Great Barrier reserve would be biggest near NZ

By ANNE BESTON, environment reporter

The Government's conservation agency is forging ahead with a contentious marine reserve that will quadruple the Hauraki Gulf's no-fishing area.

Finalised boundaries for the monster reserve off Great Barrier Island's northeast coast will be unveiled today after a draft proposal the Conservation Department released early last year drew fierce opposition from recreational fishers, charter boat operators and some island residents.

They were hoping DoC would back down from creating what would be the biggest accessible reserve and the first to stretch to the 12-mile limit. There are bigger reserves at the Kermadec and Auckland islands.

But their hopes were dashed by finalised boundaries for the reserve, to be known as Aotea Marine Reserve, which at a whopping 50,000ha is just 2500ha shy of the original one.

It would increase the gulf's no-take zone by 4 per cent in one hit, from the less than 1 per cent in the existing four marine reserves.

Despite another two-month submission period beginning today, Auckland DoC boss Rob McCallum made it clear fishers had already had their say.

"They have made their views well known," he said.

"We've said all along that if you have to travel 60 nautical miles from Auckland to the far side of an island, it's hard to show you are adversely affected when you can fish almost anywhere else in the gulf."

Bill Cook, a member of Option 4, which is a vocal offshoot of the Recreational Fishing Council, said if the reserve became law he would immediately file a court injunction against it.

"I am going to exercise my right to stop them. It is just arrogance," he said. But Recreational Fishing Council executive member Bill Ross was more cautious. "Recreational anglers will never give up. The fact [DoC] have denied us access to one of the safest fishing areas at the Barrier just astounds me," he said.

"We would not preclude legal action but the only people who win then are the lawyers."

The Government may be determined to push the reserve through before the election. In what appeared to be a deliberately timed speech as he kicked off Conservation Week yesterday, Conservation Minister Chris Carter restated his backing for more marine reserves.

"My highest priority as minister in the time I have remaining in this Parliament is marine conservation," he told the Herald.

Marine scientist Dr Steve O'Shea said the area was a treasure-trove of corals, marine mammals and sub-tropical fish species "certainly worth preserving".

By the numbers

At 50,100ha, the reserve is the biggest yet in local waters.

Marine reserves in the Hauraki Gulf now cover 3286ha, or less than 1 per cent; the proposed reserve alone is 4 per cent of the gulf.

Just 2500ha has been trimmed from an earlier plan that drew 1863 submissions, with a big majority opposed.

The reserve would cover 18 per cent of the island's coastline.