Mussel industry waiting to create jobs
The Greenshell mussel industry on the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand currently produces some 22,000 tonnes, and it is hoping to increase that to 60,000 tonnes by 2014, creating another 600 jobs, reports the Waikato Times;
Three councils are promising to remove red tape to make it easier for Coromandel Peninsula mussel farm operators to expand and create up to 600 new jobs. Representatives from Thames-Coromandel District Council, Hauraki District Council and Environment Waikato all told Aquaculture New Zealand, the seafood industry's national body, yesterday they would help cut bureaucracy that operators claim has been stifling growth. The region employs 400 full and part-time staff on mussel barges and in processing factories. With approval to develop more farms, that number of staff could rise to more than 1000 by 2014.
Greenshell New Zealand, one of the largest peninsula-based mussel companies, has been waiting 13 years to get the go-ahead to develop water spaces in Wilson's Bay on the Firth of Thames. Peter Vitasovich, managing director of Greenshell New Zealand and chairman of Aquaculture New Zealand, has welcomed moves to make it easier to do business. The industry has also applied to EW to change its regional plan to allow the farming of other species such as fin fish, along with shellfish.
The introduction of fin fish farming in the region would open up further significant job opportunities with the need for a processing plant and a research and development laboratory. "In these tough times a lot of companies are laying off people, but the aquaculture industry is still looking to employ people," Mr Vitasovich said. Thames-Coromandel Mayor Philippa Barriball said aquaculture was vital to the region and along with tourism would bring diversification and growth. "With Opotiki trying to attract business away from Coromandel, we have to act quickly," Ms Barriball said. "We have had a rough last year with Carter Holt Harvey closing; if we (Thames-Coromandel) lost the aquaculture industry we are history. "We need the jobs."
Ms Barriball said the industry was waiting for the "go-button," which included getting fishing allocation rights from the Fisheries Ministry and a change of consent rules from the regional council. Environment Waikato said at the very quickest the regulatory approval required could be pushed through within nine months to a year. Chairman Peter Buckley said it was about developing a sustainable industry and ensuring the benefits were felt locally. "The number one thing we would like to make sure is that they bring the processing industry back here," Mr Buckley said.
