The announcement yesterday by Minister of Fisheries approving the 2,600 hectare mussel farm off the coast of Pegasus Bay is a step in the right direction. It is to be located a few km north east of the Waimakirri river mouth. The farm is the first to be in the sea waters rather than sheltered bays and will be the second largest aquaculture farm in NZ. With 6,000 tonnes of production annually at a retail prices of around $6 a kg it should be earning tens of millions in export earnings in time and employ 200 people. To put this into context aquaculture generally in NZ has the potential to be like mining is in Australia with revenues per hectare equal or in excess of what is achieveable for minerals. Our Government sees a billion dollar export target for seafood. It is projects like this that will get our economy growing faster. Putting some mussel into our local economy

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