Marine – Get trawling out of the Gulf

Ten years and three plans later, consultation is underway to reconsider bottom trawling and Danish seining in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park.

Remarkably, even with overwhelming public support, there is no option to eliminate these destructive fishing methods. For the environment, people living within the Marine Park and beyond, this short-sighted approach has alarming long-term consequences.

Recently, over 37,000 signatures and 7700 submissions were sent to Fisheries New Zealand from Kiwis urging the minister to ban bottom trawling, dredging and Danish seining from the gulf. Yet, our voices for a complete ban have been ignored.

Instead, officials have devised ‘trawl corridors’, large areas where these destructive fishing methods can continue. These ‘corridors’ will be trawled more intensively because the amount of fish allowed to be harvested has not reduced. Sounds like a win for the industry, right? But what about the environment?
Officials have no plans to reduce the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) or create incentives for the 22-trawl vessel fleet to scale back their fishing impacts.

With a smaller trawl area, these destructive fishing techniques will intensify the damaging effects on the environment. Where is this pressure going to occur? On the edges of the Marine Park. Look out Leigh, Pakiri, Bream Bay and Coromandel, without a trawling ban intensive fishing is heading into your backyard.

Trawling destroys biodiversity on the seafloor that fish rely on for survival, which includes mussels, one of snappers’ favourite foods. In the 1960s, over 500km2 of green lip mussels were dredged from the Hauraki Gulf. Sixty years later and they still haven’t recovered.

To restore marine life in the Hauraki Gulf, we need to take pressure off the ecosystem. The obvious first step is to stop using destructive fishing methods. Officials need to start listening to our community’s concerns. Decisive action must be taken to prevent destructive fishing spreading into Bream Bay and the Coromandel.

In a classic piece of politicking, this process is timed to span the election period, placing the burden of decision-making onto the next minister. Fisheries New Zealand has presented four options for the trawl ‘corridors’, and public submissions are due by November 6.

Getting trawling out of the Gulf will set a precedent for the rest of New Zealand’s coastal fisheries so it’s important we remind the minister we have zero tolerance for destructive fishing.

A healthy marine environment is good for everyone. That’s why LegaSea is advocating for Option Zero, no more bottom trawling or Danish seining in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park and a separate fisheries management area to prevent the pressure being displaced. You can have your say too.

If you want New Zealand’s coastal marine environment restored for future generations, please visit optionzero.co.nz.