Aquaculture

Aquaculture in the Auckland region

What is aquaculture?

Aquaculture, also known as marine farming, is the practice of cultivating marine organisms for harvesting and sale.

Marine Farms on Great Barrier Island

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The Auckland Regional Council (ARC) is responsible for managing aquaculture within the coastal marine area (CMA), which is the foreshore and seabed below the mean high water springs line, with local councils managing aquaculture on land.

What is being farmed in the Auckland region?

• Green lipped mussels, which are grown in deep water on lines suspended from surface floats.
• Pacific oysters, which are grown on racks or in baskets in the intertidal area, (area between tide marks).

How many marine farms are there?

There are 68 marine farms in the Auckland region, covering an area of 247 hectares. These are made up of 17 mussel farms and 51 oyster farms.

Issues with marine farming

Farming fish and shellfish, in a controlled environment, can reduce the pressure on decreasing wild fish stocks. It also provides local and regional economic benefits.

However aquaculture occupies public space and can impact on values such as:

• boating navigation
• marine animals, including the depletion of plankton
• views of the coastal landscape
• deposits of sediment and discarded shells
• nutrient enrichment of the seabed
• biosecurity risks.

Finding a balance between marine farming, community users, and sustaining the natural and physical resources of the region, is a significant and growing challenge.