Setting aside time to consider sea resources

The annual Seaweek event will be held next month and will consider the theme One Ocean – Too Much Love? Turning the Tide.

Information distributed during the week will encourage Kiwis to explore the many uses of the seas around New Zealand, and the challenges of working sustainably with the nation’s vast oceanic resource – the fifth largest in the world.

Seaweek national coordinator Dr Mels Barton says that as an island nation, NZ relies on the sea for food, trade, transport, sport and recreation, tourism, and many intangible benefits.

“Our tourism economy depends on the perception of New Zealand’s environment as clean and unspoilt, and many of our special places are beside the sea,” he says. “Yet the quality of our marine environment is under serious threat and we may lose what we most treasure if we don’t change our behaviour.”

Dr Barton says oceans worldwide are affected by pollution, oil spills, resource depletion, over-fishing, climate change and many other threats.

“This year’s Seaweek theme will encourage us to explore our many uses of the sea, the conflicts between them, how what we do on the land affects the sea, and ways to improve the quality of our marine environment. No one agency or organisation in New Zealand manages the sea. It is something we all contribute to and must take responsibility for.”

Seaweek takes place from March 3 to 11.

Anyone wishing to organise an event is invited to contact Dr Barton at mels@subliminal.co.nz or 021 213 7779; or visit www.seaweek.org.nz