Legal showdown over Hauraki no-fishing zone

A legal showdown is looming between recreational fishers and Conservation Minister Chris Carter now a giant no-fishing zone at the gateway to the Hauraki Gulf looks almost certain to go ahead.

Fishers have fought a long and sometimes bitter battle over the Great Barrier marine reserve, the first to stretch from the coast as far as the 12-mile limit and, at 49,500ha, dwarfing others around New Zealand.

They campaigned for more than two years to get the proposal either dumped or substantially downsized.

But the minister has approved virtually the area as proposed in 2003 that saw a series of angry public meetings and a Department of Conservation questionnaire on the reserve ending up as wrapper for a dead possum - widely seen as a threat from reserve opponents because the island has always been free of the pests.

The original boundary is downsized by just 500ha in the final version, so a handful of local families can continue to fish and gather seafood at Whangapoua Inlet.

Recreational Fishing Council president Keith Ingram said that was a "bribe" to local iwi, some of whom opposed the reserve.

Fishers were "very disappointed" by the minister's decision.

"We didn't think he would be so dumb just before an election," Mr Ingram said.

He would not be drawn on what legal action his council might take but the Herald understands a court challenge is almost certain after plans to mount legal action against the Waiheke Island marine reserve, approved in 2003, were shelved to fight this one instead.

Mr Ingram said the Great Barrier reserve would deny game fishermen the right to hunt marlin, kingfish and tuna at a favoured spot. "[The minister] has once again adopted a steamroller tactic," said Mr Ingram.

"This marine reserve will become a haven for poachers and thieves because there simply isn't the means to enforce compliance."

But Mr Carter said islanders would help police it, as would Department of Conservation staff on the island, and said 2200 of the 3513 submissions on the reserve were supportive.

He also cited a Colmar Brunton poll commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund which found 95 per cent of New Zealanders thought the marine environment needed protection. "A lot of people out there think we should be doing more," he said.

Conservation lobby group Forest and Bird yesterday welcomed the decision.

"New Zealand's record in marine protection lags well behind our achievements in creating national parks and reserves on land," said spokesman David Pattemore.