Source: Ministry for Primary Industries
Have your say
Fisheries New Zealand is consulting on proposed changes to commercial fishing sustainability measures for the Cape Brett to Mimiwhangata area on the eastern Northland coastline. We welcome feedback from tangata whenua, stakeholders, and the public on the 2 proposals.
What’s being proposed?
The reef systems around Rakaumangamanga/Cape Brett to Mimiwhangata support significant benthic marine biodiversity. This includes habitat-forming species such as sponges, bryozoans, and black, stony, and gorgonian corals.
Commercial fishing with mobile bottom-contact gear (bottom trawling and Danish seining) is considered to be the main potential threat to benthic biodiversity in the area.
This consultation is for 2 proposed options for the Cape Brett to Mimiwhangata area to protect the marine environment:
- Option 1 – Prohibit commercial bottom trawling and Danish seining on the rocky reefs and surrounding soft sediments. This would minimise the risk of resuspended sediment settling on sensitive species and affecting their health.
- Option 2 – Prohibit commercial bottom trawling and Danish seining on the rocky reefs. This would have less impact on commercial fishers as they would retain the ability to fish on the soft sediments.
Full details are in the consultation documents.
Consultation documents
Review of commercial fishing sustainability measures for the Cape Brett to Mimiwhangata area, Northland [PDF, 1.2 MB]
Map of proposed bottom trawling and Danish seining prohibition areas for each option [PDF, 6.5 MB]
Making your submission
Submissions close at 5pm on 18 October 2022.
Use our submission form template to help you give your feedback.
Submission form [DOCX, 77 KB]
Email your completed form to FMsubmissions@mpi.govt.nz
While we prefer email, you can post written submissions to:
Northland Sustainability Review
Fisheries Management
Fisheries New Zealand
PO Box 2526
Wellington 6140.
If you require hard copies of the consultation document or any other information, email FMsubmissions@mpi.govt.nz
Submissions are public information
Note that all, part, or a summary of your submission may be published on this website. Most often this happens when we issue a document that reviews the submissions received.
People can also ask for copies of submissions under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). The OIA says we must make the content of submissions available unless we have good reason for withholding it. Those reasons are detailed in sections 6 and 9 of the OIA.
If you think there are grounds to withhold specific information from publication, make this clear in your submission or contact us. Reasons may include that it discloses commercially sensitive or personal information. However, any decision MPI makes to withhold details can be reviewed by the Ombudsman, who may direct us to release it.
