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From: BRIAN REID
_: 5
Date: 30-08-10
Time: 10:18
Hello Nick You will remember visiting Akaroa in 1996 and kayaking in Akaroa Harbour to visit the proposed marine reserve. The outcome of the Agreement which you brokered with stakeholders in 1998 was that you allowed the Akaroa application to remain live while the taiāpure was being debated. The taiāpure now covers the remainder (90%) of Akaroa Harbour, excluding the reserve site. This was following the recommendation of the Maori Land Court hearing in 2003. The Akaroa application has now been revisited by the relevant ministers.
Another seven years pass, more consultation, more work, more advocacy, more attempts to breach our differences with fishers and the local runanga, and now your Minister of Conservation, Kate Wilkinson, has declined the reserve on the ridiculous grounds that it will “adversely affect recreational fishing”. We all know that reserves “adversely affect recreational fishing” otherwise they are pointless. Fishers still have 90% of the harbour to fish in.
What a devastating result after twenty years of trying. No more reserve discussions anywhere in Canterbury or on the East Coast of the South Island. The shock waves of this decision are reverberating around the marine conservation community to a high degree and it is escalating. This decision has established a precedent for all other applications and in effect, has forced them all to question the worth of proceeding. Is this your vision for marine conservation as the Minister for the Environment and Minister of Climate Change and ex-Minister of Conservation?
What will become of Akaroa Harbour in, say, five years, ten years? Red cod has disappeared from Akaroa Harbour and this statement has been made by the greedy recreational fishers who have opposed the marine reserve! The whole town of Akaroa depends on tourism and a large emphasis on Hector’s dolphin viewing. There is now concern that the Hector’s are hungry and that they may not come into the harbour to play if they are feeding further offshore. What is your answer to this?
And all this in the International Year of Biodiversity and NZ’s commitment to protecting 10% of the marine environment by 2010. We had better hurry up, only five months to go and 9.7% short.
The bluegreens are holding their conference in Akaroa in October. Why Akaroa? Perhaps it is because the town has nice restaurants, accommodation, harbour trips, scenic beauty etc etc. What supports this? Tourism definitely. We see from the conference programme that the bluegreens (“the new generation of thinkers” according to John Key) are discussing “Coastal and Oceans Policy”. Did Kate W consult the bluegreens prior to making her decision? If not, why not? If she did, did they advise her to decline it?
The community is reeling from this decision. Why is Kate Wilkinson Minister of Conservation when she appears to have no interest in conservation? After twenty years of work, it took a phone call of 60 seconds for Kate W to kill our application and worrying, to threaten those pending.
Can the decision be reversed? What comments do you have? Where do we go now with the Akaroa question? What happens to all the other reserve investigations in the N.I. following on from this National policy statement? There are many questions to answer and we will not rest until they are addressed. We have requested all the documents we can under the OIA along with our N.I. counterparts.
The Minister is aware that the local runanga is divided on support/opposition to the reserve. It is the (female including younger) residents of Onuku who support, and the old school of non-resident men, who object. The Minister has given recreational fishing as her reason for turning the application down, not customary use. See attached letter.
Amy Adams has been sympathetic to us and we have had a high regard for her as our local National MP but we have not heard from her regarding this decision. Amy accompanied Tim Groser (2009) and Kate W (2010) when these ministers visited Akaroa to discuss the application and is a member of the bluegreens.
Yours sincerely
Brian Reid President of Akaroa Harbour Marine Protection Society
Last changed: 23-Jul-2011