In 2001, Environment Southland became the only regional council in the country to get cruise companies to agree to pay a marine fee when it imposed a fee for ships visiting Fiordland and Stewart Island.
The fee raised about $1.75 million in the 2013-14 cruise season, taking the total to more than $13 million since 2001. But legislative changes last year saw the introduction of a restructured Maritime Levy from the beginning of October which included Fiordland for the first time.
Administered by Maritime New Zealand, the levy was $3.09 per passenger for each port visited last season and is expected to decrease annually to reach $2.52 per passenger per port by 2018-19.
Last season, about 80 cruise ship visits were made to Fiordland, Kevin O'Sullivan, who heads the industry group Cruise New Zealand, said on Friday.
With each ship having an average capacity of about 2000 passengers, the Fiordland levy would have netted the Government about $500,000, Mr O'Sullivan, who is also Southland harbourmaster, estimated.
Environment Southland chairwoman Ali Timms said the new levy was introduced without her council's knowledge, after Maritime New Zealand became aware Milford had been designated as a port - the levy trigger point in the regulations.
The council heard about the levy from Cruise New Zealand. Ms Timms said cruise ship operators were generally happy to pay the council's marine fee because they had a clear understanding about what it was spent on.
Over the years, it had funded management projects such as navigational aids, Milford harbour control, a weather station, improved VHF radio coverage and biosecurity projects which were seen as beneficial to both parties.
Unlike the council's fee, the new levy did not provide any direct benefit to Fiordland, she said. From October last year, cruise operators had also agreed to pay a visitor levy of $5 per passenger on cruise ships visiting Stewart Island to help fund tourism infrastructure improvements there.
''So, for some cruise ship operators, this is the third fee,'' Ms Timms said.
''Cruise lines have indicated to us that this new charge will cause them to reconsider coming to the fiords, and that the overall implementation of the levy will reduce port calls throughout New Zealand.''
The council wrote to Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee outlining its concerns and asking him to reconsider imposing the levy in Fiordland.
A response was received in June saying the levy was used to maintain services critical to vessel safety and the protection of New Zealand's marine environment, including Southland.
The levy would be reviewed in 2015-16, at which time the implications of Milford's port status could be considered. Ms Timms said the response was ''very disappointing''.
''He did not respond adequately to our concerns, one of which was requesting a meeting.''
She said she would seek an appointment with Mr Brownlee in Wellington as soon as possible and hoped to combine it with a scheduled trip to the capital next month. Mr O'Sullivan said the new levy was a ''potential killer'' for Fiordland.
''Cruise operators do not differentiate between fees paid to local government and central government - all they see is it is costing them more.''
He said both Environment Southland and Cruise New Zealand were ''caught unawares'' when they learnt Fiordland would be added to the list of ports to be levied because it had not been levied before..
He said he met Maritime New Zealand staff, who were sympathetic but said they were entitled to charge the levy in Fiordland and would be doing so. Cruise New Zealand would also be lobbying for the levy to be removed, he said.
