Fisheries proposes further rockpool protection

The proposed intertidal closure area. A recreational shellfish harvesting ban across Auckland and Coromandel, including both east and west coast shorelines (extending north to include Muriwai), is being proposed by Fisheries NZ. Consultation on the proposal, which includes four options, is open until Friday June 12, at 5pm. The wider closure proposal follows the two-year iwi lead closure in the northern Hauraki Gulf, which took effect in March. “The restrictions already placed on shellfish-gathering north of Auckland have been welcomed by the community and there’s been a high level of complian...