The government has given up trying to establish the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary, with the cabinet scrapping the bill proposing the marine reserve.
It’s almost a decade since former Prime Minister John Key first announced plans for a 620,000sq km sanctuary at the United Nations in New York in 2015.
Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones said in a statement the cabinet had decided to pull the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill from Parliament’s order paper, stopping further progress on establishing the sanctuary.
He argued the current marine reserve around the Kermadec Islands, which extended 12 nautical miles, was “ample” to preserve the environment and marine life.
“Making 15 per cent of New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone a no-go area for Kiwis making their living from the sea, including iwi who received the Kermadecs fishing quota in a 1992 Treaty of Waitangi settlement, makes absolutely no sense,” Jones said.
“This is a coalition Government focused on driving export-led growth by making the most of New Zealand’s natural resources, whether they are contained on our land or at sea.”
Environment Minister Penny Simmonds claimed the commercial activities occurring around the islands posed “limited risk to its marine environment” thanks to the current reserve and “stringent regulations” in place.
“I am confident that the Kermadec Islands, which already have in place a protected marine environment, will continue to flourish without the further expansion of the reserve,” Simmonds said.
After the sanctuary was first proposed by Key, iwi with fishing rights in the area objected to the lack of consultation and lack of recognition of indigenous fishing and Treaty rights in the area - and Te Ohu Kaimoana took legal action.
Last year, former Environment Minister David Parker put up a further proposal after years of working with Te Ohu Kaimoana and the iwi involved – but 42 out of 45 iwi organisations rejected it outright. Only one voted in favour of it, while two abstained.
- NZ Herald