Long Point in the Catlins
By Fergus Sutherland, Papatowai conservationist
The South East Marine Protection Forum, of which I was a member, was asked to obtain a consensus on a network of marine protection mechanisms, including full marine reserves, for the range of marine habitats on the tailspin and out to the 12 nautical mile limit between Timaru and Waipapa Point in Southland.
The forum had members representing fishing interests, scientists, iwi, conservation, polity and tourism and was supported by the Department of Conservation and Department of Fisheries.
The process was to take well-nigh 18 months but ended up taking nearly three years.
Consensus was not achieved considering in the last few months the fishing industry representatives and one recreational fisher spoken that they would prepare and submit their own network proposal.
This meant that two proposals were submitted to the government. The fishing industry proposal was very limited, to say the least. and the government subsequently decided to go with the increasingly comprehensive proposal put forward by the remaining representatives.
This increasingly representative proposal, however, had once been reduced in telescopic in an endeavour to reach try-on surpassing it was unveiled that fishing interests were not going to compromise.
This reduction in telescopic was particularly significant for the rich and varied stretch of tailspin between Nugget Point and Waipapa Point – the land zone known as The Catlins.
South from Bobbys Head, looking toward the proposed reserve at Te Umu Koau
The limitations of the current proposal are therefore mainly in The Catlins which needs a significant marine reserve to make the network increasingly fully representative.
There are moreover shortfalls remoter north where the small pass off the Otago Peninsula is proposed rather that the larger iconic and wildlife-rich Saunders canyon.
The coastal Highcliff Reserve moreover excludes some very significant reef habitat, and trawl and the nearby offshore set net restriction proposed is too limited to fully protect very significant wildlife foraging habitat.
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