The second webinar in the six-part ‘Ngā Kōrero’ series was live on the evening of 25 November during which our guest speakers discussed the various marine management tools at work across the country and the different types of protected places. They covered the science behind ensuring that our treasured marine species are harvested sustainably - so we'll have 'fishes for the future'. The webinar was moderated by the talented Alison Ballance, former RNZ broadcaster. Our fabulous guest speakers were: Dr. Nick Shears, Dr. Chris Hepburn, Dr. Gaya Gnanalingam and Dr. Darren Parsons. You can read our brief summary below and if it sounds like something you want to learn more about, watch the recording on YouTube!
How much do you know about New Zealand’s marine protected areas?
Dr. Nick Shears started things off introducing us to the role and the value of marine protected areas. The different types of protected areas have varying impacts, reflected by their design and the extent of which they are impacted by fishing. Fishing is considered to have the biggest impact on the health of the outer Gulf and only a very small area of the Hauraki Gulf is protected and not fished. Significant changes have been observed in the Hauraki Gulf over the past several decades, where the impacts of pressures, especially from fishing, are affecting the whole ecosystem.
Dr. Shears revealed some of the benefits of marine reserves, which are the most well known type of protected area, originally set up for scientific purposes. A lot of research has been done at these marine reserves which we have learned a lot from, some of the oldest reserves in the country are found in Northeastern NZ. Other types of management in marine areas include customary protection areas (covered in more detail by Dr. Hepburn later on) and protection through the RMA (Resource Management Act). Nick’s final slides share research that demonstrates how marine reserves can provide a reference point for fisheries management. The populations of large predators in marine reserves have shown a recovery and subsequently brought kina numbers back into check, however, outside reserves, not all large predators have shown signs of recovery.
Next, Dr. Chris Hepburn introduces us to Customary Protected areas (eg. Mātaitai, Taiāpure and Rāhui), legislative measures which re-establishes local control over fisheries resources. These customary protected areas are proving valuable to managing local fish stocks. Through Te Tiaki Mahinga Kai Project, a project which Chris co-coordinates, they are working to support changes to public policy and practice by providing scientific evidence and information. Chris gives an example of this in action observed just north of Dunedin, within the East Otago Taiāpure, established in 1999 primarily to protect pāua fisheries.
Pāua are a taonga species, an essential part of the culture on that coast. The pāua fishery there has been decimated over the last 30-50 years; the population has suffered from overharvest, and are possibly impacted by many other threats which complicate restoration efforts (i.e., invasive species, marine heatwaves, and ocean acidification). However local action, combined with indigenous knowledge and common sense can be supported by science to build resilience in ecosystems. Fishing is the reason we are in this situation, but it's also part of the story in restoring the fishery. Protected areas also need to be managed from a rivers to sea point of view, cognizant of how the impact of our actions on land affect the ocean ecosystem.
What does restoration and recovery look like in the ocean?
Dr. Gaya Gnanalingam followed up Dr. Hepburn’s talk by giving an overview of pāua restoration work. Explaining how restoration work faces many challenges: understanding species traits and ecological interactions, and linking restoration to broader management. Resilience relates to environmental change, and relies on the balance of competing interests, capacity, resources and leadership. Gaya walked us through the importance of determining what the end goal of restoration is, how to define success, and ensure collaboration between different and diverse groups. Restoration bridges science, policy, industry, and public sectors. It takes the diverse skills, knowledge and resources of all these sectors working together.
She highlighted that science can back up what communities already know. For example, initial concerns about the Pāua population were raised in 1990, and in 2008 the first set of surveys confirmed what the community was observing. Pāua numbers had declined steeply in abundance and the community could no longer harvest pāua from knee deep like they used to. The scientists understand that this taonga species has too much significance to the community to be closed forever, therefore monitoring helps scientists see how various management approaches affect fished populations.
Coastal People Southern Skies, the program which Chris and Gaya are a part of, has a beautiful vision: “flourishing wellness (mauri ora), of coastal social-ecological systems and communities.” This emphasizes the dynamic relationship between our ecosystems and people and signifies the value of restoring these marine ecosystems. Our speakers highlighted that there are things which we, as individuals and as a community, can do to safeguard kaimoana, and that it’s really important to protect what we still have. Trying to restore damaged ecosystems and fisheries can take a long time but through local action supported by science, the ecosystem can rebuild resilience.
Our last guest, Dr. Darren Parsons, covered the decline and subsequent recovery of snapper in the Hauraki Gulf. Snapper are our most abundant inshore fish species, and are ecologically significant. Dr. Parsons relays the story about snapper history in the Hauraki Gulf, describes the early commercial fisheries and how the fisheries and pressures have changed over time. He paints a picture of how the data (recreational catch surveys, age composition information, and survey data) is used assess finfish populations and make projections of stock size.
At the end we received some very interesting questions from the live audience, and just like with the previous webinar, we ended it with asking each guest speaker a final question: what is the one thing that you would do to address the state of Aotearoa's fisheries?
Moving forwards our speakers all pointed to the fact that we need to be more inclusive, managing our ecosystem from a broader perspective and working towards co-management. Some of the main takeaway messages from these presentations and their answers to our last question can be summarized in a few lines.
Protecting at least 30% of our marine environments is important; we've learnt so much from the small amount that is protected and we can’t ignore the benefit of protected areas.
We need to take a more integrated approach; our entire ecosystem would benefit from a more holistic approach, mindful of land and sea connections (see our previous webinar to learn more about this).
It’s important that we take responsibility for our own actions; if you enjoy seafood, its also important to ‘give back.’
We are part of the ecosystem and part of the solution; combining ecological science, mautauranga and local knowledge could be the key to regulating our fisheries appropriately, and these aspects need to guide management and support legislation.