The latest State of Our Gulf report has found that while efforts to restore Tīkapa Moana are making progress, significant environmental challenges remain despite new legal protections.
The triennial report is the first to be released since the Hauraki Gulf Protection Act came into law, providing an assessment of the health of the Hauraki Gulf and the work being undertaken to restore it.
According to the report, ongoing issues including sedimentation, plastic pollution and overfishing continue to threaten the long-term health of the Gulf.
Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust chief executive Nicola Rata-MacDonald acknowledged the incremental progress being made but said much more was needed to restore the Gulf.
“We are still dealing with mass sedimentation which does come about from land-based activities. We’re still dealing with plastic pollution, so we really need to pick up the game here. Overfishing is an issue that we’ve got to confront, and I’m pretty certain that all New Zealanders will want to address the way in which we’re fishing and how we manage that as a sustainable fishing practice.”
Iwi lead restoration work
The report also marks a shift from previous editions published since 2004 by placing greater emphasis on the work of iwi, hapū and whānau leading restoration efforts across Tīkapa Moana.
Those efforts include mussel restoration, beach clean-ups, the removal of kina barrens and monitoring the spread of exotic caulerpa.
The report follows the introduction of the Hauraki Gulf Protection Act, which provides greater protection for parts of the Gulf from harmful fishing practices.
Rata-MacDonald said the report should serve as a call for the Government to build on those protections.
“It is a call on government to step forth and continue to advance these protections.
“We need to address destructive fishing practices in the Hauraki Gulf; there is no further room for archaic practices like this. So, we need to be bold, we need to confront dredging, we need to confront trawling corridors, we need to really look at sedimentation, we must get on top of it.”
Government urged to act
Rata-MacDonald said the report confronts difficult issues that must be addressed to achieve the full regeneration of the Gulf, including overfishing, plastic pollution and sedimentation.
She said many iwi are already working to tackle those issues, although some communities remain unaware of the scale of the environmental challenges.
Rata-MacDonald said economic growth and environmental protection should not be viewed as competing priorities.
“It’s all about having a strong economy and having a thriving environment. One of the things that the State of the Gulf report challenges us is, we can have both.”
She also said the Government should consider increasing investment in the Hauraki Gulf, which spans more than 1.2 million hectares of ocean.
“We are looking at: should there be more investment into the Hauraki Gulf? Absolutely. Should we be extending to marine protection up to 30%, why is that a question?”
