The Government says it’s taking steps to restore the health and mauri of the Hauraki Gulf for generations to come, but the Labour and Green parties say the changes will push fish species to extinction.
Minister of Conservation Tama Potaka says Cabinet has agreed to pass the Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill into law, with amendments.
“We’re establishing 19 new marine protection areas that will nearly triple the space protected in the Gulf.
“The beauty of the Gulf is also an important catalyst for economic benefits including tourism and fishing.
“A recent assessment by the NZ Institute of Economic Research put the economic value of the Gulf at $100 billion.
“Our amendments also ensure we’re putting in place modern marine protection that balances the needs of communities, the environment and the economy.
“For example, by carefully ensuring the continuation of customary non-commercial fishing rights.
“Limited ring-net fishing will continue for a small number of fishers in protected areas who supply local communities.
“This method has very little impact on the environment beyond the target species.
“Careful monitoring of the effectiveness of the new high-protection areas and seafloor protection areas will also be introduced.”
But Labour Party conservation spokesperson Priyanca Radhakrishnan says the Government “has sneakily reneged on protecting the Hauraki Gulf, reducing the protected area of the marine park and inviting commercial fishing in the depleted seascape”.
“There will be no future for the fishing and tourism industries in these areas if we don’t take action to protect them now.
“Tama Potaka’s announcement undermines a decade of work by mana whenua, local and central governments, the industry, and local community groups to protect the health of the Hauraki Gulf for future generations.
“New Zealanders know the Gulf has been overfished for decades and both sedimentation and pollution has led to a significant decline in marine life and seabird populations.
“Species are almost functionally extinct in the areas permitted to be fished now.
“Years of negotiation with the community and stakeholders led to the Bill Labour introduced last year.
“Our Bill extended the Gulf’s marine reserves and created marine protection areas to preserve fragile habitats and parts of the sea floor from damaging activities, while allowing for customary practices of tangata whenua.”
Green Party spokesperson for the environment Lan Pham says: “This Government has bent over backwards to give fishing lobbyists exactly what they asked for, in an area of precious biodiversity facing ecological collapse.
“We can have healthy and thriving fisheries and marine life, now and in the future, if we give fish stocks a chance to recover.
“The Auckland and wider Hauraki Gulf community alongside iwi and hapū have worked hard for many years to develop a framework for protecting the health of the Gulf, under the guidance of the Hauraki Gulf Forum, but this coalition comes along and rides roughshod over that mahi at the whim of commercial fishing.
“To exempt commercial fishing from the provisions in the Hauraki Gulf Protection Bill means the Government is prepared to allow stocks of various fish and marine species to tip over the edge into extinction.”
