The Marlborough Sounds are a sinuous network of drowned river valleys, forming one of New Zealand's most distinctive land and seascapes. Nestled in the entrance to Queen Charlotte Sound are Long Island and neighbouring Kokomohua Islands, and around them extends Long lsland-Kokomohua Marine Reserve.
In 1989, members of Marlborough dive clubs voluntarily stopped taking fish around Long Island. They encouraged others to do the same, and began promoting a marine reserve for the area. With some help from the Department of Conservation, the clubs sought public input to their idea. The marine reserve was finally created in April 1993 - the South Island's first.
Long Island, Kokomohua Islands and a charted rock to the north-east, form a chain of islands and submerged reefs. The marine reserve extends 463 metres (a quarter of a nautical mile) offshore from the charted rock and from the high water mark around the islands.
The reserve protects all marine life within its boundaries, benefiting not just fish and shellfish, but also animals like seals, penguins and other seabirds that live on the land but feed in the sea.