Government grants permit to wreck

Chatham Rock Phosphate have been granted a 20-year consent to wreck the sea bed in the deep waters of the Chatham Rise. The deep-sea fishing industry says the hoki nursery grounds there will be destroyed, but the Government have given the miners the go-ahead anyway.
I regard the decision by the Government as sick, just as I regard the actions of the miners as wantonly destructive.
Still, out of sight, out of mind. Very few New Zealanders will care and in any case, the industry will soothe any concerns with spin about their environment-friendly procedures.