Aquaculture lease conditions

Standard lease conditions (applies to all leases)

Lessee's covenants

You, the lessee, agree that you will:
a) comply with the provisions of the Fisheries Management Act 1994 (“the Act”) and the Fisheries Management (Aquaculture) Regulation 2017 (“the Regulation”), and
b) pay rent for your leased area yearly in advance or by instalments as required by the Act and the Regulation, and
c) ensure that your leased area is used only for aquaculture and that the cultivation of fish or marine vegetation on the leased area is carried out in accordance with any relevant aquaculture industry development plan notified from time to time by the Secretary of the Department, and
d) ensure that your leased area is kept in a neat and tidy condition to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Department.

You also agree to adjust the areas of cultivation on your leased area so as to allow safe navigation if existing channels change or something else happens that requires those channels to be altered.

Standard lease condition

It is a condition of this lease that it may be cancelled if you fail to comply with a notice served on you in accordance with section 162(2) of the Act (in your capacity as the holder of an aquaculture permit) within the period specified in the notice.

Note: This is a condition of the lease referred to in section 177(1)(d) of the Act.  Section 177 specifies other grounds on which the lease may be cancelled, including non-payment of rent.

Specific lease conditions (applies to specific leases)

Special markings for rafts

This lease must be marked in accordance with the Special Marking Standards for rafts as described in the NSW Oyster Industry Sustainable Aquaculture Strategy (OISAS).

Dredge lease

The lease will be used as a “dredge” lease only. Under no circumstances are any cultivation materials or other infrastructure to be placed on the lease area.

Seagrass

Due to the presence of seagrass within the lease area, the lessee is required to comply with the following lease conditions:
a) The lessee during all farming operations must make reasonable attempts to minimise the impact on seagrasses within the leased area.
b) Unless approved by NSW DPI – Fisheries, post and rail supported tray and rack infrastructure is NOT permitted within the lease area due to shading impacts on seagrass.
c) Cultivation methods within the leases area will be restricted to the use of longline systems using cylinders or baskets in order to reduce the effect of shading on seagrasses.
d) The lessee may be directed to modify farming methods or operations if impact on seagrasses is identified.

Oyster reef

The leaseholder and/or permit holder must farm around existing oyster reef present within the lease area. The leaseholder and/or permit holder may be directed to modify their farming methods or operation if impact on the oyster reef is identified.