My Account
Local and national fishing groups are gearing up to protest at the Government’s recently launched Revitalising the Gulf plan, which includes proposals for 18 new marine protection areas from the Mokohinau Islands south to Tiritiri Mantangi and beyond.
Represenatives of the NZ Sports Fishing Council (NZSFC), the NZ Marine Research Foundation, LegaSea, fishing charter operators, tackle retailers and fishing clubs will be voicing their concerns at the quarterly Hauraki Gulf Forum meeting at Maraetai Beach Boating Club on Monday, August 23.
LegaSea communications lead Trish Rea says the main objections revolve around what many believe is a failure to correspond with or tie in with the 2017 Hauraki Gulf Sea Change Marine Spatial Plan, the call to action which prompted the new strategy’s development.
“The New Zealand Sport Fishing Council is our parent body and they have invested years into the Sea Change process and are really disappointed with the Government’s response,” she says.
“The Government’s plan is different to Sea Change in a lot of areas. Those changes have been made by officials without recourse back to the Sea Change participants. The Sea Change Plan was agreed, everyone made concessions to get that agreement, so the Revitalising the Gulf plan is out of step with the community’s aspirations.”
Mangawhai-based fishing charter operator Tony Orton, who will be speaking at the gulf forum, agrees.
“When you look at the whole plan, it’s very disjointed,” he says. “If you’re looking to make a world class marine park, and that’s what we want it to be, it won’t be, because it’s still allowing destructive commercial fishing and scallop dredging, and trawling corridors right next to no-take reserves.”
Mr Orton says there are better solutions to marine conservation and protection than simply “locking up the door and throwing away the key”.
Another speaker will be Orewa-based Terry Creagh, who represents a number of fishing organisations, including the NZSFC, and who is on the committee of the Warkworth Game Fishing Club.
In addition to the concerns above, he says he’s keen to know the science behind drawing up the proposed new marine protection areas, many of which were inshore, offering safe and protected recreational fishing.
