Farmers of New Zealand assisted a group of Bay of Islands marine farmers fight for their very existence after the health authorities closed their operations due to water quality issues. The water pollution was identifies as human effluent and a legal case against the Far North District Council was launched against its poor management of effluent treatment. This closed area accounted for 40% of new Zealand total oyster exports and employed over forty people. It was simply closed overnight destroying jobs, marriages, businesses, and family homes.

 

 

The case was lost because the farmers were unable to prove to the Court's satisfaction that the Council was at fault. We believe the Court standard of proof was unfair and so was the decision. It was stated that it was far better for a few Oyster farmers to lose than the larger Ratepayer base. This smacked of double standards. farmers of New Zealand kept up the political pressure and this has ultimately resulted in the farmers being able to start faming again.       

                         

Since litigation between the Waikare oyster farmers and the Far North District Council concluded central government has acknowledged the problem and the then Minister Hon Jim Anderton instructed his officials to work with all parties concerned to find a solution. Organisations involved are the Northland Regional Council, Ministry of Fisheries, Aquaculture New Zealand, Farmers of New Zealand, Food & Safety, and the Northland District Health Board. We are very pleased with the progress and believe all have worked hard to find solutions. A testing regime has been agreed, implemented, and the Waikare was reopened for business in the 2009 after seven frustrating years.

 

In addition, after significant lobbying and publicity from Farmers of new Zealand, a review of regulations has taken place to determine best practise with some of the outcomes making significant difference for the Waikare and Northland oyster farming going forward. Ironically, if the new minimum distance required for the movement of oysters from a restricted area to a non-restricted area had been in place at the time of the closure seven years ago commercial production could have continued and no litigation would have taken place. This highlights the problems with Wellington Bureaucrats and their often high handed attitude based on risk aversion rather than good science.

 

Despite this tentative good news there are still many hurdles to face including the not unsubstantial clean up of the farms estimated to cost in the region of $3 million. As environmental stewards the Northland Regional Council and the government have contributed funding for investigations and planning into reopening the farms. They are also working with the farmers to determine the best way for the farms to return to a state of repair that meets the standards required in the quickest possible time period. All this is welcome news for the farmers.

 

The farmers have expressed a strong desire to continue farming their leases and this is universally agreed as the best course of action. It has also been acknowledged that if the farmers are driven into bankruptcy it will cause major complications for the agencies attempting to resolve the problem causing difficulties in transfer of leases and jeopardising the clean up process in the environment.

 

Again, after submissions from Farmers of New Zealand, the FNDC  waved $124,000 of the $324,000 awarded by the High Court after the Farmers unsuccessful bid for damages. The Far North Mayor Wayne Brown had previously expressed sympathy with the farmers situation and has stated to us he believe they have been ‘shafted’. We are pleased he was true to his comments and assisted the farmers by agreeing to a smaller amount.          

 

Closure was due to pollution of the environment by human sewerage and while the High Court could not find in favour of the farmers because the source of the contamination could not be explicitly proven to the level it required the Court did state that the farmers case was not without just cause. Farmers of New Zealand continues to to advocate for improved urban sewerage treatment, and greater consistency of policy and regulations between the health Authorities and Ministry of Fisheries. This situation must never repeat itself.

 

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