Petition to Amend the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Act 2025

We call on the New Zealand Government to amend Sections 22 and 23 of the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Act 2025 to prohibit commercial fishing within all High Protection Areas.

High Protection Areas are intended to provide safe refuges where marine ecosystems can recover, fish populations can rebuild, and biodiversity can thrive. However, the current Act allows authorised commercial fisheries to undertake ring-net fishing within some of these protected areas. This undermines the purpose of marine protection and limits the ability of fish populations and marine habitats to recover.

Healthy marine ecosystems are essential to New Zealand's environmental, economic, and social wellbeing. They support recreational fishing, tourism, cultural values, food security, and commercial fisheries themselves. Protected areas should function as true sanctuaries where marine life can grow and reproduce without commercial harvesting pressure.

Allowing commercial fishing within High Protection Areas weakens public confidence in marine conservation and reduces the effectiveness of measures designed to restore the health of the Hauraki Gulf and other marine ecosystems around New Zealand.

We therefore urge Parliament to remove all provisions that allow commercial fishing within High Protection Areas and ensure these areas provide genuine protection for marine life, both now and for future generations.