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• Documents released by the Department of Conservation reveal officials advised Minister Tama Potaka against allowing commercial fishing in  protection zones.
• Officials said the changes would undermine biodiversity, but Potaka rejected warnings and backed amendments pitched by Seafood NZ. He has defended his decision as “common sense changes”.
• Environmentalists have called the last-minute move “utterly spineless” and going against conservation and a decades-long democratic process.
• The contentious changes to the Marine Protection Bill still have to make their way through the Parliament before becoming law.

Officials explicitly told Conservation Minister Tama Potaka not to allow commercial fishing in protected areas of the Hauraki Gulf – warning it would undermine laws intended to revitalise the marine park, newly-released documents reveal.

However, just six days after being warned against the move, Potaka sided with industry lobby group Seafood New Zealand (SNZ) and recommended the controversial amendments be implemented.

World Wildlife Fund Aotearoa (WWF) CEO Kayla Kingdon-Bebb labelled Potaka’s decision “utterly spineless”, but the minister is adamant the last-minute changes were about “common sense” and helping low-income communities access seafood.

The amendments would allow five or six commercial ring net operators to fish in two areas deemed high protection areas (HPAs) – a protection mechanism with the express intention of prohibiting commercial and recreational fishing.

A September 24 briefing document from Department of Conservation (DoC) policy advisers clearly laid out the case for not changing the Hauraki Gulf / Tikapa Moana Marine Protection Bill.

Advisers told the minister that suggested amendments would “undermine biodiversity outcomes”, be “incompatible” with the very nature of law designed to protect vulnerable areas, and “be seen as unfair” by the public.

Kingdon-Bebb said she believed Potaka should be “ashamed” of what he did – despite advice to the contrary.

World Wildlife Fund Aotearoa CEO Kayla Kingdon-Bebb.

She doubted the changes were about feeding South Aucklanders or sustaining the livelihoods of ring net fishers, but about setting a precedent to allow commercial fishing in high-protection areas.

“He [Potaka] is obviously not acting in the interests of conservation or with a view to sustaining and restoring New Zealand’s indigenous biodiversity,” she said.

Hauraki Gulf Forum co-chairwoman Nicola MacDonald (Ngāti Wai, Te Rarawa, Taranaki) told the Herald the briefings from officials should have been followed.

“It’s very disappointing the minister has not taken heed of the evidence-based advice that his ministry is providing. These are New Zealanders who have dedicated their lives to conservation.”

She believed Potaka had “gone out on his own”.

“It’s gut-wrenching when Kiwis have spent over a decade participating in the process. To know that within six days that hard work, effort, integrity has been pushed to the side is a concern for all New Zealanders.”

The last-minute changes

Multiple State of the Gulf reports have painted a grim picture of the Hauraki Gulf, which is estimated to have an economic value of $100 billion.

The reports have warned of an ecosystem on the “brink of collapse”, where kina barrens flourish, crayfish have become “functionally extinct”, and fish numbers are in decline.

The Marine Protection Bill, which has been decades in the making, involved lengthy public consultation, and any amendments or exemptions had already been ruled out during the development of the law at the select committee phase.

Yet the backdown on conservation measures happened within just a few days, according to official documents.

• On September 17, Potaka met with Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones to discuss a range of amendments to the bill.
• On September 24, DoC policy advisers recommended Potaka not allow ring net fishing in protected areas.
• On September 26, a Cabinet paper on the issue did not contain any provisions for commercial fishers to operate in protected areas.
• However, just four days later on September 30, the controversial amendments had been inserted into

Cabinet papers, with Potaka recommending they be implemented.
The exemptions were put into the document because SNZ argued it would benefit a select number of local fishers and allow them to supply Auckland markets with kahawai, grey mullet and trevally.

This was despite DoC policy advisers telling Potaka that the operators involved could still catch fish outside of the protected areas with “minimal impact” to their businesses.

Conservation Minister Tama Potaka rejected warnings from officials over allowing commercial fishers to operate in protected areas of the Hauraki Gulf. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Potaka told the Herald the changes would allow a limited number of operators to fish in the two HPAs between March and August only and provide Aucklanders fish at an “affordable price”.

He did not explain which communities would benefit, where they purchased the fish from or how reliant communities were on the species caught.

“We are making some common sense changes that balance the need to protect the gulf but continue to support local communities,” he said.

Fishers’ livelihoods ‘threatened’

Tiff Bock is the general manager of inshore fisheries at Seafood New Zealand. Photo / Supplied

Ring net fishing involves using a large net to target schools of fish. It does not involve contact with the seafloor and is considered relatively low impact.

Seafood New Zealand’s general manager of inshore fishing, Tiff Bock, told the Herald fish from “at least” one of the commercial operators went to local shops, which supplied “around 30 marae” in Auckland.

She described the ring net operators as “small scale”, individual fishers who worked on boats less than six metres in length and said SNZ felt compelled to support them.

“In this instance, the livelihood of these fishers was threatened, and they were at very high risk of going out of business, and when that happens it’s our job to advocate for them.”

DoC officials were adamant the fish they targeted could be caught outside of HPAs, but Bock said adverse weather conditions in winter often made it harder to motor to more distant spots.

“They don’t fish everywhere. It’s really discreet spots that they go to”.

Bock claimed there had been a worrying increase in the vilification of commercial fishers in general, although she couldn’t say if the ring net fishers were being targeted specifically.

“We’ve seen online harassment; we’ve seen people vandalising property and physical threats. That’s really not okay behaviour.”

The proposed changes to the Marine Protection Bill are still making their way through the parliamentary process and would need to pass what’s known as the “committee of whole house” phase before becoming law.

Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won the best coverage of a major news event at the 2024 Voyager NZ Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald’s video team in July 2024.