September 06, 2016
EEZ under attack from conservation showpiece
Maori fishing industry representatives fear the Government is about to commit to blocking commercial fishers from almost a third of New Zealand's exclusive economic zone.
Department of Conservation officials are in Hawaii for this week's IUCN World Conservation Congress, which will debate a motion to turn 30 per cent of the world's oceans into "no-take" Marine Protection Areas.
Maru Samuels, the chief executive of the Iwi Collective Partnership, says it looks like a repeat of the Kermadecs Ocean Sanctuary, where the Government is extinguishing Maori rights so it can make a splash on the international stage.
He says Maori are also standing with small Pacific Island states who say locking up 30 percent of their fisheries will damage their economies.
The Government refuses to say how it will vote.
Te Ohu Kaimoana, Seafood NZ, Deepwater Group, and Fisheries Inshore haved written to the Government to say arguments for 30 per cent no-take MPAs are arbitrary, non-scientific, speculative, and ignore opportunities for more appropriate, effective and innovative solutions to conserve biodiversity.
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