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State of Our Gulf 2014 Hauraki Gulf – Tīkapa Moana/ Te Moananui a Toi State of the Environment Report 2014 Table of Contents

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State of Our Gulf 2014 Hauraki Gulf – Tīkapa Moana/ Te Moananui a Toi State of the Environment Report 2014 Table of Contents State of our Gulf 2014 Hauraki Gulf – Tīkapa Moana/ Te Moananui a Toi State of the Environment Report 2014 Table of Contents 1.1 List of Figures 2 First published September 2014 1.2 List of Tables 6 2 Chairman’s Foreword 8 3 Executive Summary 10 Published by: 4 Background 16 Hauraki Gulf Forum 4.1 The Hauraki Gulf Marine Park 17 c/o Auckland Council 4.2 The Hauraki Gulf Forum 19 Private Bag 42300 4.3 This Report 20 Auckland, 1142 5 Situation analysis 21 The Hauraki Gulf Forum is a statutory body charged with the promotion and 5.1 Current and changing pressures 22 facilitation of integrated management and the protection and enhancement of the Hauraki Gulf. The Forum has representation on behalf of the Ministers 5.1.1 Population growth and urban development 23 for Conservation, Primary Industries and Māori Affairs, elected representatives 5.1.2 Boating 29 from Auckland Council (including the Great Barrier and Waiheke local boards), 5.1.3 Agriculture 29 Waikato Regional Council, and the Waikato, Hauraki, Thames Coromandel and Matamata Piako district councils, plus six representatives of the tangata 5.1.4 Fishing 31 whenua of the Hauraki Gulf and its islands. 5.1.5 Aquaculture 32 5.1.6 Climate change 34 Contact: Tim Higham 5.1.7 Case Study – Aquaculture: a growing industry 38 Hauraki Gulf Forum Manager, Auckland Council 5.2 Changes for Tangata whenua 43 Ph 09 484 8277, [email protected] 5.2.1 Future Developments 44 www.haurakigulfforum.org.nz 5.3 Changing management 45 Photographer 5.3.1 Case Study: Application of non-regulatory tools 52 Richard Robinson www.depth.co.nz 5.4 Changing knowledge 56 978-1-927216-63-7 6 Environmental Indicators 59 6.1 Fisheries 60 6.1.1 Indicators of fisheries sustainability 62 6.1.2 Case Study: Māori Fishing 64 Disclaimer 6.1.3 Snapper (Tāmure) 68 While Forum members and their consultants have exercised all reasonable skill 6.1.4 Case Study: Snapper management decision 73 and care in controlling the contents of information contained in this report, they accept no liability in contract, tort or otherwise howsoever, for any loss, 6.1.5 Crayfish (Koura) 76 damage, injury or expense (whether direct, indirect or consequential) arising 6.1.6 Benthic disturbance 80 out of the provision of this information or its use by you or others. 6.1.7 Cockles (Tuangi) 85 6.2 Toxic chemicals and benthic health 89 6.2.1 Contaminant concentrations and trends 90 6.2.2 Benthic health 92 6.2.3 Case study: Restoration of Te Whenua Rangatira 96 1 Tīkapa Moana – Hauraki Gulf State of the Environment Report 2014 1.1 List of Figures 6.3 Nutrients 98 Figure 4-1: The Hauraki Gulf, Tīkapa Moana/Te Moananui a Toi and its catchment. 18 6.3.1 Coastal nutrients 101 Figure 5-1: Central Auckland areas serviced by a combined wastewater and stormwater pipe network (i.e. 6.3.2 Case Study: Whaia te Mahere Taiao a Hauraki – Hauraki Iwi Environmental Plan 104 both services are included in the same pipe (red)), and areas with separate wastewater pipes (blue). 24 6.4 Microbiological contamination (pathogens) 107 Figure 5-2: The a) number and b) total duration (in minutes) of all wastewater overflows between 2011 6.4.1 Microbiological indicator 110 and 2013 from major pump stations discharging to the Hauraki Gulf. 25 6.5 Sediment 112 Figure 5-3: Percentage of dwellings occupied during the 2013 census. 27 6.5.1 Changes in mud content and benthic ecology 113 6.5.2 Total suspended solids (TSS) 114 Figure 5-4: Consents granted for coastal subdivisions on Coromandel Peninsula between 2011 and 2013, together with current levels of development (average parcel size is less than or greater than 5 ha) and 6.5.3 Coastal sedimentation 117 outstanding natural landscapes. 28 6.5.4 Mangroves 117 Figure 5-5: a) Total number of cows reported for local districts in 2013; and, b) the number of cows per 6.6 Introduced (non-indigenous) marine species 121 hectare in districts throughout New Zealand (data on cow numbers obtained from LIC & Dairy NZ 2013). 30 6.7 Harmful algae, pathogens and mass mortalities 127 Figure 5-6: Trends in dairy cow numbers in a sub-set of districts (or previous districts) that are partially 6.8 Rubbish 129 or wholly within the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park catchment. Auckland Districts are shown on top, with 6.8.1 Trends in rubbish 130 Waikato districts below. Data obtained from New Zealand Dairy Statistics, Livestock Improvement Corporation. Note the difference in the vertical scales. 