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Chatham Rise maritime zone, where there are plans to develop a mining project. (Map: Stock File)
Seafood sector opposes CRP mining project
(NEW ZEALAND, 7/11/2014)
On behalf of the seafood industry, the Deepwater Group expressed opposition to Chatham Rock Phosphate’s (CRP) application to mine the Chatham Rise due to the massive disruption it will cause to the seafloor as well as to benthic fauna, including protected corals.
This view was presented by the non-profit organisation representing participants in New Zealand’s deepwater fisheries -- including hake, hoki, jack mackerel, ling, orange roughy, oreos, scampi, southern blue whiting and squid -- in its submission to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
The submission outlines the downstream effects of mining, including changes to water quality as a result of the release of trace metals and other contaminants from the large scale strip mining.
“The Chatham Rise is home to New Zealand’s most productive and abundant deepwater fisheries and is recognised as a ‘hotspot’ habitat for juvenile fish, including hoki, ling, silver warehou and white warehou,” says George Clement, Chief Executive of the Deepwater Group.
And he adds: “Mining threatens to destroy the very ecosystem that supports these valuable fisheries and has the potential to harm fisheries well beyond the Chatham Rise.”
Clement explained that almost all of their juvenile hoki live on the Chatham Rise. When they mature, they move on to other feeding and breeding grounds around New Zealand. If the nursery environment for these young fish is damaged by mining, there will be fewer hoki and catches will be reduced across the entire New Zealand zone.
On the other hand, the NGO stated that the miners claim that New Zealand will benefit by NZD 900 million (USD 793.3 million) over the next 15 years and it considers this is “a one-off gain and one that will leave the seabed turned upside down,” claiming that during this period, seafood from the Chatham Rise will earn New Zealand more than NZD 2,500 million (USD 2,203 million), and this revenue continues to be earned and doesn’t just stop after 15 years.
The seabed ecosystem on the central Chatham Rise has been protected as a Benthic Protected Area (BPA) since 2007 to preserve the unspoilt natural habitats and biodiversity by making it illegal to bottom trawl or dredge the area.
Clement pointed out that the protected areas have the additional benefit of validating the sustainable ecosystems upon which New Zealand’s deepwater fisheries are based. He also recalled that hoki, hake and ling from the Chatham Rise all meet the international Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Certification standards, the highest environmental standard for seafood production in the world.
Other areas of concern highlighted in the Deepwater Group’s submission include:
- Lack of basic information from CRP about the proposed mining approach and a high level of uncertainty around the potential impacts on the fisheries and habitat;
- It is not an efficient use or development of natural resources;
- It will interfere with the successful management regimes, including the Quota Management System (QMS) and the protection of biodiversity through the BPA network;
- It does not include any conditions that are able to adequately reduce the level of uncertainty, or avoid, remedy or mitigate, the adverse effects of the proposal.
editorial@seafood.media
www.seafood.media
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