EXISTING AND PROPOSED MARINE RESERVES FOR NEW ZEALAND
The Kermadec Islands, 1000km northeast of New Zealand and seldom visited, are currently protected by a marine reserve extending 12 nautical miles from the islands’ cliffs and beaches, plus some Benthic Protected Areas (BPAS) that protect the seafloor from dredging and trawling. Fishing above the seafloor is allowed.
A bill for a proposed Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary was put before parliament in 2016. It would encompass 620,000km2, 35 times larger than the combined area of New Zealand’s 44 existing marine reserves. Should it be implemented, 15% of New Zealand’s marine environment will have full protection.
However, facing strong opposition by Maori-owned commercial fishing interests and from coalition partner NZ First, the bill is effectively dead in the water. Four years on with the bill still awaiting its second reading, a Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary is looking increasingly unlikely.
While I’m certainly not convinced marine reserves are the answer to fisheries management, they do have a valuable role to play in preserving species diversity and providing refuges for marine creatures vulnerable to fishing. In some instances, they act as reproductive reservoirs from which fish and other marine creatures can spread out into surrounding waters, though whether that benefits the fishery in any meaningful way is unclear. Perhaps the existing marine reserves are too small and too few to make any real difference?
What is clear is the dramatic difference in biodiversity and abundance within New Zealand marine reserves and without, at least in well-studied cases such as Goat Island Marine Reserve north of Auckland. If you believe, as I do, that biodiversity is desirable, the argument for more marine reserves is strong.
Of course, the debate around marine reserves is tied up with other concerns around fisheries, the marine environment and access to marine resources. Recently there has been a spate of newspaper articles and opinion pieces highlighting the Hauraki Gulf’s plight, much of it lifted from conclusions published by
In my experience, fishing for snapper and kingfish has improved in the last two decades. the Sea Change organisation or published in the Hauraki Gulf Forum’s State of the Gulf 2020 document, which came out of 2019’s Making Waves Conference.
Both of these organisations quoted some pretty disturbing statistics, pointing to a continuing decline in the overall health of the Hauraki Gulf and all its creatures, although some of the baselines they have used seem to me to be rather fanciful, given the lack of good historical data.
With all the publicity – and given the way so many Aucklanders enjoy the Gulf’s fishing, boating and marine recreation opportunities – every man and his dog has waded in, offering ideas on how its marine resources should be allocated and managed. Much of the commentary is ill-informed, based on the most simplistic of premises, or just downright reactionary. Sorry folks, these are not simple issues! If they were, there would be simple solutions.
Add into the mix Legasea’s latest fisheries management submission, Rescue Fish, which condemns the current Quota Management System (QMS) and advocates ‘a holistic solution to remedy depleted fish stocks and address environmental damage.’
The plan is an alternative to the QMS which aims to restore coastal fish stocks and revitalise New Zealand’s commercial fishing sector, today owned by just a handful of corporate entities.
At least Legasea has done the hard yards, basing its conclusions and recommendations on stakeholder consultation, rigorous research and statistical evidence.
The Rescue Fish plan is comprehensive and bold. If you care about our marine environment, take the time to read it: https:// legasea.co.nz/2020/05/28/launching-rescue-fish. It will doubtless encourage still more commentary, only some of it useful!
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION Sea Change, www.seachange.org.nz/ and State of the Gulf 2020, www.gulfjournal.org.nz/state-of-the-gulf/.
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