Any effect from a proposal to finish Bluff oysters in Otago Harbour will be ''less than minor'', a consultant's report says.
Southern Clams commissioned Ryder Consulting to assess the likely effects on the ecology of Otago Harbour of its proposal to use three sites to ''relay'' oysters in a suspended cage system for two to four weeks until they could be commercially harvested.
The report was part of the consultation the company was undertaking as part of its latest resource consent application, after its initial application lodged early last year was declined due to a lack of appropriate information.
Southern Clams operations manager Dave Renshaw said the company was in no hurry to ''trigger'' the consent process as there were still many unknowns, such as what the Government's emphasis on aquaculture would translate to and possible changes to the Resource Management Act.
''We've got no timeline from down south so we'll wait to see what the new government initiatives are.''
In the New Year, the company would review what its next step would be, he said.
In the meantime, it was continuing to meet groups such as yacht clubs and iwi and develop more information on what the project would look like.
Ryder Consulting's Dr Brian Stewart said he believed the design of the proposed structure, coupled with its positioning in an area with high current flows and low ecological diversity, would ensure any adverse effects would be ''less than minor''.
Also, removing the relaying structures, if necessary, was likely to result in complete recovery at each site within a few weeks, he said.
However, it would be worthwhile to implement measures that would mitigate any effects, such as ensuring the current speed was sufficiently high enough to carry away any faeces and pseudofaeces (rejected particles of food) from the oysters, orienting the structures so there was a minimum disruption to water currents and regularly inspecting and cleaning relaying structures, he said.
He also suggested an inspection of the area below the structures to ensure there had been no major changes as a result of the operation.
