Implementing the Fiordland Marine Conservation Strategy

Fiordland's significance

Fiordland is a globally unique marine environment that contains both exceptional marine biodiversity and valuable marine resources. It is also an important economic area; over 300,000 tourists visit Milford Sound annually. Human activities bring a wide variety of risks, including oil spills, bio-invasion, over fishing, and anchoring damage to sensitive habitats.

The Guardians' Strategy

In 2003, the Guardians of Fiordland's Fisheries and Marine Environment (the Guardians) completed a strategy to address their concerns about the impacts of human activities on Fiordland's fisheries and marine environment. More information on the Guardians is in the Fiordland Marine Conservation Strategy Investigative Group Report. In the July 2004 issue of North and South magazine is an article, Guardian Angels (PDF 604 KB), which recounts the history and achievement of the Guardians. This article is provided here and was provided to Cabinet courtesy of North and South magazine.

In their strategy the Guardians proposed a package of complementary management measures. They believed some measures were best implemented through legislative change, and some through non-statutory plans and guidelines, industry and sector codes of practice, education and information provision.

Background to the Fiordland Marine Conservation Strategy

The Minister for the Environment's Investigative Group's Recommendations

An Investigative Group was established to assess how to implement the strategy. It included the Ministry of Fisheries (MFish), Department of Conservation (DoC), Ministry for the Environment (MfE), Maritime Safety Authority (MSA), Environment Southland, the Guardians and Ngai Tahu.

Government decisions were based on both the Investigative Group's recommendations and officials' analyses of these.

The Investigative Group analysed four broad options for implementing the management measures.

Option A: Current legislation - no new legislation - using only measures already available primarily under the Fisheries, Marine Reserves and Resource Management Acts

Option B: Comprehensive new legislation - new legislation that would apply in the Fiordland area only, and effectively replace the Fisheries, Marine Reserves and Resource Management Acts within that area

Option C: Minimal Fiordland-specific legislation - the least amount of statutory change necessary to implement the management measures, but no provisions relating to ongoing management

Option D: More comprehensive Fiordland-specific legislation - Option C plus provisions for ongoing management (i.e. a purpose provision, a statutory advisory body with specified functions, and requirement on agencies to have regard to its advice).

Option D was recommended.

Option D was unanimously endorsed by Investigative Group members. This option overcomes the limitations of the other options by being able to:

• Recognise the special nature of Fiordland's marine environment
• Create the Fiordland Marine Guardians committee and specify its functions in statute including the need for its advice to be developed in an integrated way
• Define a statutory boundary for all the management measures of the Fiordland marine area, and in the process create a geographically recognisable management entity - Fiordland Marine Area Map
• Impose a statutory duty on decision makers under the Resource Management, Fisheries and Marine Reserves Acts to have regard to the advice of the Fiordland Marine Guardians
• Provide for a formal review of the package management measures after five years of operation and periodically thereafter.
• Three sets of measures will be needed to complete the implementation programme: A new Fiordland marine Management Bill; Fisheries Act regulations; and planning and operational programmes.

The proposed Fiordland Marine Management Bill

To implement the strategy, a Fiordland-specific Bill will:

• Recognise the national and international importance of the marine habitats and communities and natural features within Fiordland's marine environment
• Create the Fiordland Marine Guardians advisory committee. This will take an overview of marine management in Fiordland and provide integrated advice to Ministers, central government management agencies and Environment Southland on the effectiveness of overall marine resources management within the Fiordland marine area.
• Require each of the primary management agencies making management decisions within the Fiordland marine area (Fisheries, Marine Reserves, Resource Management, Environment Southland) to recognise the Fiordland Marine Guardians and have regard to its advice
• Create an entity known as the Fiordland Marine Area and define a common boundary within which the proposed management measures will apply. The Fiordland Marine Area should extend from the eastern bank of the Waiau River in Southland northwards to Awarua Point in northern Fiordland, encompassing all of the Southland Coastal Marine Area between these two points, and including all the sea area from mean high water springs out to the 12 mile territorial limit adjacent to the Fiordland, including the waters of the fiords, but excluding the area around Solander Island. This area would be approximately 882,000 ha.
• Create eight new marine reserves in the Fiordland marine area comprising a total of approximately 9520 ha. For each new marine reserve, include conditions applying to the collection and removal of non-living taonga, the storage of rock lobster and rock lobster pots, public access and anchoring. See The Fiordland Marine Reserve Proposals.
• Require a review of the effectiveness of the management measures to be undertaken after five years and periodically thereafter.
• Disallow subsequent marine reserve applications within the Fiordland Marine Area until the completion of the first review of management, or at seven years from commencement of the Act, whichever is sooner.
• Insert changes into the proposed Southland Coastal Plan to implement coastal planning and management measures relating to consents, vessel anchoring, diving activities, biosecurity and 'china shop' rules. These are set out in the Investigative Group Report, at pages 36-37 and 44-45 of Annex 1.

