$3b aquaculture plan

BLENHEIM: The Government has announced a plan to turn aquaculture into a $3 billion industry within 15 years.

Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash released the ‘‘aquaculture strategy’’ at the New Zealand Aquaculture Conference in Blenheim yesterday.

The industry has annual sales of about $600 million, and Mr Nash said the goal to reach $3 billion in sales was ambitious, but achievable.

Mr Nash said last year he was criticised for releasing a plan that was light on detail, but this year the new strategy established a clear pathway for reaching that goal.

‘‘We will work with the industry at a central government level to make sure that any barrier that we can help overcome, that we do.

‘‘I think that what was missing before now was an outline or a guide to the role government will play.’’

Mr Nash said the strategy aimed to maximise the performance and value of inshore farms and enable the industry to extend into the open ocean.

‘‘The inshore farms . . . they haven’t outgrown their usefulness but the real potential in this industry certainly is offshore.’’

The strategy also focused on building resilience to environmental change, and supporting the development of new technologies and practices to reduce industry waste and emissions.

Mr Nash was challenged on what the Government intended to do about industry training now there were plans for 16 institutes of technology and polytechnics to operate as part of a single national campus.

The industry said at yesterday’s conference growth would rely on trained staff, of whom there were already too few.

Mr Nash said growth in aquaculture would drive the ability of training institutions to react to local needs.

Aquaculture was present in several regions around the country where there was high deprivation, and there was scope to create more jobs beyond the 3000 now employed in the industry nationwide, he said. — RNZ