Bill Brownell: Marine reserve won't make much difference to Barrier

COMMENT

I can relate to the views expressed by John Mellars, of the Great Barrier Island community board, concerning the rights of coastal dwellers to subsistence fishing.

I have lived on the coast and fished on the sea for most of my life, including 15 years in the 1970s and 1980s working for international agencies (mainly the United Nations) in the development of sustainable small-scale fisheries in South America, Africa and the Pacific.

But I am greatly alarmed by the narrow views expressed by him and others in the debate about marine protected areas, and particularly the proposed Great Barrier Island marine reserve

It could be that more than 95 per cent of the people Mr Mellars talks to are opposed to the Barrier proposal, but a large segment of the Great Barrier community recognises the immense benefits that a marine reserve would bring to the island and to the wider Hauraki Gulf.

In fact, some time ago the Great Barrier community passed a resolution opposing the original marine reserve proposal "in its present form". The Department of Conservation has since taken into consideration the numerous submissions it received, and has made significant alterations to the proposal to make it more acceptable to the local community and wider interests.

In reality, Great Barrier residents spend very little time fishing in the area proposed for marine reserve status. Being on the eastern side of the island, it is subject to frequent oceanic swells and high winds, making it dangerous for small boats.

The island's harbours are all on the other side, an uneconomically long run for a boat searching for fish in that faraway 18 per cent of the coastline that would be protected by the marine reserve.

The main users of the area are commercial and recreational fishers, with large seaworthy boats based on the mainland. With 82 per cent of the Great Barrier shoreline still available to them under a marine reserve, plus most of the remaining shoreline of the islands and mainland of the Hauraki Gulf, they would still have access to a vast area for fishing.

The Great Barrier reserve would increase the amount of no-take area in the Gulf from 1 per cent to 4 per cent, still a minimal amount in terms of the biological need for fish protection.

The residents of Great Barrier have the opportunity to revitalise their economy with a non-extractive marine-based industry that will bring in visitors interested in observing and photographing (snorkelling and diving, plus seabird, dolphin and whale watching) and charter boat fishing around the fringes of the reserve.

In the past significant numbers of local residents were opposed to the proposals for marine reserves at Leigh and Hahei. Now, there are 300,000 visitors a year to the Leigh marine reserve, directly contributing $13 million to the local economy.

A survey by Auckland University completed in June, shows there are now 18.3 times more snapper in the marine reserve at Hahei than outside it, and these fish average 89mm longer than those taken outside the reserve.

Now, one of the favourite fishing destinations in the eastern Coromandel is around the periphery of the Hahei marine reserve.

Nationally, a UMR Insight Survey conducted last year found that 86 per cent of New Zealanders were in favour of more marine reserves. This is because of much greater awareness today that we could lose it all if we do not manage it properly.

Daniel Pauly, one of the foremost experts on the world's fisheries, is deeply worried. He says marine-protected areas are "a necessary condition for the continued existence of fisheries in the world". Marine reserves cover only 0.1 per cent of the coastal area of the world, and New Zealand is one of only a few countries that actively recognise the need for them.

Pauly believes we can have our cake and eat it too, by effectively protecting at least 10 per cent of the world's important fish-feeding, breeding and nursery grounds, thus allowing depleted stocks to recover (while we continue sustainable fishing outside those areas).

But there are far more than just "a few thieving ratbags" out there (both commercial and recreational fishers) and we need more than just a weak commercial quota management system to protect our priceless fishery resources.

Rather than bad-mouthing the only agency in the country that is trying to protect marine resources for our grandchildren, local communities should focus on how to work with the Department of Conservation and local entrepreneurs to make sustainable profits from celebrating the beauty and diversity of marine life rather than killing it.

* Bill Brownell, of Kaiaua, is a fishery biologist and retired UN fishery development specialist. He is responding to the view of Mr Mellars that a reserve would threaten Great Barrier Island's lifestyle.