Boundary of Marine Reserve being Amended
By Steve
Hepburn
23 July
2005
This
article was originally published in the Otago Daily Times on
23 July 2005.
Conservation board told of change • Nugget Point
The proposed Nugget Point Marine Reserve has further been delayed,
with a boundary to be changed.
At an
Otago Conservation Board meeting in Dunedin yesterday, the process
of the proposed marine reserve came under discussion.
The board
continued to support the proposal.
Otago
conservator Jeff Connell said the application was not quite
ready to be lodged and was taking longer than first thought.
He said
as a result of the consultation, there had been a review of
a boundary for the reserve.
The review
had involved an investigation which required work to be done
on the water.
There
was a delay until suitable weather arrived but the boundary
review had now been completed.
He did
not say which boundary was being reviewed.
New oceanographic
science was also becoming available and was being considered
by the department. The Ministry of Fisheries had to have an
opportunity to consult on the proposal before it was lodged
and this time had yet to be agreed by the two departments.
He could
not give a time when the proposal would be lodged.
Board
chairman Fergus Sutherland said the Coastal Guardians group
formed in South Otago needed to be broader based.
Board
member Rob Mitchell said he found comments made by Minister
of Fisheries David Benson-Pope rather curious. He hoped Mr Benson-Pope
would consider the proposal in a favourable light when it was
lodged.
Mr Benson-Pope
had doubted the proposal would go ahead because of pressure
on Doc staff and higher priorities.
This
had been denied by Mr Connell.
Skink
fence: The predator-proof skink fence at the Macraes
reserve is finished but the whole job is nowhere near completed.
The fence
is 17.2km long and 2m high and has no gap greater than 6mm to
keep predators out. It encloses a 22ha reserve.
Mr Connell
said the eradication of animals, from mice to pigs, had started
in the reserve. How long this would take was unknown. Bait stations
to kill predators had become ineffective when they filled up
with snow. Predators may not be the sole reason for skinks decline.
The decline may be linked to food supply, global warming, parasites
or disease.
