Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says salmon farm shift needs careful consideration

Thursday, 6 June 2019

Jacinda Ardern talks to Marlborough Chamber of Commerce in Blenheim on Thursday.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has told the head of New Zealand King Salmon the Government is waiting for more information before it decides on its plans to relocate its salmon farms to higher flow sites.

Ardern was delivering a post-budget speech to Marlborough Chamber of Commerce members in Blenheim on Thursday, before opening the floor to questions.

King Salmon chief executive Grant Rosewarne grabbed the chance to ask Ardern about 'climate change and industry transition' and brought up the company's plans to relocate several farms from low-flow sites to cooler high-flow sites.

* Report recommends relocation of three Marlborough salmon farms**

Rosewarne said climate change was causing more salmon to die in the Marlborough Sounds while the Government stalled on changes that could protect the industry.

Jacinda Ardern chatting with Grant Rosewarne after suggesting he was 'dressing up' NZ King Salmon's relocation proposal.

'Our solution, unlike some of the ones you've shown up there, our solutions are relatively simple,' Rosewarne said at the ASB Theatre event.

The company had 17 surface hectares of salmon farms in the region however nine hectares were classed as having 'poor' climatic conditions for farming the fish.

Ardern suggested Rosewarne was 'dressing up' the company's relocation proposal as a climate change issue, which drew laughs from the audience.

Grant Rosewarne has said before that climate change is causing more salmon to die in the Marlborough Sounds while the Government stalls on changes that could protect the industry.

She said, from her understanding, she was 'waiting for a little bit of information on your side before it progresses'.

Ardern said she was aware of the relocation proposals put forward by King Salmon but thought, 'another one got added which may have slowed things down a little bit'.

Jacinda Ardern entering the Marlborough Chamber of Commerce event, at the ASB Theatre on Thursday morning.

Geshe Jampa Tharchin with Jacinda Ardern who gave her the white scarf she is wearing.

She wanted to give the situation careful consideration as 'we know there are environmental impacts at the moment around aqua-farming and some of those different opportunities'.

Ardern said the economy needed to transition in a way where 'we don't have jarring impacts on local communities that were reliant on what may be traditional forms of industry that are now potentially problematic'.

NZ King Salmon employs 500 staff and Ardern had a fantastic opportunity to keep those jobs secure, Rosewarne said.

Rosewarne said in May that warmer water temperatures had led to higher fish mortality over summer.

As a result, the expected harvest was 7900 tonnes down from an earlier forecast of 8000 tonnes. Annual earnings were likely to be at the lower end of the forecast range of $25 million to $28.5m.

Ardern pointed to Taranaki and its oil and gas exploration as an example of how to transition an economy.

'We haven't turned the tap off overnight, we are on existing oil and gas exploration permits there, and they need to run their course and they will, they will last for several decades,' Ardern said.

'But we have given a strong indication that once they run out, we won't be issuing new offshore oil and gas exploration permits and in doing so, we're taking responsibility to work alongside that community to transition their energy future and New Zealand's energy future.'