Time to give Hauraki Gulf shellfish a break: EDS backs tighter harvesting controls

EDS has lodged a submission supporting Fisheries New Zealand’s proposals for stronger protections for Hauraki Gulf shellfish across the Auckland-Coromandel region.

EDS Policy Director Raewyn Peart says a ban on almost all recreational shellfish harvesting in the Hauraki Gulf is well overdue.

EDS supports closing recreational shellfish harvesting while allowing limited harvest of kina and rock and Pacific oysters. Once more information is available about other species, and it is clear that their harvest is sustainable, they can be exempt from the ban.

“The closure measures should be applied to all inshore areas in the Auckland Coromandel Area, including around the islands. Given the large number of recreational boats in the Hauraki Gulf, intertidal areas around islands are under considerable harvesting pressure and this needs to be better managed.

“Finally, EDS is also seeking a full closure of harvest of green-lipped mussel beds throughout the entire Auckland Coromandel Area, to cover those beds outside the proposed 200 metre closure zone. Historic mussel beds once covered large areas of the Hauraki Gulf. Most have disappeared and restoration efforts have not shown success. The remaining wild beds are too important to lose.”