In a move expected to provide much-needed protection to some crucial areas on Northland's coast, the Northland Regional Council has formally adopted new no-take fishing areas.
The move was made following an Environment Court decision that confirmed all fishing, including recreational, is no longer permitted from Maunganui Bay (Deep Water Cove) to Oporua (Oke Bay) in the Bay of Islands and around the Mimiwhangata peninsula.
In November last year, the court released an interim decision to uphold appeals against Northland Regional Council’s lack of fishing prohibitions within its Proposed Regional Plan.
The final decision was released on 11 May 2023 and formally adopted into the council’s Regional Plan on 31 July 2023.
The decision paves the way for the fishing ban to protect marine areas with significant ecological and cultural value.
Commercial bulk harvesting of fish, using specific seining and trawling methods, is now prohibited in a new area around Rakaumangamanga (Cape Brett) up to 100 meters deep.
The area starts immediately north of Maunganui Bay, passes around Rakaumangamanga and south of Whangamumu Harbour, and ends just north of Te Akau (Elliott Bay). The closure protects a small area where benthic habitats and schooling fish will be protected from damaging fishing methods.
Exceptions to the no-take rules include kina harvest and activities primarily associated with restoration, research and tikanga, such as customary fishing.
Northland Regional Council’s Proposed Regional Plan for Northland was publicly notified in September 2017 and did not include fishing controls. Local hapū Te Uri O Hikihiki proposed protecting important areas from fishing, purse seining and bottom trawling under the Plan. Ngati Kuta also proposed no fishing in specific areas to restore wildlife.
Evidence showing a severe decline in the health of these marine ecosystems associated with the impacts of these fishing methods was presented by many supporting parties, including the Minister of Conservation, environmental groups, and other hapū.
This decline included widespread loss of kelp forest and kina barren expansion, related to low snapper and crayfish populations and small individual sizes.
The Environment Court process meant public consultation on the no-take rules was not possible, but NRC supported the court’s decision on the basis that significant ecological values were being negatively impacted by fishing in the areas and because it reflected the concerns of local hapū Te Uri O Hikihiki and Ngati Kuta ki Te Rawhiti.
“We are working in partnership with local tangata whenua and communities around how the new rules will be effectively implemented,” says Council chair Tui Shortland.
“We’ve already made a public commitment to having that kōrero and establishing those relationships.”
The new changes have significant implications for council as the regulation of recreational or commercial fishing locations is different from a function council has undertaken previously.
“In the wake of the court’s latest ruling, the council would work with tangata whenua and all stakeholders to ensure the new rules are well understood, communicated and respected so the moana can once again thrive in the protected areas,” says Shortland.
She says the council’s initial focus would be education and advocacy around why the no-take areas have been set up. However, compliance measures available under the Resource Management Act ranged from fines of several hundred dollars for breaking rules or not providing information to a warranted enforcement officer to imprisonment for up to two years or a fine of up to $300,000 for an individual or $600,000 for an organisation.
Photography: Antonio Scant on Unsplash