The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) New Zealand has not been mincing its words, branding the New Zealand Government a “disgrace” for a last-minute adaptation of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Protection Bill that gives authority to commercial fishers to engage in ‘destructive’ fishing practices within the Gulf’s supposed protected areas.

Reported on in the lead up to COP16, the United Nations’ conference on the current biodiversity crisis, it was revealed last week the New Zealand Government had voted to amend the Bill to allow a particular type of fishing known as ‘ring-netting’ to take place within the new high protection areas within the Hauraki Gulf, or Tikapa Moana in local, Indigenous language.

In a tirade against the Government’s action, WWF-New Zealand’s CEO, Dr Kayla Kingdon-Bebb, has called the action “the result of sleazy, backdoor lobbying” and “a complete betrayal of all Auklanders”.

The original aim of the Bill was to provide the area a heightened level of protection from both commercial and recreational fishing while providing a designated ‘safe haven’ for marine life to recover within the Hauraki Gulf. Successive reports on the health status of the Gulf have described the marine area as ‘an ecosystem on the brink of collapse’.

In fact, overfishing, habitat loss, pollution, sedimentation, and the effects of poorly planned urban development have led to a 57% decline in key fish stocks in the Hauraki Gulf, alongside a 67% decline in seabirds, and a 97% decline in whales and dolphins. The report also indicates that crayfish and scallop populations are now ‘functionally extinct’ in some areas.

The Hauraki Gulf Marine Protection Bill was therefore seen by many as a “critical last chance to support the Gulf in its recovery”, and a key mechanism in the overall ambition to see it “thrive for future generations”.

Kingdon-Bebb has called the last minute U-turn on the protection afforded the Hauraki Gulf a “devastating blow” and a “slap in the face” for all those who have worked to revive the Gulf and protect it for future generations.

Kingdon-Bebb said: “So many Auklanders, from all walks of life, have spent more than a decade creating a plan to restore the health and mauri of Tikapa Moana, our country’s most widely used coastal area and a biodiversity hotspot on the doorstep of our largest city.

“To have these last-minute changes rammed through as a result of sleazy, backdoor lobbying – which our Oceans and Fisheries Minister was willing to entertain – is a complete and utter disgrace. 

“It’s a slap in the face for all those who have worked so hard to protect this special place, another blow for marine ecosystems in the Gulf already on the brink of collapse – and frankly, it’ a complete betrayal of all Auklanders.”

WWF-New Zealand is now urging people to sign an open letter to Prime Minister Chritopher Luxon, asking him to ‘reverse his rash, last minute decision’. 

Marine Protected Areas are widely regarded as a leading tool for restoring biodiversity and critical marine habitats, as well as for improving overall ecosystem functionality. Spatial protection measures have also been proven to benefit large pelagic fish species and now depleted stocks to recover.

The need for such protections have never been greater. In a recent report issued by the WWF and the Zoological Society London it was revealed that monitored wildlife populations across the globe have suffered a 73% plummet over the last 50 years, with a 56% decline for marine species. 

Speaking to Oceanographic Magazine, Louise McRae, Research Fellow at ZSL’s Institute of Zoology, said that “although declines for marine animals aren’t as steep as for terrestrial and freshwater species, it’s still a concerning trend, while some marine species – sharks and rays in particular – show drastic declines globally.”

“It’s a clear sign we’re putting pressure on the planet’s ecosystems and increasing the risk that we reach tipping points of irreversible change, such as mass die-offs of coral reefs due to climate change, which impact both the species and people which depend on these ecosystems,” added McRae. 

Some such people dependent on a thriving marine ecosystem are Auklanders and the local Māori people, tangata whenua, now directly impacted by the declining health status of the Hauraki Gulf. The Marine Protection Bill was therefore the result of years of collaborative work between tangata whenua, environmental groups, commercial and recreational fishers, and others involved in the SeaChange process that began back in 2013.

“Allowing commercial fishing to occur in these high protection areas makes a mockery of all the years of work on the SeaChange process and the Government’s response to it,” said Kingdon-Bebb.

The type of fishing the last-minute amendment to the Bill has allowed to continue within the high protection area is known as ring-netting. Similar to purse-seine fishing, it’s a fishing practice that targets bait-fish species that congregate in the mid-water and which apex predator species, like snapper, rely on for survival.

“Key species like kahawai are already over-fished in the Hauraki Gulf, and the impact up the food chain is evident with starving, emaciated snapper now a common sight,” said Kingdon-Bebb. 

Purse-seine fishing has been the root cause of a localised biodiversity crisis in the waters of Southern Africa where over-consumptive fishing practices have forced the African penguin into direct competition for food. As a result, population numbers of African penguin have been in free-fall over recent decades, leading to the loss of 97% of the species and reducing it to just 8,500 breeding pairs.

Ring-netting is a similarly “indiscriminate” practice of commercial fishing that, while targeting small bait fish, ensnares other species including seabirds, rays, and other fish.

“Our threatened species are supposed to be given refuge in the new high protection areas, which are deliberately designed to protect critical biodiversity,” said Kingdon-Bebb. “It’s a travesty that enabling commercial fishing in these places would be given the green light.”

In June, the Environment Select Committee agreed by unanimous decision that the Hauraki Gulf Marine Protection Bill should be taken forward with no substantive changes to the high protection areas. Its aim is to restore the health of the Gulf by establishing two marine reserves, five seafloor protection areas, and 12 high protection areas.

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