| Decision | Consent declined Section 57D(a) Fisheries Act 1996 |
|---|---|
| Decision Maker | The Minister for Oceans and Fisheries and the Associate Minister of Finance |
| Decision Date | 18 March 2021 |
| Pathway | Fishing quota under the Fisheries Act 1996 |
| Investment | Overseas investment in fishing quota being the acquisition of:
|
| Applicant | MacLab (NZ) Limited, as trustee of the MacLab (NZ) Unit Trust Australia (97.50%) New Zealand (2.50%) |
| Vendor | Unknown quota holders Various (100%) |
| Background | The Applicant is a trustee of a trust ultimately owned by an Australian family which has been involved in the mussel farming and processing business since the 1970s, when they formed what is now the MacLab business. The Applicant extracts compounds from juvenile and adult green-lipped mussels for use in the nutraceutical industry (i.e. non-pharmaceutical food containing health-giving properties), and owns and operates a number of mussel farms in the South Island, and a processing factory in Nelson. For consent to be granted, Ministers needed to be satisfied that the granting of consent was in the national interest, having regard to the relevant factors set out in section 57H(2) of the Fisheries Act 1996. Ministers were not satisfied that the granting of consent was in the national interest and consent was declined. |
| More information | Nick Crang Duncan Cotterill PO Box 10-376 Wellington |