Other legislative changes - Fisheries Act regulations

All the fisheries management measures will be implemented through existing regulation-making powers under the Fisheries Act 1996. Table 1 - Proposed Fisheries Management Measures provides a succinct list of these. The areas closed to commercial fishing are also indicated in the Fiordland marine reserve and non-commercial fishing area location map.

Administrative measures

Inter-agency groups (including DoC, MFish, MfE and Environment Southland) will plan for the following work programmes:

• Implementation Planning - The Ministry for the Environment will convene an 'Implementation Planning Group' to provide project planning and overall co-ordination for the period until the Fiordland Marine Guardians are established and departments and agencies have developed the specific management programmes noted below.
• Fiordland Marine Guardians set-up and support - The Ministry for the Environment will, within the parameters set by Cabinet, be responsible for establishing and managing the Fiordland Marine Guardians.
• Environmental Monitoring - The proposed new management measures will require monitoring. It is proposed that DoC lead and co-ordinate the development of a monitoring plan fore the area.
• Compliance and Enforcement planning - A new and innovative approach to compliance and enforcement in Fiordland. These need to be carefully planned so that responsibility is appropriately shared between the community and the relevant statutory agencies. It is proposed that MFish lead and co-ordinate the development of a compliance and enforcement plan for the area.
• Biosecurity - Preventing incursions by unwanted marine species that could impact on the particular habitats and values of the Fiordland marine environment is a priority. It is proposed that the Marine Biosecurity Agency lead the development of a marine biosecurity plan for the area.
• Information and Education - Associated with both monitoring and compliance, but also as part of the broader requirement to change people's awareness and manage their behaviour is the need to inform them. DoC, MFish and Environment Southland will need to produce new information material, ranging from signs to pamphlets. It is proposed that Environment Southland (with MfE support) lead this role.

Central government agencies will be required to assess and implement improved management relationships and interactions in the area.

Process and Timetable for Implementation

Implementation will take place in three stages, over three years; legislative (broadly 2004/05), planning (broadly 2005/06) and operational implementation (2006 onwards).

• Legislative - During 2004/05 the relevant legislative initiatives will be developed, culminating in the passing of the Fiordland Marine Area Bill. This would also include the Fisheries Act Regulations. The outcome of this stage would be the implementation of the key management elements of the Guardians strategy with establishment of the Fiordland Marine Area, revised fisheries management rules, marine reserves and the Fiordland Marine Guardians advisory committee. The target date for the legislation to pass is July 2005. The Fiordland Marine Guardians committee could be established earlier by the Minister for the Environment to assist with the planning stage.
• Planning - Once the Fiordland Marine Guardians are established they will be able to assist in the planning, development and co-ordination of the various operational requirements of the Fiordland Marine Area. Although various statutory agencies will have their lead roles as described above, it is important to ensure that local need, pragmatism and practicality are able to be important parts of the future management of the area and its resources. This would be a set of tasks to be undertaken during the 2005 calendar year, so that the results can become part of the various agencies business planning and Budget cycle for the 2006/07 year.
• Operational implementation - During the 2006/07 year, i.e. from around July 2006 onwards, the agreed and funded plans associated with the relevant operational aspects of management would begin to be implemented.

The proposed approach and timetable is supported by the Guardians group. They also recognise the importance of, as they say, "do it once, do it right, and involve us as much as possible".

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