with spat attached to them to buoys, and pulling them up for harvest about 12 months later. Photo / Greg Bowker

The development of the largest mussel farm in the world has taken a major step forward after consent was given to enlarge the Opotiki harbour entrance.

The Opotiki District Council said the approval given for a new, deeper channel was the largest resource consent for an untouched piece of coastland in 100 years.

Council chief executive Vaughan Payne said, "This is a great step. Approvals to extend infrastructure near developed areas are common, but this is the first approval in greenfields - on undeveloped coastline - in many, many decades."

For the mussel farm's servicing and processing activities to be based in Opotiki, the channel into the Opotiki Harbour had to be improved to provide reliable access for larger vessels.

The existing channel where the Waioeka River meets the sea at Waiotahi Beach will be closed and a new channel created at the eastern Te Ngaio Beach.

The new channel will be about 120m wide and a minimum of 4m deep. The older channel is 80m wide and in places as shallow as half a metre.

The 3800ha marine farm, 6km off the coast of Opotiki, is part of a long-term vision by the council to boost employment and standards of living in Opotiki.

"Opotiki is consistently ranked as having the country's highest social and economic needs," Mr Payne told the Herald.

"We desperately need to turn this community around in terms of new jobs, and this is an important step on that path."

Opotiki Mayor John Forbes said the aquaculture project could provide more than 900 jobs, and a $27.3 million increase in the district's income.

Mr Forbes said the next stage was securing funding for the harbour development, which was expected to cost $20 million.

The council will be consulting central Government, the private sector and ratepayers to raise the money.

An independent commission found the removal of 800,000 cubic metres of material from the foreshore would damage the coastal environment and force the relocation of the threatened New Zealand dotterel.

But the commission acknowledged that the adverse effects of the harbour entrance development were outweighed by the positive social and economic benefits for the region.

The mussel farm is being developed by Eastern Sea Farms - a joint venture involving New Zealand Sea Farms, Sealord and the local Whakatohea Maori Trust Board.

Mussel farming involves anchoring ropes with spat attached to them to buoys, and pulling them up for harvest about 12 months later. About 20,000 tonnes of mussels are expected to be produced a year, and the groups have a goal of $250 million in exports by 2025.

Construction of the marine farm will begin this year, with a projected completion date of 2012. The harbour entrance project will not begin for at least two years.