The Resource Management (Aquaculture Moratorium) Amendment Act was passed last week. The Act includes certain amendments recommended by the Primary Production Select Committee, including changes to the stage at which applications are 'caught' by the 2 year moratorium on new aquaculture developments in the coastal marine area.

The moratorium initially proposed to apply to all applications that had not reached the stage of a hearing as at 28 November 2001. Now, applications that were publicly notified before 28 November 2001, or accepted by a Regional Council as completed non-notified applications before 28 November 2001, will be exempt from the moratorium. Applications that were not notified before 28 November 2001, or non-notified applications that were incomplete at 28 November 2001, would be put on hold and considered once the moratorium expires. This change means that a further 113 applications, for a total area of 14,508ha, previously caught by the moratorium, will continue to be processed.

Other changes include: