An opportunity missed”, is how Mike Lee, Auckland councillor for Waitemata & Gulf and Chair of the Friends of the Hauraki Gulf (FOHG) described a recommendation not to include any new marine reserves in the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill.
The release in mid-June of the select committee report into the proposed Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill was greeted in some circles as a ‘step in the right direction.’ Friends of the Hauraki Gulf ask the question: is this response adequate to the scale of the problem? They believe it is not.
“The ‘step’ is far too little, a baby step, when actually strides are needed to reverse the alarming decline in biodiversity in the Hauraki Gulf,” says Mike Lee.
While allowing for 6% of the Hauraki Gulf to become only partially protected, the bill has no mechanism for new marine protected areas in the future.
Instead, the Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill offers experimental ‘High Protection Areas’ which allow customary fishing, but not recreational or commercial fishing.
FOHG contends that limited take areas do not work in restoring biodiversity. FOHG asserts that marine reserves are the most effective method of restoring marine biodiversity and replenishing fish stocks.
“We call on all interested parties to insist that the Hākaimangō-Matiatia NW Waiheke Marine Reserve – the first of an integrated network of proper marine reserves for the Hauraki Gulf – to be included in the Hauraki Gulf Tikapa Moana Marine Protection Bill when it comes to
a second reading in the New Zealand parliament,” says Mike Lee.
mikeleeauckland@gmail.com
www.friendsofhaurakigulf.nz
