Aquaculture food safety requirements depend on your activities
Your requirements depend on which activities you do:
- If you farm fish for human or animal consumption (including pāua), and then supply this to a primary processor, you:
- must provide the processor with information about the fish you're supplying
- might also need to meet some monitoring requirements.
- If you process your farmed fish yourself, you must meet food safety requirements under the Animal Products Act 1999 or Food Act 2014.
- If you work with bivalve molluscan shellfish (BMS), there are more requirements that you need to meet.
If you're supplying farmed fish (that is not BMS) to a primary processor
You need to provide information about the fish you're supplying to the primary processor. You must use this supplier statement document:
Supplier statement for the supply of farmed fish (other than BMS) [PDF, 61 KB]
This requirement comes from the Animal Products Act 1999:
Animal Product Notice: Production, Supply and Processing [PDF, 2.6 MB]
Seafood monitoring programme requirements
You may need to meet some monitoring requirements.
Find out about seafood monitoring programmes
Additional requirements for BMS
There are specific requirements you need to meet if you're working with BMS.
Find out more about the requirements for growers and harvesters of BMS
As well as these requirements, if you process the BMS, you need to meet the seafood processing requirements that apply to your business.
Find out more about fish and seafood harvest, processing and sale
Requirements for fish processing
If you process your fish, you must meet different requirements.
Find out more about fish and seafood harvest, processing, and sale
Exporting aquaculture products
For all exports, you need to meet both:
- the New Zealand requirements
- any additional overseas market requirements.
Overseas Market Access Requirements (OMARs)
Find out more
For information on setting up a marine farm or land-based fish farm:
Aquaculture (fish and shellfish farming)
Who to contact
If you have questions about aquaculture food safety requirements, email info@mpi.govt.nz
