Progress on revitalising the Hauraki Gulf is at risk with the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries confirming the Government will not implement trawl corridors.

The Hauraki Gulf Forum has expressed concern at the Minister’s comments, made at the Environmental Defence Society’s Oceans Symposium in Auckland yesterday, and are calling for urgent action to prevent a further decline in the health of the Marine Park.

“The Hauraki Gulf Forum has continually expressed concern about trawling in the Gulf, and advocates for the removal of fishing methods that damage the seafloor,” says interim Executive Officer of the Forum, Katina Conomos.

“Bottom contact fishing destroys benthic habitats and the marine environments they support. We can and should do better than continue to allow these types of destructive fishing practices, it is not sustainable.”

Restricting bottom trawling is a significant plank in the Government’s response to SeaChange, alongside the creation of Marine Protected Areas through the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill and local marine management by Mana

Whenua and local communities through Ahu Moana.

“Our communities want to see the Gulf thrive for generations to come, with abundant fish populations supported by a thriving marine ecosystem. To achieve this, we need urgent action to reverse the ongoing decline in the health of the Gulf.” says Cr Warren Maher, Co-Chair of the Forum.

“Abandoning action on trawl corridors, which has been awaiting a decision since 2023, will severely degrade any progress towards a revitalised Gulf.”

Notes:

The Hauraki Gulf Marine Park

The Hauraki Gulf Marine Park is New Zealand’s first marine park, established by the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park Act in February 2000. At 1.2 million hectares (20 times the size of Lake Taupō) it stretches from Te Arai in the north to Waihi in the south and includes the Waitematā Harbour, Gulf Islands, Firth of Thames and the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula. The Park is the seabird capital of the world, and a whale superhighway, but as successive State of the Gulf reports have shown, it is a shadow of its former self.

The Hauraki Gulf Forum

The Hauraki Gulf Forum is a statutory governance board established under the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park Act 2000 to promote the conservation and management of the natural, historic, and physical resources of the Hauraki Gulf, its islands, and catchments, for the benefit and enjoyment of the people and communities of the Gulf and New Zealand.

The Forum consists of representatives from tangata whenua of the Hauraki Gulf and its islands; the Ministers of Conservation, Oceans and Fisheries and Māori Development; and elected members appointed by the Auckland Council, Hauraki District Council, Matamata-Piako District Council, Thames-Coromandel District Council, Waikato District Council and Waikato Regional Council.

The Forum is required to present triennial reports regarding the state of the environment of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park. More information on the Forum and the Marine Park is available at www.gulfjournal.org.nz.

© Scoop Media