Policy developed on marine reserves

Press, 27 May 1985, Page 6

Policy developed on marine reserves

Wellington reporter

A national policy for the establishment and management of marine reserves has been developed by the Ministry of Fisheries, and has been released for public discussion. So far the Ministry has released only its detailed proposals for reserves in the waters around Auckland — including the Bay of Islands and Poor Knights Islands. Later there will be detailed proposals for other areas, including the Marl-

borough Sounds and Banks Peninsula. The Minister of Fisheries, Mr Moyle, said the idea behind the policy was to establish a network of marine reserves and parks in fisheries waters to conserve and protect the widest possible range of marine life forms, habitats and ecosystems.

These ought to include not only the rare, unique, exceptional or endangered ecosystems, but also the typical and the representative

ecosystems for all New Zealanders and overseas visitors to enjoy. The policy envisaged giving a high priority to public access to marine reserves, and also to developing an education programme to improve public awareness of the marine environment. It was not intended to “lock away” marine areas from commercial, recreational or traditional fishermen, where it could be shown that it was not necessarv.