Veteran Māori aquaculture leader Harry Mikaere says a new wharf at the base of the Coromandel Peninsula will boost not just fishing and aquaculture but other industries like tourism.
The $15 million Thames Coromandel District Council business and marine precinct at Kōpū was partially funded by the Provincial Growth Fund and has taken four years to complete.
Harry Mikaere from Ngāti Maru says it was built to deal with a 6 metre difference between low and high tides.
“So by the time that wharf is loaded you’ve got 6 metres of water in there plus the normal running status of about 3 metres under it. To becoeme a significant port it would need a lot of channeling going out in the harbour there and that is a signiificant cost going forward,” he says.
Mr Mikaere says more than one in 10 aquaculture jobs are in Coromandel and Tikapa Moana, so the investment in Kōpū and $19 million the Sugar Wharf redevelopment at Te Kuma near Coromandel township will lay the foundation for future growth.
