August 1, 2019
Press Release – Forest And Bird
Forest & Bird is calling on Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage to create more marine reserves around Aucklands coasts.Forest & Bird calls for more marine protection around Auckland
Forest & Bird is calling on Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage to create more marine reserves around Auckland’s coasts.
Ms Sage has signalled she will discuss current national and Auckland environmental issues, including the need for more marine reserves in the Auckland region, when she talks at the Waitakere branch of Forest & Bird on 15 August.
The Hauraki Gulf is in a tragic state after decades of over-fishing and degradation, so marine reserves are urgently needed, says Forest & Bird Auckland regional manager Nick Beveridge.
“More than half the marine life in the Hauraki Gulf has disappeared since 1925 – we can’t afford to keep fishing in this unsustainable way.
“Snapper numbers are about 17 percent of what they were 94 years ago and crayfish numbers have fallen by about 80 percent, so that crayfish are now functionally extinct in the gulf.
“We need to make sure we’re not pushing some fish species to the point of local extinction, along with the seabirds, dolphins and whales that feed on them,” says Mr Beveridge.
Rare Māui dolphins live on Auckland’s west coast, yet there are no marine reserves on that coast from Cape Reinga until you reach Taranaki, he says.
“Only about 63 Māui dolphins are left in the world and the mouth of the Manukau Harbour is one of the places they are most often seen.
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