Design for New Zealand King Salmon's open ocean farm.
Photo: New Zealand King Salmon.
The Board of New Zealand King Salmon Investments Limited (NZK) has received notice of a "positive aquaculture decision" for Blue Endeavour from Fisheries New Zealand.
According to a press release by the company, Fisheries New Zealand (part of the Ministry for Primary Industries) assesses the effects of proposed marine farm areas on fishing through the undue adverse effects test (UAE test). A proposed marine farm cannot proceed if it would have ‘undue’ adverse effects as defined by the process.
NZK informed that the decision will be gazetted on 16 January 2024, followed by a 30-working day judicial review period. Also, a judicial review would require a judge of the High Court to examine whether the way the decision was made was following the law and no other matters.
The Board will make another announcement once this judicial review period is over (estimated date 28 February 2024).
NZK hopes that Blue Endeavour will be New Zealand’s first open-ocean salmon farm. To ensure the farm is designed to the best international standards they have worked with global experts in their design.
Within the Blue Endeavour site are two blocks of pens, a northern block and a southern block. Each block will contain ten circular pens in a two-by-five layout. The total farming footprint equates to less than 12 surface hectares in size.