Environment – Marine matters most

More than 15 marine conservation groups and six political parties – National, ACT, Labour, Greens, Opportunity and Animal Justice – were all in the same room at the Marine Policy Forum on April 18. And it showed that we are more unified by shared goals than we are apart.

Across the spectrum – left, right and centre – environmentalists, recreational fishers, the public and the politicians in the room, all wanted a flourishing and abundant marine environment. Instead of diminishing baselines with less fish and bird life with every generation, we want healthy oceans for the future.

The Marine Policy Forum was hosted by the charity Māui and Hector’s Dolphin Defenders, which I founded and run. The aim of the group is to protect and preserve these wee dolphins, the world’s smallest and among the rarest, only found here, so that they recover. But also, to improve the habitat they live within for other species, too.

The Marine Policy Forum was to bring everyone together and put oceans on the agenda this election year. Everything is connected, we are all connected – all the good, all the harm. And together we are stronger. Groups present ranged from Legasea/The Sports Fishing Council to SAFE. The te henga tūturiwhatu/dotterel minders were there, as was the Northern NZ Seabird Trust and Birdcare Aotearoa.

We heard from Guardians of Bream Bay who are currently fighting a fast-tracked seabed mining proposal, and Kiwis Against Seabed Mining who have fought in the court for decades. Protect Rockpools were there. We heard from Emeritus Professor Dr Liz Slooten about gill and trawl nets killing Māui and Hector’s dolphins in widely unprotected habitat.

Bottom trawling kills Hector’s dolphins within one nautical mile of shore, and we heard from Jono Ridler, back from his epic ocean swim down the length of the North Island, as well as Greenpeace against this destructive and unacceptable fishing method which destroys everything in its path.

We heard solutions available at local government level – potentially through regional coastal plans, which have been blocked by central government, and navigational safety bylaws. Other solutions were put forward by WWF-NZ and the Environmental Defence Society.

Marine destruction is fast-tracked, while protection is slow and communities are picking up the pieces. Rockpools are barren. Coastal and seabirds are in trouble. Fish are suffering in factory farms. The fishing industry, with its seine nets and bottom trawling, is wiping out sea life.

Seabed mining sucks. It is not wanted or needed. Māui and Hector’s dolphins are the icons of all these impacts. Yet, if we protect Māui and Hector’s dolphins, we protect the oceans.

From the Marine Policy Forum, we want more enforcement, less industry capture. More moral courage.

We want an Oceans Commission, a Commissioner for Animals. Powers for local government. A ban on bottom trawling. A ban on seabed mining. To kill the fisheries Bill. An Oceans Act. Action for the oceans.