Oceans and Fisheries Minister David Parker and acting Conservation Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall today launched a new government strategy, Revitalising the Gulf – Government action on the Sea Change Plan, which draws on input from mana whenua, local communities and industry on the state of the Hauraki Gulf.
It immediately got a thumb's up from Pare Hauraki leader Paul Majurey, who co-chaired the Sea Change–Tai Timu Tai Pari Ministerial Advisory Committee and co-chaired the original Sea Change governance group, who says government-led reversal of the degradation of Tīkapa Moana is long overdue.
Majurey said the government had put a line in the sand to restore the mauri of Tīkapa Moana.
“While we will need to work through the detail of the government’s proposals, we applaud the Environment Minister’s leadership in moving to improve the governance and management of the Hauraki Gulf, which is a vital step to restoring the mauri of the moana. Tīkapa Moana is our tupuna, our taonga and our pātaka.
“The steps announced today are a welcome and hugely significant step in what is an inter-generational programme of restoration. Today’s measures will deliver improvements over the next 10 years but it will be some decades before Tīkapa Moana is fully restored.”
Parker said Labour was delivering on its election promise, "taking immediate action to build on the good work already being done to restore the health of the gulf.
“We are also taking the long view, recognising that sustained action is necessary to ensure the gulf and its economic, environmental, cultural and social benefits can continue to be enjoyed.”
Long-term health
Acting Conservation Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall said some of the world’s most unique species of marine life relied on a healthy Hauraki Gulf and the Revitalising the Gulf strategy would guide a programme of work for its long-term health.
The package includes:
- The creation of 18 new marine protected areas and a framework to support the active restoration of some of the most biodiverse regions in the gulf. The 18 new protected areas will increase marine protection in the gulf almost threefold.
- A fisheries plan with a range of changes to fishing practices and catch settings, including restricting trawl fishing to within carefully selected "corridors".
- Better monitoring to improve understanding of the marine environment and track progress over time.
- An expanded programme of protected species management.
- Working together with mana whenua and local communities on local area coastal management.
- Promoting a prosperous, sustainable aquaculture industry.
No undermining of settlements
Majurey said one aspect that will be looked at closely by mana whenua is ensuring there is no undermining of Treaty settlements and customary activities in new marine protected areas. That was an important part of the multi-party agreements in the Sea Change processes.
The measures included improved fishing methods, new marine protected areas, restoring historic habitats for species that once thrived in these waters, and managing the sediment and nutrient flows into the Hauraki Gulf/Tipaka Moana.
“A number of the Hauraki iwi are joint owners of Pouarua Farms, the largest single dairy platform in the Hauraki Plains and returned as Treaty settlement redress. We have spent millions of dollars on environmental improvements, reduced the size of the herd, reduced water usage and capped our nitrogen use to 150 units/hectare – well under the 190kg target limit in the government’s essential freshwater regulations. While doing this, we have improved productivity.
“If we are going to restore the Hauraki Gulf/ Tīkapa Moana for our mokopuna and future generations, we all have to play a part with the measures announced today. While we will naturally have questions on where the government has landed, we understand what the minister is trying to achieve and will talk further with the government to ensure our customary rights and tino rangatiratanga are preserved and respected.”
'Positive change'
Verrall says it’s crucial this package of actions works for all. "We’ll be seeking further input from mana whenua and engaging with key stakeholders to make sure it’s done right.”
Parker said the gulf was important to all New Zealanders and was also one of the busiest recreational marine environments, popular for boating and fishing and home to an important inshore fishery.
“All of this activity, both on land and sea, has placed pressure on the Gulf and we need to take action to ensure it can be enjoyed by current and future generations. The strategy’s actions will work alongside other actions and initiatives that tackle the land and freshwater pressures affecting the health of the Gulf.”
Hauraki Gulf Forum co-chair tangata whenua Nicola MacDonald said the plan was an important step forward in its ambition for at least 30% marine protection in Tikapa Moana.
“Proposed new marine protected areas and changes to bottom-impact fishing, if implemented, would represent the most positive change for the Gulf in a generation,” MacDonald said.
The Hauraki Gulf Forum noted that the government has largely stuck with the 2016 consensus established in the Sea Change plan. However, iwi, hapū and community ambition has increased significantly in the five years since it was written.
“We call on the government to ensure that the plan is inclusive,” Hauraki Gulf Forum co-chair Pippa Coom said.
Protecting five percent
“In many areas of the Hauraki Gulf there are new, bold plans for marine protection and restoration led by and in partnership with mana whenua.”
“It is important that the government’s Sea Change response creates a mechanism by which existing proposals can be upgraded, and new proposals considered,” Coom said.
The government’s response, if implemented, would raise the area of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park that is fully protected to about five per cent from less than one per cent at present.
Another area where the forum urged more ambition was fully protecting the seafloor of the marine park from destructive fishing methods. It said the government’s plan was to be commended for further restricting such activity but some areas would remain at risk.
“The forum’s position is clear that bottom-impact fishing methods like dredging and trawling should be removed from the entire marine park,” Coomsaid.
“A healthy seafloor underpins the whole ecosystem.”