Aquaculture and the precautionary principle in the New Zealand Supreme Court

Abstract

In 1997 the author published an article called �Fish-farming and the precautionary principle: context and values in environmental science for policy� (Kaiser 1997), in which he discussed various precautionary strategies in view of unwelcome fish escapes from the sea cages. There is no unique strategy given precaution, he claimed, but instead there are choices of strategy depending on basic value assumptions. 15 years later many things have changed, both concerning the knowledge and uncertainties about aquaculture and concerning the legal background, including the precautionary principle. Some people claim that the precautionary principle has lost both status and some of its appeal in national and international law. In contrast to this, the Supreme Court of New Zealand has recently (2014) passed a judgement where the role of the precautionary principle in a complaint about aquaculture development was discussed in great detail. In particular its implications in view of adaptive management strategies were highlighted. The paper will provide information of the Court�s reasoning and assess its findings in relation to earlier views on precaution and aquaculture.