Marine Reserve Proposed for Nelson Coast

Forest and Bird, Issue 291, 1 February 1999, Page 14

Marine Reserve Proposed for Nelson Coast

Andy Dennis

orest and Bird is moving to the coast northeast of Nelson city as a marine reserve. The application dates back to the early 1980s, when the Nelson branch of Forest and Bird and Nelson Environment Centre jointly produced a pamphlet identifying this section of coast as having a ‘complete range of habitats typical of those found in Tasman Bay’. Their case argued that because of its relatively undisturbed condition, and the proximity to Nelson City, this is an ideal area for marine protection. Since then the possibility of creating a marine reserve ‘somewhere between the Nelson Boulder Bank and Whangamoa Head’ has been further investigated by the former Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, local conservation groups, the former Nelson Bays United Council and the Department of Conservation. All concluded that this part of eastern Tasman Bay is indeed a suitable area for marine protection. In 1996, Nelson Forest and Bird produced a public discussion document presenting a range of options for a marine reserve in the area. Having been given a clear vote of public support, Forest and Bird is now proceeding to lodge a formal application for a ‘Glenduan to Ataata Point Marine Reserve’. The proposed reserve extends along 5.5 kilometres of boulder and rocky shore from Glenduan (or "The Glen’) at the northern

end of the Nelson Boulder Bank, to Ataata Point at the western end of Cable Bay. With a seaward boundary one nautical mile from the shore this will protect about 1150 hectares of sea and seabed. In determining these boundaries the branch has maintained close consultation with local iwi, and especially with Ngati Tama who hold manawhenua over this part of the Nelson coast. In 1997, Ngati Tama applied for a taiapure reserve over the area from Ataata Point to Whangamoa Head, the section of coast immediately north of the proposed marine reserve. The most spectacular feature of the proposed marine reserve are areas of ‘sponge gardens’ at depths of less than 15 metres.

Surveys commissioned by Nelson Forest and Bird, from the National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research, describe the area as having ‘some of the most colourful and ... the largest individual sponges that we have seen in New Zealand. Other notable features include the distinctive sub-tidal geomorphology of the internationally significant Nelson Boulder Bank. There are unusually high densities of starfish in the area, and an important roost for 500-1000 spotted shags at Ataata Point. The principal value of the reserve, however, is in the way it

will protect a sequence of intertidal and sub-tidal habitats which are typical of much of the eastern parts of Tasman Bay. As such it will provide an important complement to the other marine reserves at the northern end of the South Island (at Westhaven/Te

Tai Tapu near Farewell Spit, Tonga Island on the coast of Abel Tasman National Park, and Long Island/Kokomohua in Queen Charlotte Sound), each of which protects very different types of coastal marine environments. While a number of other marine reserve proposals are presently stalled by opposition from tangata whenua, or commercial fishing interests, Nelson Forest and Bird is hopeful that their ‘Glenduan to Ataata Point’ application will avoid these difficulties. The branch has worked closely with Ngati Tama, both in supporting them in their taiapure application and in negotiating a boundary between the proposed marine reserve and taiapure which is acceptable to both parties. The area is of little interest to commercial fishers and is at present subject to a voluntary no-trawl agreement over the summer months. Also assisting the case is the widespread public support already registered for the creation of this marine reserve. Some 506 of the 688 responses to the public discussion document supported the general concept of a marine reserve somewhere in this area. This included 89 of 104 responses sent in by residents living in the immediate area. There will, however, almost certainly be a strong campaign mounted against the proposal by recreational fishers. Therefore, please send a submission supporting this marine reserve to the Regional Conservator, Department of Conservation, Private Bag 5, Nelson, by April

20, 1999.