Forest & Bird challenge Tīkapa Moana amendment

Atereano Mateariki Bianca Ranson| Forest & Bird challenge Tīkapa Moana amendment

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Forest and Bird oppose a last-minute amendment to the Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill.

The bill is set to be passed this week, establishing 19 new protected areas in the Tīkapa Moana Hauraki Gulf Marine Park.

The added amendment will allow certain commercial fishing practices, like ring fishing, to catch specific fish in the newly protected areas.

Bianca Ranson from Forest and Bird says if there’s going to be any ring fishing in protected areas, there is no guarantee that bycatch won’t be hauled up.

“We are extremely concerned about bycatch, which can include other indigenous biodiversity within that area, seabirds, marine mammals. So yeah, there’s a lot that we’re looking at in terms of what our pushback is. And the most important thing for forest and bird is to advocate for te taiao, to advocate for our moana and for the communities who have great concern about what’s been proposed here,” says Ranson.

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