Great Barrier Marine Reserve Application

Submission in Support

Whangateau Harbour Care Group

Whangateau Harbour Care Group,
c/o 19 Albert Street,
c/o P.O. Box 139,
Leigh,
Auckland 1241
 
2 October 2004
 
The Director-General of Conservation,
Department of Conservation,
Auckland Conservancy,
Private Bag 68-908,
Newton,
Auckland.
 
AOTEA/GREAT BARRIER ISLAND MARINE RESERVE APPLICATION.

SUBMISSION IN SUPPORT.

Dear Sir,
 
The Whangateau Harbour Care Group was incorporated in May 2000, but stemmed from earlier groups going back to the 1940's, and from 1995 it was called the Whangateau Harbour Protection Society until being taken under the wing of the Landcare Trust.
 
We have 48 active members, and have regular monthly meetings and frequent outings around the Whangateau Harbour to identify environmental problems.  Members of the local community frequently become involved in our activities, which we encourage.  We have undertaken planting of suitable locally sourced native plants on coastal reserve land.  We are currently undertaking surveys of cockles in the Harbour, with ARC Environmental Initiatives Fund assistance.  In the past we have acquired funds to pay for a warden on the Omaha Spit NZ dotterel breeding area, and have investigated an area in which a marine reserve might be created in the Whangateau Harbour.
 
We have canvassed our members and had positive feedback from a sufficient number (and no negative responses to date) to give the committee a mandate to make a submission in support of the application for a marine reserve on the north-east coast of Great Barrier Island.  We feel that this will be a significant addition to the fledgling network of marine reserves in the greater Hauraki Gulf area and in northern New Zealand in general.
 
With two no-take marine protected areas close to the Whangateau Harbour (Goat Island Marine Reserve and Tawharanui Marine Park) we are well aware of the local benefits of marine reserves.
 
The proposed Great Barrier Island Marine Reserve is special in that it is very large - third in size only to the Kermadec Islands Marine Reserve and the Auckland Islands Marine Reserve.  Its large size will mean that adverse "edge effects", a problem in small marine reserves, will be minimised, providing a large core area for the reserve in which marine life can develop to as near a natural state as we can provide for.  This is likely to have many unforseen benefits, and provide opportunities to study the recovery of marine populations in a way not possible in the present smaller coastal marine reserves.
 
The proposed marine reserve at Great Barrier Island has several features of particular significance.  It is one of the last strongholds of the giant packhorse crayfish, and could make a significant contribution towards the recovery of this unusual and spectacular species.  The area used to be an excellent fishing ground for hapuku, which now sadly are seriously depleted.  Protecting the deep reefs in the proposal area may provide an opportunity for the hapuku population to recover from heavy fishing.
 
Extensive deep reefs in the area, from about 80 metres to 150 metres deep and covering over 8 miles of seabed, have been identified as supporting outstanding biodiversity, including forests of black coral, and large deepwater glass sponges probably in excess of 100 years old.  Experience at the Poor Knights and Goat Island marine reserves suggest that red crayfish populations will become spectacular within about five years, and snapper will become abundant and large within a few more years.  This will have positive spin-offs for crayfish and snapper populations even some distance from the proposed reserve because of the reservoir of large breeding animals which will export eggs and larvae from the reserve, and spill-over of some of the animals in the reserve to areas adjacent to the reserve.
 
The proposed reserve area contains a wide variety of marine habitats, several of which are not represented in marine reserves elsewhere.  Other habitats, though found in other marine reserves, will provide replication of protected habitats, important from a scientific point of view.
 
The proposed reserve at Great Barrier Island is sufficiently remote from the population of Auckland to have no undue effect on recreational fishers of the Hauraki Gulf, yet is close enough for the benefits to be seen and enjoyed by a significant number of people.  The reserve will also provide an important level of insurance against ongoing problems in fisheries management.  This reserve will go a long way towards the Government's goal of 10% of our marine waters under effective protection for biodiversity by 2010.
 
We look forward to a positive outcome.
 

Yours sincerely,
 
Roger Grace,
Elise MacDonald,
Co-Chairpersons, Whangateau Harbour Care Group.

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