Help celebrate Kapiti Marine Reserve's 25th birthday

FLOURISHING: Kapiti Marine Reserve. Photo by Darryl Torckler ©

A family fun day and barbecue will mark the 25th anniversary of the Kapiti Marine Reserve.

The celebration, organised by Guardians of Kapiti Marine Reserve, will take place at the Kapiti Boating Club on Saturday, May 6 from 1pm.

The sea themed event will feature plenty of family activities followed by a pot luck barbecue.

"This will be a relaxed, fun event and is an opportunity to mark this significant milestone," event organiser and Guardians committee member Martin Halliday said.

"There is an enormous amount of local support for the reserve, and the local community has played a significant role in its establishment back in 1992.

"This event is about celebrating what was achieved, and acknowledging the benefits the reserve provides to our community 25 years down the track.

"The Kapiti Boating Club played a lead role in the community consultation regarding the need for a marine reserve, having already established a voluntary no-fishing zone on the eastern side of Kapiti Island in 1987, five years prior to the official opening of the Kapiti Marine Reserve in 1992.

"It therefore seems only fitting to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the official opening of the reserve at the club."

Guardians chairman Ben Knight said the marine reserve proposal was a local community led initiative that enjoyed strong support from the newly formed Department of Conservation and the Ministry of Fisheries due to widespread concern about the Kapiti fishery which was on the verge of collapse by the mid 1980s due to years of intensive fishing pressure including destructive and wasteful commercial fishing methods such as bottom trawling.

"The current generation of recreational fisher folk, who enjoy relatively good fishing today, owe a huge debt of gratitude to those members of the local community who had the vision, will and determination to protect our local marine environment and ensure Kapiti's once legendary status as a fishing and diving hot spot was not lost forever," he said.

"The opening of the reserve in 1992 saved our local recreational fishery and now, 25 years on, the benefits are there for all to enjoy with a huge increase in the abundance of popular recreational species such as blue cod, butterfish, crayfish and paua, within the reserve areas.

"This has led to an overflow of marine life into the non-reserve areas, replenishing the wider marine area with higher numbers and larger fish and leading to a general increase in availability of popular recreational fishing species.

"This affirms the wisdom of the local community's vision when they first proposed a reserve back in 1992."

For more information or to get involved, email Ben via contactbenknight@icloud.com

Any proceeds will go towards supporting the Guardians' continued work to ensure the reserve continues to thrive for the benefit of future generations.