Seabed mining

Details of the request

Kia ora

I would like to request information held by your Ministry about seabed mining, and in particular I would like to request:

• Information such as any Briefing to the Incoming Minister (BIM) to the Minister of Conservation, the Minister for RMA Reform, the Minister for the Environment, the Minister for Resources or the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries that relates to seabed mining for sand or minerals.
• Any work that has been done or is in progress relating to New Zealand’s use of seabed mining since the 2016 report (NZ’s experiences with adaptive management for seabed mining NZ's experiences with adaptive management).
• Any information about the potential costs and benefits of seabed mining and if there is a lot of information then only information pertaining to seabed mining in either Bream Bay or in the Taranaki Bight.
• Any information that relates to a change in New Zealand’s position on the international moratorium on seabed mining that NZ signed up to in 2022.
• Any other information such as discussion papers, emails, briefings, Cabinet papers that relate to the possibility of progressing seabed mining under the Fast-Track Approvals Act especially relating to the fast-track applications in Schedule 2 from McCallum Brothers for Bream Bay sand mining and Trans-Tasman Resources for mineral seabed mining off the coast of Taranaki including the risks to the environment of permitting that activity.

Finally, I would like to know which Minister or Ministers are mainly responsible for the two abovementioned fast-track applications (see bold above) as I would like to make requests for information from the appropriate ministers.

Thank you very much.

If you review this request and it appears to broad to be able to respond within 20 working days can you please let me know and I will try to refine.

Many thanks.

Response documents

1. BRF-2267 Aide Memoire Seabed mining in New Zealand (PDF, 694KB)
2. Key messages on seabed mining (PDF, 174KB)
3. SBM bullets for Minister Simmonds (PDF,166KB)