The co-chair of a Tainui fisheries rōpū says there’s no room for more mussel farms on the Waikato west coast.
Ngaa Hapuu o Te Uru o Tainui Fisheries Forum was set up 25 years ago by coastal hapū and marae to co-ordinate customary fisheries and give them an input into conservation and fisheries management.
Angeline Greensill says highlights have included increasing protections for Maui’s dolphins and having customary fisheries interests gazetted out to the edge of the exclusive economic zone.
It’s now facing threats from plans for off-shore wind farms and for a giant mussel farm off Raglan promoted by Hauraki interests.
“These guys are wanting 700 hectares of the west coast and that to us is colonisation of our space. It’s a take-over and in 35 years if they get a consent they can on-sell it to whoever comes along, whether it’s an overseas interest or whatever. That will be one of the ones they will be trying to fast track and avoid all of the objections from the west coast people,” Ms Greensill says.
The Waikato west coast is one of the roughest in the country, and siting a large mussel farm there is likely to result in large amounts of debris washed up on the beaches.
