This is a letter sent to the various Forest and Bird branch committees

Forest and Bird Letterhead

Forest and Bird (Northern Regional Office)
PO Box 8138
Symonds Street
Auckland

22/1/03
Dear Committee Member

As you will know, only 16 marine reserves have been created in the 30+ years we have had a Marine Reserve Act in New Zealand. These cover around 1% of our mainland coastline and less than 0.01% of our Exclusive Economic Zone. In the Hauraki Gulf, only about 0.25% is currently protected as marine reserves.

This is disappointing, as research (especially during the 1990s) has demonstrated that marine reserves have significant benefits to conservation and biodiversity. Marine reserves also provide benefits to research, education, tourism and recreation.

More significantly, results indicate that networks of marine reserves offer significant benefits in terms of fisheries management. For example, in 1994, all fishing and seafood harvesting was closed over 20% of the George Banks area (USA). By 1998, scallop biomass had increased 14 fold. Similarly, in 1995 the Caribbean nation of St Lucia closed 33% of its fishing grounds. By 1998, fish biomass in the no-take areas had tripled and fish biomass in adjacent fishing areas had doubled.

Other countries are now following suit and creating networks of marine reserves. One of the latest has been the Australian state of Victoria, which on 16th November 2002 created a network of marine reserves covering 5.8% of its waters. A Marine Reserve around Tiritiri would contribute towards the establishment of a network of marine reserves within the Hauraki Gulf.

Please support the Tiritiri marine reserve proposal that has been put forward by NZ Underwater Association by completing and returning the pre-paid, pre-addressed form on the back of the enclosed document.

Yours in conservation

Sarah Gibbs