The shining waters of the Poor Knights Islands

Three years after the waters surrounding Northland's Poor Knights Islands were closed to all fishing, GUY MULLER examines the impact.

Aboard charter boat Knight Diver, American Joe enthuses about his first dive at the Poor Knights Islands. He talks about the yellow, black-and-white striped sandagers wrasse that just moments before kissed his camera lens and the cheek-scarred moray eel that has become one of the resident and easily located dive attractions.

Diving is one of those shared experiences that lead quickly to an easy bond between strangers. And this trip aboard Kevin Butler's Tutukaka-based launch is no different. Helping each other gear-up, visitors from Singapore, Israel, Britain, America and New Zealand are buddied-up and prepared for their second dive. With 28 years' diving and 10,000 dives under his weight belt, Butler tells them where to go and what to look for once under the water.

The waters of the Poor Knights Islands host a vast array of marine life. Even for those without scuba gear, a simple mask and snorkel provide a superb window into the richness of this world.

Sponges of luminous orange and yellow cling to sheer rock faces that plummet vertically from above the waterline. Just a few metres below the surface, two-spotted demoiselles, synchronised in their movements, huddle in schools, while a red pigfish glides lazily past finger-like corals.

Deeper, a stingray glides through filtered light, its gently undulating wings propelling it in effortless motion. Jacques Cousteau once described this as as a world top-10 dive location.

These waters, 24km from Northland's east coast, were closed to all fishing three years ago. Until then, and since 1981 when the islands were made a marine reserve, fishing for some species had been allowed in designated areas.

The decision to ban all fishing was contentious. Some local charter operators and many fishers favoured a compromise, making some areas strictly no-take areas and allowing restricted fishing in others. But the islands were closed to all fishing, and all marine life was to be protected to 800m offshore.

Butler says this ban has led to a significant growth in marine life.. The most obvious change is the increase in snapper life, he says, and with the diving getting better, the international reputation of the Poor Knights is growing.

Scientific research is validating this anecdotal evidence.. Chris Denny, a Leigh-based, Auckland University scientist, has been studying fish life at the islands since shortly before the closure.

He is using two methods to monitor fish population: underwater visual census (diver observation) to monitor reef fish and baited underwater video to study snapper.

This long-term study, together with control studies at Cape Brett and the Mokohinau Islands, has revealed an increase in fish life, particularly in the number and size of snapper.

Jeroen Jongejans, joint-owner of dive-specialist charter operation Dive Tutukaka, also believes the closure has enhanced fish life. Jongejans runs four boats - three to the Poor Knights Islands and one to the two wreck dives, the HMNZS Waikato and the HMNZS Tui, which lie about 2km from Tutukaka.

"Generally we felt that before the ban the fish life was suffering and the pressure was increasing all the time," he says. "We just have to make sure that what we do is sustainable. The whole dive industry is aware that it is something they have to look after to maintain the magic of the islands."

Because sustainable activities under and on the water bring large numbers to the Poor Knights Islands each year, including 15,000 divers, it has huge potential as a tourist destination.

The islands have also gained international exposure through an Air New Zealand campaign promoting dive destinations in the Pacific.

But it is not just the underwater landscape of caves, arches, canyons and lava pipes that attracts visitors. Life above the waterline also has much to offer. With kayaks aboard the boats, Jongejans' clients can explore the reserve from the water's surface.

Visitors can paddle through caves, tunnels and numerous imposing archways. Pohutukawa, the Poor Knights lily, flax, toetoe and astelias cling to cliffs.

Bird life includes bellbirds, petrels, shearwaters, gannets, red-crowned parakeets, kingfishers and penguins. At times paddlers can be treated to the sights of seals, dolphins, whales, sharks and turtles.

But not all locals speak so positively about the closure to fishing. Charter operator Malcolm Pitt, who used to fish the islands, maintains that there was room for greater compromise between the wishes of fishers and those who supported a ban.

According to Pitt, charter operators, many of whom made a large part of their income from fishing charter work at the islands, have been devastated by the move.

"Operators are still going to the wall," he says. "A lot of guys have gone out of business because they had small boats that could fish the Knights in relative safety. Other offshore islands are too distant."

Furthermore, Pitt maintains that the islands are now more open to being pillaged. "There's now nobody there before 10 am and after 4 pm and the surveillance is inadequate. In those days there was someone there just about every night and you knew all the movements of people coming and going."



Keith Hawkins, of the Department of Conservation's Northland conservancy, acknowledges that the islands can't be monitored 24 hours a day. He knows of isolated incidents of illegal fishing but does not believe there is regular offending.

"In some ways ensuring compliance is now easier. Previously, up to 20 per cent of visitors to the islands were confused about boundaries and many protected fish species were being accidentally killed or injured. These problems created antagonism between fishers and divers, and between fishers and DoC.."

With more clear-cut rules there is less confusion, he says. Consequently, many regular visitors to the islands are acting as the department's eyes and are now more prepared to ensure other visitors abide by the rules.



Just how much damage was done to the islands' marine ecosystem before 1998 is difficult to ascertain as most evidence is anecdotal and not based on scientific research. But most agree that fish life has benefited from the closure to all fishing.

The ban has had an effect on the local human community. But while some charter operators have felt the negative effects of the closure, some other businesses maintain that things have improved.

Ngunguru Holiday Park and Backpackers owner Stuart Goldstone says while he has fewer fishers staying, he now has more divers. He thinks this is due in part to the ban, but also because of the closeness of the two recently established wreck dives.

Closer to Tutukaka marina and overlooking the deep-blue waters of the Tutukaka harbour entrance is the Pacific Rendezvous motel. Owner Lynley Horne acknowledges that while some charter operators are hurting, what she has lost from fishing she has gained from diving.

A stone's throw from the Tutukaka marina is the Schnappa Rock Cafe. Owner Peter Vink says his business has always attracted more divers than fishers so he, too, has experienced little negative impact.

A local group called Tutukaka Coastal Promotions, of which Vink is a member, has been active in promoting the area. Vink believes this promotion, coupled with the islands' enhanced dive status, is bringing in more people..

Exactly what the future holds for our oceans, and in particular, our marine reserves, remains to be seen. The establishment of more marine reserves though, seems assured, given the Government's biodiversity strategy.

While applications for reserves continue to be made and further sites are under review, the Government is reviewing the Marine Reserves Act, passed in 1971, which focuses on establishing marine reserves for scientific study.

Part of the aim of the review is to look at ways of improving the way marine reserves are established, better involving tangata whenua and other communities.

Northland Region

Poor Knights Islands

Worth reading

A new book, Poor Knights Wonderland by Glenn Edney, includes hundreds of colour photographs of marine life in the Poor Knights waters, as well as recommended diving sites, a history of the area and chapters on its native flora and fauna.

ISBN: 0 473 08155 5

Price $25.95

Available from Dive New Zealand


Tel (09) 521 0684