No person shall establish or operate any fish farm except pursuant to a fish-farm licence granted by the Minister under these regulations and for the time being in force and in accordance with the conditions of the licence and with the provisions of these regulations.

No person shall process or deal in any produce of a fish farm except pursuant to a fish-farm licence, or a licence to process or deal in the produce of a fish farm, granted by the Minister under these regulations and for the time being in force and in accordance with the conditions of the licence and with the provisions of these regulations.

Where fish are disposed of to or from any food premises which comply with regulation 21, those premises shall not be required to be licensed pursuant to this regulation.

Before any person applies for a fish-farm licence, he shall obtain under the provisions of the Resource Management Act 1991 any right required by that Act in respect of any water required for, or affected by, the proposed fish farm. Forthwith after making application for any such right, he shall give notice in writing thereof to the Fish and Game Council within the meaning of the Conservation Act 1987 in whose district the proposed fish farm will be situated and each Fish and Game Council within the meaning of the Conservation Act 1987 into whose district water from the proposed farm may be discharged.

Where any person is granted any right referred to in subclause (1), the Fish and Game Council within the meaning of the Conservation Act 1987 may, within 21 days after public notification is made under the Resource Management Act 1991 of the granting of that right, make written submissions to the Director-General in relation to the application for a fish-farm licence.

Every application for a fish-farm licence, or a licence to process or deal in the produce of a fish farm, shall be made in writing to the Director-General in a form provided by him.

Every application for a fish-farm licence shall specify the kind of fish intended to be raised on the fish farm.

Every application for a fish-farm licence shall be accompanied by plans (in duplicate) showing—

In every application for a fish-farm licence, the applicant shall specify his right to occupy the area of the proposed fish farm, and shall supply sufficient evidence that all rights, licences, and other authorities required by any enactment authorising him to draw water from and return water to any lake or river or stream, to take or discharge water into the sea, and to occupy any foreshore have been duly granted and are in force.

The Director-General may require the applicant for any licence that may be issued under these regulations to supply such further information of any kind as the Director-General may consider relevant and require, which, in the case of an applicant for a fish-farm licence, may include information concerning the suitability for the purpose of the waters proposed to be used as a fish farm, the methods proposed to be adopted in operating the fish farm, and the suitability of the applicant, having regard to his qualifications, experience, and resources, to operate the fish farm. Until that information is supplied, the Minister shall be under no obligation to give any further consideration to any application.

It shall be in the discretion of the Minister to grant or refuse any application for a licence:

Every licence shall be signed by the Minister.

It shall be a condition of every fish-farm licence, whether specified in the licence or not, that—

Subject to subclause (3), the Minister may grant any licence subject to such conditions as he thinks fit. Those conditions shall be specified in the licence.

Every fish-farm licence shall specify the kind of fish that may be raised pursuant to the licence and if there is more than 1 kind of fish, shall also specify whether they are to be segregated.

Every fish-farm licence shall specify by what means any fish offal shall be disposed of by the licensee.

Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this regulation, the Minister shall not grant more than 1 salmon fish-farm licence for any one catchment unless he is satisfied that the proper management of the salmon fishery in that catchment would not be adversely affected by the granting of an additional licence or licences, and for this purpose shall consider any submission on the matter made—

Without limiting the provisions of regulation 8(4), the Minister shall, where practicable, make it a condition of every fish-farm licence that, subject to compliance by the licensee with any requirements of the Resource Management Act 1991, and with the terms of any right granted under that Act to the licensee, all effluents from the fish farm shall, after being treated as mentioned in paragraph (b) of regulation 8(3), be discharged into the sea or into estuarine waters or, where that is not practicable, shall be further treated and disposed of in a manner specified by the Minister.

Every licence shall, unless it is sooner cancelled or suspended in accordance with these regulations, continue in force until the expiration of the term, not exceeding 14 years, for which it is issued, and may from time to time be renewed by the Minister, in a form provided by him and signed by him, for a further term not exceeding 14 years.

