EU launches €115M fund to restore oceans and empower fishers
Aotearoa New Zealand’s oceans are currently warming faster than almost anywhere else on the planet, placing unprecedented stress on marine ecosystems already struggling with harvesting pressures, sedimentation, and habitat destruction.
The impacts are becoming increasingly visible through undernourished snapper, starving penguins, and seabirds unable to provide for their chicks, News.Az reports, citing scoop.co.nz.
Inshore areas are particularly vulnerable, as extreme weather events drive massive plumes of sediment into coastal waters, while overharvesting continues to destabilize food webs and decimate vital underwater forests.
Addressing this crisis requires a rapid legislative overhaul of the Marine Reserves Act, which has seen reform efforts stall for over two decades. The current pace of protection is illustrated by the Hauraki Gulf, where securing safeguards took over ten years—a timeline experts argue is simply too long. Modernized legislation is needed to provide a speedier process and a wider range of spatial protection tools, including customary management approaches, to ensure the next government finally brings these long-awaited changes to fruition.
A major priority remains the restoration of kelp forests. While the recent ban on rock lobster harvesting in parts of the Hauraki Gulf and the North Island’s northeast coast is a positive step toward addressing kina barrens, these closures must expand to the outer Hauraki Gulf and the Marlborough Sounds. Furthermore, dedicated funding for active restoration is essential to help these depleted underwater forests bounce back from years of decline.
Public attention has also turned toward the destructive practice of bottom trawling, highlighted by Jono Ridler’s heroic unaided swim from North Cape to Wellington. His call to end the practice is backed by a petition with over 80,000 signatures. Because bottom trawling currently accounts for 70 percent of the commercial catch, the transition will require the urgent development and rollout of innovative gear, such as the Canadian Katchi net or the Westport Lareco trawl, which harvest efficiently without seabed contact. As politicians continue to stall, advocates are calling for an immediate freeze on the current bottom-trawling footprint and the protection of ecologically sensitive areas like seamounts to safeguard the future of New Zealand’s marine heritage.
By Leyla Şirinova
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