HAVE YOUR SAY ON THE DRAFT HAURAKI GULF FISHERIES PLAN

Fisheries New Zealand is inviting people to have their say on a draft Fisheries Plan to help restore and protect the Hauraki Gulf.

Director fisheries management Emma Taylor says this is one of the key long-term fisheries management actions in the Government’s strategy, Revitalising the Gulf, which seeks to restore the waiora and mauri of one of New Zealand’s most important marine environments.

“The draft Fisheries Plan has three outcomes focussed on the environment, sustainable utilisation and better governance and includes new approaches for managing fisheries in the Hauraki Gulf,” says Taylor.

“It seeks to support sustainable fisheries and the recovery and protection of key habitats and species, as well as encouraging greater local input to strengthen fisheries management and support a healthier Gulf for generations to come.”

The draft plan proposes a range of integrated management actions including: h More information, including how to submit feedback, is available at www.mpi.govt.nz/ draft-hauraki-gulf-fisheries-plan dren’s lives are at risk,” says Sharp. Save the Children chief executive Heidi Coetzee says in food crises like these, children are always the most vulnerable. In 2011, the last time famine hit Somalia, 260,000 people died—more than half of those lives lost were children.

■ removing bottom trawl and Danish seine fishing except within limited areas or “trawl corridors” (subject to further consultation by mid-2023).

■ improved management of scallop fisheries in the Hauraki Gulf.

■ restoring fisheries abundance to address localised depletion.

■ reviewing the management of intertidal harvesting.

■ supporting greater mana whenua and regional participation in fisheries management.

“Underlying these proposals is a commitment to an ecosystemsbased fisheries management approach. We recognise that all species in the fishery are connected and interdependent and this is reflected in the draft plan,” says Taylor.

The draft plan will be supported by the development of fisheries indicators and a monitoring framework to measure progress over time.

If approved, it will be New Zealand’s first area-based fisheries plan.

“We encourage everybody with an interest in this national taonga to read the proposals and provide feedback,” Taylor says.

Consultation began on January 17, 2023 and will close at 5pm on March 3.

“Not only are children’s lives at grave risk in this crisis, but so are their futures. Extreme food shortages are pushing families to take desperate measures, threatening children’s wellbeing, safety, and futures. Pulling children out of school to work, early marriage and even selling them are some of the tragic lengths that families go to, just to feed their children.”

Tearfund New Zealand, UNICEF Aotearoa, Save the Children, CBM, Orphans Aid International, Hagar, International Needs, Oxfam and Christian World Service are delivering emergency food to thousands of families. But the need continues to grow, and the organisations say they urgently need to scale-up their response.

“Every donation counts and will be used to save people from starvation. Your support can make a crucial difference. We encourage you to give what you can,” Manson says.