Notwithstanding that any licence is issued or renewed for any term, the conditions on which the licence is held by the licensee may at any time during that term be changed on written notice being given to him of the changed conditions by the Minister. Subject to regulation 8(3), the conditions may be changed by the addition of new conditions or the revision or omission of existing conditions as the Minister thinks fit.

The Minister may, if he is satisfied that the licensee has not paid the fee pursuant to regulation 15 or has not commenced to use the licence for the purposes for which it was granted within 12 months after the date on which it was granted, give the licensee written notice to the effect that, if the licensee has not paid the fee or has not commenced to use the licence within 2 months after the date of the notice, the licence will be cancelled by the Minister upon the expiry of that period.

If the licensee does not intend to continue to use the licence, the licensee must give written notice to the Minister and request the licence be cancelled.

If the Minister is satisfied that no fish remain on the fish farm, and the licensee has returned his or her original licence, the Minister may cancel the licence.

Any application for the renewal of a licence shall be made to the Director-General in writing, and shall be made not earlier than 12 months, and not later than 3 months, before the date of expiry of the licence.

Unless the Minister is satisfied that the licensee has failed to comply with the conditions of the licence, the Minister shall grant the application for a renewal of the licence:

The Minister may determine any application for renewal of a licence, notwithstanding that the application may not have been made within the time limited by this regulation in that behalf, provided the application was made not later than the date of expiry of the licence.

If application for the renewal of a licence is made as aforesaid but is not determined on or before the expiry of the licence, the licence shall be deemed to be extended until the application is decided by the Minister.

Any person, being—

may transfer the licence to any person approved in writing by the Minister in that behalf.

Application for approval of a transfer under this regulation shall be made in writing to the Director-General.

The Minister shall approve an application for his approval of a transfer of a fish-farm licence or a licence to process the produce of a fish farm if he is satisfied that the proposed transferee, having regard to his qualifications, experience, and resources, is a suitable person to operate the fish farm or processing plant:

No transfer of a licence shall have any force or effect unless and until it is approved by the Minister under this regulation.

Any person being—

may, with the consent in writing of the Director-General, operate or appoint some other person to operate the fish farm, processing plant, or other premises, to which the licence relates for such period as the Director-General determines.

While any person operates a fish farm, processing plant, or other premises pursuant to this regulation, he shall, for the purposes of these regulations, be deemed to be the holder of the licence.

The licensee shall cause his licence and any renewal thereof, together with any notice of change in terms of the licence as issued or renewed, for the time being in force, to be displayed in a prominent place at the fish farm, or, in the case of a licence held solely for the purposes of processing or dealing in the produce of a fish farm, at the licensee’s chief place of business.

The fees specified in the second column of the Schedule are payable in respect of the matters specified in the first column of that schedule by the person applying for the relevant issue, variation, or renewal of licence, or the relevant approval, authority, or consent.

If the cost of processing an application (in respect of which a fee is prescribed in the Schedule) at the rate of $133.88 per hour or part of an hour—

The fees payable under this regulation are inclusive of any goods and services tax payable under the Goods and Services Tax Act 1985.

Subject to these regulations, it shall be lawful for—

Subject to this regulation, the licensee of a fish farm shall not keep any fish on that farm, unless the fish has been raised on the fish farm, or, with the approval of the Director-General, has been transferred to the fish farm from another licensed fish farm.

Subject to regulation 31, with the approval of the chief executive, fish may be transferred to the fish farm from a hatchery.

Subject to regulation 31, any fish may, for experimental purposes under the direct control of the chief executive, be transferred to the farm or released alive from the farm otherwise than in accordance with subclause (1).

Subject to regulations 18 and 31, any person may, with the written authority of the chief executive, transfer to a fish farm any fish (including salmon ova)—

This regulation shall not apply to the licensee of any fish farm used exclusively for farming eels.

Subject to regulation 32, the licensee of a salmon fish farm may release or transfer salmon in accordance with the terms and conditions of his licence, or with the written authority of the Director-General or authorised officer and after consultations with and having regard to the functions of Fish and Game Councils within the meaning of the Conservation Act 1987.

