Help revitalise the Hauraki Gulf by having your say on marine protection

We sought feedback on marine protection proposals that aim to revitalise the Hauraki Gulf. The proposals are for 19 new protected zones, created using two new marine protection tools. These tools will be established through new legislation.

The proposals will increase the area under protection in the Gulf from just over 6% to about 18%. This increase will support the recovery of some of its most biodiverse regions.

Read the information document (PDF, 1,286 K)

These were first announced in the strategy ‘Revitalising the Gulf: Government action on the Sea Change Plan’ in 2021. Then they were refined after engagement with mana whenua in the Gulf.

They were proposed by the Minister of Conservation and the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries.

What was in the proposals?

The marine protection proposals included:

12 High Protection Areas (HPAs): These will protect and enhance marine communities, ecosystems, and habitats. HPAs will provide for the expression of customary practices by mana whenua. This means customary practices can continue in HPAs, through existing regulatory arrangements, in a way that is consistent with the area’s biodiversity objectives.

5 Seafloor Protection Areas: These areas will protect sensitive sea floor habitats. They will do this by prohibiting activities that damage or disturb the seafloor, like bottom trawling and mining. But they will still allow for activities that do not conflict with seafloor protection objectives. Such as fishing that does not use bottom-contact methods, snorkelling, and kayaking.

2 protected areas: These will be adjacent to Cathedral Cove | Whanganui-a-Hei and Cape Rodney-Okakari Point marine reserves. These will be established as either two new High Protection Areas, or as extensions to the two existing marine reserves.

More information on the above proposals can be found in our information document and on pages 60 - 61 of Revitalising the Gulf (PDF, 4,798K).

What has changed since 'Revitalising the Gulf' was released?

Since the Government released the Revitalising the Gulf strategy document in 2021 and prior to this consultation, we:

• engaged with mana whenua in the Gulf to understand how customary practices could be managed within HPAs, and
• included an additional HPA proposal around Ōtata / the Noises Islands.

Potential economic impact on fishers

We commissioned an economic impact assessment (EIA) of the Revitalising the Gulf marine protection proposals.

This assessment was completed in two stages:

Stage 1: Commercial fishing report

We assessed current commercial fishing activity within the proposed protection areas to determine the potential impact of the proposals on commercial fishers.

Read the Stage 1 commercial fishing report (PDF 1,246K)

What the report showed

The assessment shows that a small number of commercial fishers (less than 10) did more than 15% of their fishing within the proposed protection areas in 2019/20 and 2020/21.

A few of those fished within the proposed protection areas in only one of the two years. We know that fishing patterns and effort can be highly variable between years, and this is reflected in the assessment.

Stage 2: Recreational fishing and wellbeing report

We reviewed the impact of the marine protection proposals on recreational fishers, the macroeconomic impacts from Stage 1, and a wider wellbeing perspective using the Treasury’s Living Standards Framework.

Read the Stage 2 recreational fishers and wellbeing report (PDF, 1,786K)

What the report showed

The report showed that small proportion of recreational fishing (9.6%) occurred in areas designed to be high protection areas based on data from the 2017/18 fishing year.

It also showed the proposals vary in how they will affect the economy and aspects of national wealth.

An example of this would be that the ability of commercial fisher to transfer their fishing effort to other areas will vary. It could depend on factors like personal and financial circumstances, other government policy interventions, and ongoing fisheries management decisions.

Finally, the report found the wider impacts of the proposals on wellbeing are not clear-cut. The impacts can be positive or negative and depend on how people interact with the marine environment and their personal values.

Limitations of the reports

Some parts of both reports have been redacted due to the presence of fine scale information that may be commercially sensitive.

For more information on caveats and limitations see:

• Stage 1 report: page 6 of the report document
• Stage 2 report: referenced throughout

Feedback

We sought feedback on the proposals outlined in the information document. Submission closed 5 pm, 28 October 2022.

We were particularly interested to hear from mana whenua, Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act applicants, and key stakeholders.

Stakeholders included recreational and commercial fishers, divers, researchers, and community groups.

Official Information Act

All submissions are subject to the Official Information Act and can be released under this Act.

What happens next?

Feedback from this consultation will help to inform the way we progress the marine protection proposals for the Gulf.

The Minister for Oceans and Fisheries and Minister of Conservation will consider all feedback. They will do this before making final decisions on the proposals.

Feedback will inform a Hauraki Gulf Marine Protection Bill, which will create the tools needed to progress these protections.

There will also be an opportunity to provide feedback on the Bill during the Select Committee process.

Contact

If you have any questions, email us at seachange@doc.govt.nz