Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has agreed New Zealand's dairy sector is 'capped out' - and investing in aquaculture is the way to go.

In an interview with Newsroom, Jones claimed the aquaculture sector faced fewer barriers and offered more opportunities than other primary industries- including wool, dairy and meat.

Mark Hopper from Federated Farmers says there's opportunity in aquaculture, but we shouldn't give up on the dairy sector.

"We really want to get back into a position where we can see some positive growth happening across all the primary sub-sectors - they're critical for our economy."

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