30 6.9 Islands of the Gulf 132 6.9.1 Island biodiversity 132 Figure 5-7: Commercial catch (tonnes) of the top 16 fish species caught in the Hauraki Gulf between the 2007–08 and 2011–12 fishing seasons (combined data from statistical reporting areas, 005, 006, 007 and 6.9.2 Harmful pests 135 008). Note that deepwater species are not included in this figure. 32 6.10 Bryde’s whales 141 Figure 5-8: Areas where trawling and Danish seining is either prohibited or limits apply to the size of 6.10.1 Case Study: A shared goal for Bryde’s whales 143 vessel, or times when trawling and Danish seining can occur. 33 6.11 Seabirds 145 Figure 5-9: Spatial distribution of a) bottom trawls undertaken between 1 January 2011 and 01 January 6.11.1 Case Study: Threats to New Zealand seabird populations 148 2014, b) bottom long line sets between 1 January 2011 and 01 January 2014, and c) recreational fishing 6.12 Shorebirds 151 boats observed during aerial surveys in 2011-12 (see Hartill et al. 2013). 35 6.13 Coastal Development 155 Figure 5-10: Aquaculture in the Hauraki Gulf, including a) the locations of farms in the Hauraki Gulf, 7 Adequacy of the response 159 and, b) extent of existing marine farms and zones in the eastern Tāmaki Strait, Coromandel and Firth of Thames, together with spat-catching consent applications that will come off hold on 31 December 2014. 41 7.1 Integration in decision making, and alignment with priority issues 162 7.1.1 Fisheries 162 Figure 6-1: Density of <24 hour old snapper eggs obtained during a December 1992 survey (data provided by John Zeldis, NIWA). 69 7.1.2 Marine Protected Areas 166 Figure 6-2: Model reconstruction of the biomass of the Hauraki Gulf snapper substock in a) tonnes, and a. 7.1.3 Active Land management 168 ss 300 ma 250 0) 0 Bio 200 x10 ock St 150 nes on 100 ning (t 50 paw b) as a percentage of the unfished biomass (adapted from Ministry for Primary Industries 2013d). The S 0 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 b. ) 100 ass ass om 80 iom Bi 7.1.4 Stakeholders 171 b 60 ock ed St fish 40 n ing wn dotted lines represent the interim target (40% B0), the soft limit (20% B0) and the hard limit (10% B0). 71 of u 20 (% Spa 0 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 8 Discussion 172 Year Figure 6-3: East Northland, Hauraki Gulf and Bay of Plenty substocks in the Snapper 1 (SNA1) quota 9 Conclusions 175 management area (adapted from Figure 7 in Ministry for Primary Industries (2013j)). 71 10 Glossary and abbreviations 178 Figure 6-4: Map of the CRA 2 quota management area relative to the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park (a), and 11 Acknowledgements 180 historical reconstruction of autumn-winter (AW) and spring-summer (SS) biomass of crayfish above the 12 References 181 legal size limit (i.e. the recruited biomass) in CRA 2 (from Starr et al. 2014). 78-79 13 Index 193 Figure 6-5: Size frequency distributions of lobsters recorded during the 2013 survey of the Te Whanganui- a-Hei Marine Reserve (Data provided by Tim Haggitt). 79 Figure 6-6: Aggregation of mainly female crayfish during the spawning season in Tawharanui Marine Reserve. 79 Figure 6-7: Emergent species, such as these sponges and horse mussels in Jones Bay on the southern side of Tawharanui Peninsula, are very sensitive to fishing or other activities that disturb the seabed (photo courtesy of Shane Kelly). 81 3 Tīkapa Moana – Hauraki Gulf Figure 6-8: Bottom biota recorded during trawl surveys carried out in 1901 and 1907 by the Inspector Figure 6-24: Percentage of beach monitoring samples exceeding the Ministry for the Environment and of Fisheries, L. F. Ayson (see Ayson 1901, 1908). Trawl lines are overlaid on a grid showing the number of Ministry of Health’s ‘action’ guideline for Enterococci levels between a) 2006–07 and 2007–08 summer bottom trawls undertaken between 1 January 2011 and 1 January 2014. Details about the bottom biota seasons in the Waikato Region and the 2007–08 and 2009–10 summer seasons in the Auckland Region, were provided for the red trawl lines, as indicated. 82 and b) the 2010–11 to 2012–13 summer seasons in the Auckland Region. Note that beach monitoring has not been carried out in the Waikato Region since 2008. 111 Figure 6-9: Total number of scallop tows in fishing reporting areas between 1999 and 2012. Also shown are the areas where commercial scallop dredging is prohibited; commercial scallop beds identified in Tuck Figure 6-25: Proportion of samples that exceeded the ‘action’ guideline value for Enterococci et al. (2006); and, the approximate extent of the recently discovered, deep water scallop bed in Areas 2W concentrations at Auckland beach monitoring sites between 2007–10 and 2011–13 111 and 2S (based on Williams 2012).
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