Source: Ministry for Primary Industries
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Fisheries management team
Have your say
Fisheries New Zealand is seeking your views on the Draft Hauraki Gulf Fisheries Plan.
Draft Hauraki Gulf Fisheries Plan [PDF, 4.5 MB]
Summary of what’s being proposed
Revitalising the Gulf was released in June 2021 and provides Government leadership across how we manage one of the country’s most valued and intensively used coastal spaces. It sets out a package of marine conservation and fisheries management actions to restore a healthy Hauraki Gulf.
One of the key actions in Revitalising the Gulf is the development of a fisheries plan under section 11A of the Fisheries Act 1996.
If approved, this will be New Zealand’s first area-based fisheries plan. It sets out how we will take an ecosystem-based approach to managing fisheries, and the effects of fishing, within the Hauraki Gulf.
The draft plan proposes a range of integrated management actions including:
- removing bottom trawl and Danish seine fishing except within limited areas or “trawl corridors” (subject to further consultation by mid-2023)
- improved management of scallop fisheries in the Hauraki Gulf
- restoring fisheries abundance at the stock level and within the Gulf through management strategies to address localised depletion
- reviewing intertidal harvesting controls
- supporting greater mana whenua and regional participation in fisheries management.
Find out more about Revitalising the Gulf
Ecosystem-based fisheries management in the Hauraki Gulf
The plan demonstrates the Government’s commitment to progress an ecosystem-based fisheries management approach. It will be supported by a fisheries indicator and monitoring framework, which is being developed in collaboration with Sustainable Seas.
A plan developed though collaboration
Fisheries New Zealand worked closely with the Sea Change Ministerial Advisory Committee to respond to The Sea Change Plan’s recommendations for fisheries management and develop the Draft Hauraki Gulf Fisheries Plan.
Further discussion with our treaty partners and stakeholders helped shape the proposals in the draft Fisheries Plan.
Work is underway
Immediate action is needed to restore the health of the Hauraki Gulf. This includes progressing the Trawl Corridors Project in parallel with the development of the wider fisheries plan. This includes progressing the “trawl corridors” project in parallel with the development of the wider fisheries plan.
Establishing trawl corridors is a management action in the draft plan, signalling the commitment to progressing this key piece of work. This action is part of a suite of measures within the plan to help achieve the objectives and long-term desired outcomes for fisheries in the Hauraki Gulf.
We welcome feedback on these outcomes, objectives, and actions, including the proposal to establish trawl corridors, during public consultation on the draft plan.
Find out more about the trawl corridors project, including the timeframe for public consultation on trawl corridor options
Making your submission
Feedback is due by 5pm on Friday 3 March 2023 and can be emailed to FMSubmissions@mpi.govt.nz
Following consultation, we will provide final advice to the Oceans and Fisheries Minister on the Hauraki Gulf Fisheries Plan.
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.
