Dame Cath needs help to rule the waves

By PHILIP ENGLISH

New Zealand, with one of the longest coastlines per capita in the world, has never had a policy on how its oceans should be governed.

The Government aims to establish an oceans policy and public meetings will begin in Auckland next week to gauge views on what people want for the marine environment.

New Zealand's exclusive economic zone, stretching 200 nautical miles (370 km) offshore, is the fourth-largest in the world. At 4.05 million sq km, the area is 15 times the country's landmass.

But while there are plenty of policies for managing the land, our laws covering use of the oceans are complicated, piecemeal and sometimes contradictory. Eighteen pieces of legislation are administered by numerous Government departments.

Public meetings have already been held throughout most of the country.

The consultation process is headed by former Auckland mayor and Governor-General Dame Catherine Tizard, who chairs the ministerial advisory committee on oceans policy. It will produce a report by the end of September.

Dame Cath says public interest in the oceans policy is building.

"It takes quite a while sometimes to persuade people that there really is no policy."

The oceans policy website has attracted more than 100,000 hits and 72,000 downloads. Three hundred schools are involved and 16,000 submission booklets have been mailed.

Dame Cath says the common issues raised at meetings are recreational and commercial fishing, marine reserves, shellfish depletion, pollution, invasive marine pests and Maori rights.

"The status quo is not an option.

"When we talk about management and use of the oceans we are talking about everything in, on, under, alongside and running into the ocean ... you are into farming, sewage disposal, toxic runoff."

The first public meeting in the region is in West Auckland at the Ceramco Park function centre at 5.30 pm next Monday. The deadline for submissions is August 17.

* For information on meetings, contact the oceans policy secretariat on 0800 001-461.

Oceans Policy