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Boaties have been banned from dropping anchor or fishing off the seabed anywhere around Hauturu-ō-Toi Little Barrier Island in a bid to stall the spread of exotic caulerpa.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) announced the new Controlled Area Notice on July 3 in response to the recent discovery of small patches of the invasive seaweed on the island’s north and east coasts.
The notice prohibits anchoring anywhere around the island to a depth of 40 metres, and makes any form of bottom-contact fishing, such as netting, dredging, bottom trawling or cray-potting, illegal.
A rahui has also been laid over the same area by the Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust (NMST), which has been working with Biosecurity NZ, Auckland Council, the Department of Conservation, the University of Auckland and Revive our Gulf since caulerpa was discovered there in May.
NMST chief executive Nicola Rata-MacDonald said urgent action was needed to protect the island, which had long been a wildlife sanctuary that can only be visited with a permit.
“Hauturu-ō-Toi is a sacred taonga to our people, and as New Zealand’s first-ever nature reserve, it is one of the most significant conservation areas in the world,” she said.
“Our operations have involved surveillance for the pest seaweed and rapid treatment using chlorine pellets under benthic (seafloor) mats. So far, we’ve treated 17 small areas of exotic caulerpa.”
Biosecurity NZ’s director of pest management, John Walsh, said the discovery of caulerpa at Hauturu was disappointing, though not unexpected, given its propensity to spread rapidly on vessels and equipment.
“We’re currently dealing with a very dynamic situation,” he said. “We know that exotic caulerpa can be inadvertently relocated when small pieces are caught on anchors, anchor chains and fishing or dive equipment.
“Stopping anchoring without a permit around the whole coastline out to 40 metres depth will greatly reduce this risk.”
He said any equipment used in the controlled area, such as fishing or diving gear, needed to be inspected before leaving, and any seaweed found on it must be removed, stored securely and disposed of on shore.
Rata-McDonald said the size and scope of the new controlled area would create one of the largest marine protected areas in the Hauraki Gulf.
The Hauturu ban takes the number of such controlled areas up to five – the others are off Te Rāwhiti, Bay of Islands; Aotea Great Barrier Island; Ahuahu Great Mercury Island; and Waiheke Island. All five notices will be reviewed in September, when they are due to expire.
Info: Visit MPI at https://shorturl.at/lBgup