The chief executive may revoke his or her written authority at any time.

No marked or tagged salmon shall be released or transferred unless the method of marking or tagging, the mark or the tag, and the number of salmon to be so released or transferred, have been approved by the Director-General.

It shall be lawful for any licensee to capture salmon in the waters specified in his licence from such places and at such times as may be so specified.

Ova taken from fish in a fish farm surplus to the needs of that fish farm shall not be destroyed, but shall be offered for sale or be otherwise disposed of pursuant to the directions of the Director-General given generally or in respect of a particular fish farm:

Subject to subclause (1), no person shall obtain, supply, possess, or dispose of salmon ova without the written authority of the Director-General.

Subclause (2) shall not apply to any Fish and Game Council within the meaning of the Conservation Act 1987.

No person shall possess, process, cook, serve, sell, or otherwise dispose of salmon in or from any food premises unless—

No fish farm licensee or licensed dealer or processor shall sell or otherwise dispose of salmon except to or through the agency of any other fish farm, licensed dealer, or authorised food premises, unless he has obtained a written authority from the Director-General.

Subject to this regulation, salmon may be processed in any manner and sold and served in any form, if, in any particular case, the source of the salmon can be ascertained or verified to the satisfaction of the Director-General by a fishery officer appointed under the Act as coming from a fish farm, licensed dealer, or processor, or authorised food premises.

For the purposes of subclause (1)(a), all food premises shall be deemed to be authorised by the Director-General without a specific application having to be made to him unless he is satisfied—

in which case the Director-General may refuse to authorise the food premises in terms of subclause (1).

Subject to regulation 31, the licensee of any fish farm may, with the consent in writing of the Director-General, sell or otherwise dispose of any live fish to the licensee of any other fish farm.

No person shall feed any animal material to fish on any fish farm unless the animal material has been sterilised—

Notwithstanding subclause (1), unsterilised animal material may, with the approval of the Director-General and subject to such conditions as he may specify, be fed to fish on fish farms.

This regulation shall not apply to the feeding of animal material to eels or freshwater crayfish unless the eels or freshwater crayfish are fed with fish.

The licensee of a fish farm shall keep full records, in a form approved by the Director-General, of all fish raised on or transferred to the fish farm and of all fish sold or otherwise disposed of by the licensee, and shall make those records available for inspection by any officer at all reasonable times.

Unless stated otherwise as a condition of a fish-farm licence, the licensee must, if requested by the chief executive, provide within 7 days a sales record showing the fish sold or otherwise disposed of by the licensee for the period determined by the chief executive.

Unless stated otherwise as a condition of a fish-farm licence, the licensee must, if requested by the chief executive, provide within 7 days a production record for the period determined by the chief executive.

In so far as this regulation applies to fish farms used exclusively for eels or freshwater crayfish, no record of the numbers of the eels or freshwater crayfish need be kept, but records shall be kept of all transactions in respect of those eels and freshwater crayfish.

Every person carrying on the business of processing or dealing in fish from any fish farm shall maintain adequate records of—

Every person carrying on business as aforesaid shall at any time during his ordinary hours of business, on being requested to do so by any authorised officer, or any fishery officer appointed under the Act produce for inspection by any such officer all or any of the records required to be maintained under subclause (1).

Every entry in the records required to be maintained under this regulation shall be identified by—

Every person carrying on the business of processing or dealing in fish from any fish farm shall ensure that every container of the fish bears a label or marking clearly showing the number and weight of freshwater fish packed in the container and a batch number. Any such batch number may be in a code known to the Director-General.

If the licensee of any fish farm knows or suspects that any fish kept on the fish farm is or may be affected by any Category A disease specified as such from time to time by the Director-General by notice published in the Gazette, or knows or suspects that any fish kept on the fish farm is or may be affected by any disease or condition he cannot identify, he shall, within 24 hours after the time when he discovers or first suspects the fish to be diseased, advise the Director-General, or the authorised officer specified in the licence for that purpose by the Director-General, and shall keep the fish diseased or suspected to be diseased from coming into contact with other fish.

