Salmon: NZ’s next big earner?
of any farming method animals in the world.
‘‘Our impact on the environment is an order of magnitude less [than dairy].’’
The claims were made by Rosewarne in his submission to the Marlborough District Council on its long-term plan.
In 2018, the Ministry for Primary Industries projected the dairy industry would have an export revenue of $16.6 billion, which was 39 per cent of New Zealand’s total primary industry export revenue.
Salmon aquaculture export revenues of $98m.
Rosewarne drew parallels to the wine industry in Marlborough.
‘‘The potential [of wine] wasn’t for had always recognised, and it took some time for people to embrace that industry.’’
Rosewarne said salmon aquaculture could ‘‘easily exceed the size of the New Zealand wine industry’’, according to their calculations. In the submission, he admitted salmon farming techniques changed the natural landscape but said the change was an increase in biodiversity.
‘‘This is the only farming method that I know of, where you get greater biodiversity.’’
Rosewarne said they could remove New Zealand’s $2.8b trade deficit with just 80 surface hectares of farms. They currently operated with 17 surface hectares.
In his submission, Rosewarne said if their short-term predictions were met they intended to create 280 jobs in the Marlborough region.
The company posted an annual profit of $25m last year.
In May, NZ King Salmon asked the government for $110,000 to help research and trial methods for dealing with waste produced by salmon farms.
The World Wildlife Fund website said salmon aquaculture was the fastest growing food production system in the world.
In 2016, a United Nations report from the Food and Agriculture Organisation said aquaculture had ‘‘tremendous potential … to contribute significantly to food security and [provide] adequate nutrition for a [growing] global population’’.