Statement to TVNZ's Breakfast Show on New Zealanders' Attitudes Towards Marine Reserves

"I watched with interest WWF's survey into New Zealanders' attitudes towards marine reserves. It comes as no surprise that an organisation that publically campaigns for significantly increased ‘no-take' marine reserves would produce a survey that so strongly endorses this view.

"WWF's survey appears to ignore the fact that that marine reserves - which ban all types of fishing - are only one of the many tools we have in New Zealand to protect the marine environment. 

Marine reserves are established under the Marine Reserves Act for the purpose of preserving marine life for scientific study.  However, a wide range of protected areas exist in New Zealand waters, and their size greatly exceeds that of marine reserves.  Some areas, such as cable protection zones, are established primarily to protect infrastructure but nevertheless contribute to wider ecosystem management.  Others, such as the extensive Benthic Protection Areas, or BPAs, specifically ban bottom-contact fishing methods. These BPAs alone cover some 30 per cent of New Zealand's waters. That's 1.2 million square kilometres of seabed, more than four times New Zealand's land area. In addition, the commercial fishing sector has voluntarily agreed not to fish in many of New Zealand's harbours and coastal areas in order to provide recreational fishermen with a better fishing experience.

"No take marine reserves are not, as WWF's spokeswoman claims, "insurance" which will allow fishing in the future. By definition, they don't allow fishing at all. There is only one reliable way to ensure fishing for the future - sustainable fisheries management. In New Zealand that is achieved through the quota management system, which uses best available science to set limits on the amount of fish that can be caught. It has worked so well that New Zealand has been recognised, along with Alaska, as having the best managed fisheries in the world.

"That doesn't mean the New Zealand seafood industry is resting on its laurels because, like WWF, we've got a vested interest in this debate. If New Zealand doesn't get this right and maintain a fishery which balances both environmental and commercial realities, we go out of business. What is at stake is not only our reputation as greenest fishery in the world, it's the $1.5 billion in export earnings our industry contributes to the economy and 26,000 full time equivalent New Zealand jobs which go with it."

Peter Bodeker
Chief Executive
New Zealand Seafood Industry Council