If the licensee of any fish farm knows or suspects that any fish kept on the fish farm is or may be affected by any Category B disease specified as such from time to time by the Director-General by notice published in the Gazette, and the fish do not respond to treatment within 14 days after the time when he discovers or first suspects the fish to be diseased, he shall, within 48 hours after the expiration of that period of 14 days, advise the Director-General or the authorised officer specified in the licence for that purpose by the Director-General, and shall keep the fish from coming into contact with other fish.

In any case to which subclause (1) or subclause (2) applies, no person shall allow any water in any pond containing any such diseased fish, except when the disease is known to be Saprolegnia, to be discharged into any natural waters from the time the disease is first discovered until the entire outflow of all the ponds containing the diseased fish has been passed through a properly operating treatment facility and has been treated to the satisfaction of an authorised officer.

Any authorised officer may from time to time, by notice in writing to the licensee of a fish farm,—

Where an authorised officer believes on reasonable grounds that—

he may destroy any fish stocks affected, and may take such steps as he considers necessary to decontaminate any ponds and intake and outlet structures, or may, by notice in writing to the licensee, require him to destroy those fish stocks and take such steps as are specified in the notice to decontaminate those ponds and structures.

The licensee shall comply with every notice given to him under the foregoing provisions of this regulation.

If an authorised officer believes on reasonable grounds that any genetic defects have developed in any fish kept on a licensed fish farm, he may, with the concurrence in writing of the Director-General, destroy any brood fish on the farm from which those fish have been derived or with the like concurrence, by notice in writing to the licensee, require him to destroy the brood fish, and the licensee shall comply with the provisions of the notice.

No compensation shall be payable in respect of any fish destroyed by an authorised officer pursuant to subclause (2) of regulation 27 or regulation 28 or pursuant to a notice given by an authorised officer under the said subclause (2) of regulation 27 or the said regulation 28.

Any expense properly incurred by an authorised officer in treating or destroying any diseased fish on a fish farm or in decontaminating any ponds or structures on any fish farm may be recovered from the licensee as a debt due to the Crown in any court of competent jurisdiction.

No person shall—

Any authorised officer may at all reasonable times enter upon any licensed fish farm and any premises used for processing or dealing in fish from fish farms and, without payment of compensation, take for the purposes of examination a reasonable number of specimens of the fish and take samples of any food, water, soil, implements, or other relevant material kept thereon.

Subject to section 79 of the Act, any officer may at all reasonable times enter any fish farm or premises used for processing or dealing in fish from a fish farm and inspect any fish, fish pond, animal material, equipment, structures, and facilities thereon or belonging thereto and all records required to be kept pursuant to these regulations.

Every person commits an offence against these regulations who obstructs, hinders, threatens, or assaults any officer or authorised officer in the exercise of his powers under these regulations.

Every person commits an offence against these regulations who, without lawful excuse, proof of which excuse shall lie on him, acts in contravention of or fails to comply with any provision of these regulations or who fails to comply with any condition of a licence issued under these regulations.

Every person who commits an offence against—

Where any licensee is convicted of an offence against regulation 17, regulation 21(2), regulation 26, regulation 27, regulation 28, or regulation 31, or of an offence by way of failing to comply with any condition of a licence imposed pursuant to regulation 9, his licence shall be deemed to be cancelled and shall thereupon be void and of no effect.

In proceedings against any licensee for any offence referred to in subclause (1), it shall be a defence if the licensee proves that the act or omission constituting the offence was committed by an employee of the licensee without the consent of the licensee and in breach of written instructions given to the employee of the licensee.

Where any licensee is convicted of an offence against these regulations (not being an offence specified in subclause (1)), the court in its discretion, in addition to or instead of imposing any fine in respect of the offence, may cancel the licence, and thereupon the licence shall be void and of no effect.