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Boaties and fishers need to make sure they’re aware of new protected areas in local waters in the coming weeks, after the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Act came into force on October 25.
The Act outlines 19 new protection zones – 12 High Protection Areas (HPAs) and five Seafloor Protection Areas (SPAs), plus extensions to two marine reserves, including Cape Rodney – Okakari Point (Goat Island).
In HPAs, no recreational or commercial fishing is permitted at all, although limited ring-net fishing by authorised operators is being allowed in the new Kawau HPA between March 1 and August 31.
In SPAs, bottom trawling or dredging is not allowed, though low-impact fishing methods are permitted (see below for details).
The Department of Conservation (DOC) says the new Act provides the biggest increase in gulf marine protection in more than a decade, nearly tripling the total protected area from 6 per cent to around 18 per cent.
DOC says its focus this summer will be to help people understand the new rules and boundaries, which will be updated in the Marine Mate app, on electronic charts and at boat ramps and other water entry points.
To support the Act, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka has also announced up to $26 million in new public and private investment “to bring life back to the water, create jobs and strengthen connections between people and place” across the Hauraki Gulf.
This includes $6 million from the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) to upgrade infrastructure on several gulf islands, including Kawau, and $2 million of IVL funding earmarked for infrastructure improvements at Goat Island.
DOC’s director of operations for Tāmaki Makaurau, Alex Rogers, said the Kawau funding would be used to carry out drainage work to reduce the risk of flood and water damage to historic Mansion House.
Wastewater infrastructure would also be upgraded, with work expected to get underway in the next 12 months.
Rogers added that the Goat Island funding would improve visitors’ experience “to better reflect the importance of this well-visited marine reserve”.
“With funding secured, over the next six to 18 months we’ll be making improvements to the infrastructure, including carparking and accessways, and amenities such as the toilet block,” he said.
“Storytelling installations will be refreshed to showcase the site’s rich cultural heritage and importance of the marine reserve.”
The Hauraki Gulf investment programme will also include funding of up to $20million, led by the NEXT Foundation, to restore reefs across the gulf by removing kina and restoring kelp forests.
Info and maps: https://shorturl.at/ks4oj
High Protection Areas (HPAs)
Things you can do:
• Carefully anchor a boat
• Snorkel, kayak, swim and boat, provided it harms no marine life
• Take a handful of shells or driftwood
• Practice authorised customary fishing
Things you can’t do:
• Recreational or commercial fishing
• Take any seafood, including by diving or hand collecting
• Discharge sewage and waste
• Land aircraft, including drones
• Disturb sea life and habitats via construction, destruction, drilling, vibrations, explosions and introducing living organisms
Seafloor Protection Areas (SPAs)
Things you can do:
• Carefully anchor a boat
• Low-impact fishing, such as line-fishing, spear-fishing, diving and harvesting by hand, that does not damage the sea floor
• Snorkel, kayak, swim and boat, so long as it doesn’t damage the sea floor
Things you can’t do:
• High-impact fishing methods, such as bottom trawling, dredging, Danish seining
• Discharge sewage and waste
• Disturb sea life and habitats via construction, destruction, drilling, vibrations, explosions and introducing living organisms
Marine Reserve
• No fishing, netting, taking or killing of any marine life
• No polluting, disturbing or damaging the marine environment
• No removing any natural materials, such as shells
• No feeding fish – this disturbs natural behaviour
