August 09, 2023
Plan steps up Hauraki Gulf protection
The Government intends to ban bottom trawling from large parts of the Hauraki Gulf and almost triple the area under protection.
The changes are in the Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill, which will be introduced into Parliament before the House rises.
It will create five new seafloor protection areas where bottom-contact fishing methods and dredging are banned.
It will extend the Goat Island and Whanganui A Hei (Cathedral Cove) marine reserves and create 12 high protection areas.
Conservation Minister Willow Jean Prime says the high protection areas are a new marine protection tool which will recognise kaitiakitanga and cultural practices of tangata whenua while also meeting strong conservation outcomes.
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Rachel Brooking says the changes fit in with the recently approved Hauraki Gulf Fisheries Plan, which is the first to take an ecosystems-based approach.
She says historically each fish stock has been treated as separate, but species like snapper, kingfish, and kahawai all live together in the Gulf, and are affected by local conditions, by the things humans do, and by environmental factors such as climate change.