2800-plus marine protection submissions made public

A Buller's mollymawk stalls in mid-flight to feed from a fish frame discarded from a recreational fishing boat off the Otago coast. Photo / Stephen Jaquiery

The South-East Marine Protection Forum has made public the more than 2800 submissions received through its consultation process.

The forum consulted on 20 proposed sites for possible inclusion in a network of marine protected areas from Timaru to Waipapa Point.

Forum chairwoman Maree Baker-Galloway said the submissions received represented a wide range of stakeholders and demonstrated a high level of engagement and public interest.
The submissions being publicly available was important, she said.

"We aim to be as transparent as possible. Now everyone who is invested in the outcome can see the wealth of information and opinions we are considering before making our final recommendations.''

The forum has also released an independent summary of submissions and an independent summary of science submissions.

The documents were intended to make the information more accessible for the forum and the public, she said.

The forum would refer to the summaries and the original submissions throughout its deliberations, she said.

Private and commercially sensitive information has been removed from the submissions.
The Department of Conservation and the Ministry for Primary Industries has approved an extension for deliberations until the end of September.

The deadline for a final recommendation report to ministers is under review.

The forum is aiming to complete the report by the end of 2017.

The submissions and the summaries available at south-eastmarine.org.nz.

shawn.mcavinue@odt.co.nz