The inner beaches have faecal contamination and the Hauraki Gulf is facing underwater deserts as it is fished out.
These are international tragedies which we in New Zealand should be working hard to avoid, or at least mitigate. Various Maori groups are doing their part, but should we have to rely on rahui to protect and preserve our kai moana?
I was thrilled when our local iwi at Matapouri placed a rahui on the Mermaid Pools which were being destroyed by hundreds of visitors.
Councillor Cooms assured me that the Auckland Council and Government are determined to protect the Hauraki Gulf.
Back in 2015 or 16 the National Government tried to limit recreational catches on the Hauraki Gulf. A massive protest from selfish one percenters, all National Party voters, forced National to back down, in case their electoral chances were too severely affected - selfishness in the extreme by an affluent minority.
Jacinda’s Government must avoid that sort of partisan pressure. The Minister for Fisheries, David Parker, has the power to alter fisheries policy, and the Minister for Conservation has the responsibility for the creation of new marine reserves.
If central government had its policy settings right, mana whenua would not be having to lay down rahui to protect what little kai moana we have left. Both local and central government have a part to play.
Central government has recently announced in parliament that it is very close to releasing its long awaited Response Strategy to the Sea Change for the Hauraki Gulf. Now is the time to make it happen!
As Auckland Central MP Chloe Swarbrick says, “We’re a long way off the consensus of international experts, who say at least 30 percent of our oceans need to be protected to avoid fishery collapse, restore biodiversity and build ocean resistance to change.
“If we are committed to protecting and restoring our environment,” says Chlöe, “the rest of us need to step up and tautoko (support) iwi and hapu-led solutions like these.”
I agree. But it is critical that these decisions are not left to local iwi, and that the central government makes the right decisions, and soon.
Pippa Coom gave me some hope. She showed me a letter written by Mayor Goff to the Minister for Oceans, David Parker, strongly supporting the Maori rahui initiatives.
The Hauraki Gulf Forum’s goals include at least 30 percent under marine protection, restoration of 1000km of shellfish beds and reefs, riparian planting and an end to marine dumping. We need to restore the whole ecosystem, ki uta ki tai, (from the mountains to the sea) not just snapper stocks. A snapper monoculture in the Hauraki Gulf is in no one’s best interests - not even the snapper.
And just as an interesting postscript, an article by Herald writer, Simon Wilson, supporting electric ferries on the Hauraki Gulf has caught my attention.
Bring back the kai moana, sell the car, and cruise around the gulf in an electric ferry.
Good things certainly take time, as the old ad says. But they can happen. (John Elliott)
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