Water rights for salmon farming

Press, 26 May 1979, Page 2

Water rights for salmon farming

Water rights for a big | salmon-fanning industry on! the Rakaia River have been I approved by the water com-’ mittee of the North Canter-' bury Catchment Board. The principal of the com-j pany promoting the salmon-(■ fanning scheme is Mr A. W.' Crowe, of Christchurch.

Mr Crowe applied to the board for the right to divert 43,200 cubic metres of tailrace water from Lake Coleridge power house into fish raceways each day.

The fish racew'ays would be used for raising salmon for “ocean-ranching purposes.” Water from the raceways would be discharged into settling ponds, and from there into the power house tailrace and intot he Rakaia River.

The five-year water rights ending on April 30, 1984, were approved by the committee subject to special conditions.

If other approvals necessary are granted, the company hopes to start farming in September.

Earlier this year, the Minister of Fisheries (Mr MacIntyre) expressed enthusiasm for the future of the sea-farming of salmon, which, he said, could involve West Coast rivers as well as those of Canterbury and Southland.

i If there is going to be trout farming in New ZeaI land it will come as a result lof success in salmon farmring, according to the Prime I Minister (Mr Muldoon). ■ The Ellesmere County Council has an October 'deadline to install fish (screens over the Rakaia I water-race intake, the CatchIment Board’s water comI mittee confirmed yesterday. The county has asked the ■board for permission to defer the installation of the • screens until the outcome ofi i a proposed power scheme on (the Rakaia River is known. The county fears that the screens which might cost up ■’to SlO.OOO, would become redundant if the Government went ahead with the scheme. “We have been hearing ■ about this scheme for a (decade, and we will be hearting about it for another decade.” said the board’s' chairman (Dr W. R. Holmes). The county was given permission for a water-race off the Rakaia River about three years ago, said the regional water engineer (Mr M. J. Bowden). One of the conditions of the approval was that fish screens be put over the outlet. The council did nothing.