The Environmental Law Initiative welcomes Fisheries New Zealand’s proposals to close crayfish fisheries along the east coast of Northland, the Hauraki Gulf, and the Bay of Plenty, to allow recovery of crayfish populations and ecosystems. 

Hoiho (yellow-eyed penguins) are one of Aotearoa’s most treasured taonga — and one of the world’s rarest penguins.

Sadly, they are in serious trouble, especially the mainland population, which is in rapid decline and at risk of extinction.

We’ve written to Ministers calling for urgent action to protect hoiho.

ELI’s director of legal and research, Dr Matt Hall says, “Any restrictions on judicial review under the Fisheries Act will mean that when unlawful decisions are made, they may be unchallengeable. This would undermine the rule of law.”

ELI’s submission to Fisheries NZ’s review of sustainability measures for spiny rock lobster (crayfish) for the area known as CRA 2, which covers the Hauraki Gulf.

Populations of many protected species that inhabit New Zealand’s waters are declining. ELI recently submitted its feedback on DOC’s draft plan for the Conservation Services Programme, which serves as the government’s primary mechanism for understanding and tackling fishing-related risks to protected species. In light of the alarming decline in marine biodiversity and the precarious state of our marine environment, formulating an effective plan to thoroughly investigate and address the effects of fishing on our taonga marine species is critical. Here are our recommendations for improving the draft plan.

MPI recently sought feedback on its guidelines for “identifying habitats of particular significance” for fisheries management. Facing mounting pressure to address the declining health of coastal environments, MPI has claimed that this initiative is one of several to move Aotearoa New Zealand towards ecosystem-based management (EBM) of its fisheries.

ELI welcomes this end-goal, having made our views on the importance of EBM in Aotearoa’s fisheries known, both in court and in our public policy submissions. But we’re equally concerned that these proposals in their current form are unlikely to get us there. Here’s why.

New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is home to at least 113 species of shark, more than 70 of which have been recorded in NZ’s fisheries. Sharks play an important role in maintaining healthy marine ecosystems, but face a litany of significant threats, most of which are human induced. Read our submission to FNZ and DOC on their Draft National Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks 2022.

Read our full submission on the Fisheries Amendment Bill, and why the proposed changes are unlikely to fulfil the Govt’s stated intentions for our Oceans and Fisheries.

Read our analysis in The Conversation on Aotearoa’s biodiversity crisis, and why we must strengthen our plan for addressing it.

Two resource consent applications have been lodged to Auckland Council by private company McCallum Bros to continue sand mining in-shore and mid-shore around the Pakiri beach area. If successful, these developments are likely to have negative effects on a number of indigenous species, habitats and taxa, including the New Zealand Fairy Tern (the rarest endemic bird species in Aotearoa). In ELI’s view, because of lack of available evidence on the ecological effects of the development, Auckland Council is obligated to apply a precautionary approach and decline the application, or pause it until further information is available.

Aotearoa is suffering a serious marine biodiversity crisis. Considering this, it is surprising that Fisheries NZ does not mention the word biodiversity once in its plan to implement camera technologies on its inshore commercial fishing fleet. In ELI’s view, the proposal lacks the urgency and context of the crisis the rollout is designed to address. Read our submission to FNZ here.