Cover: Te Hauturu-o-Toi /Little Barrier Island seen from Aotea/Great Barrier Island. Photo: Andris Apse Crown copyright, May 2021. Report should be cited as: Department of Conservation and Fisheries New Zealand 2021: Sea Change – Tai Timu Tai Pari Plan marine protected area (MPA) proposals: agency analysis and advice on selection of MPAs towards development of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park MPA network. 166 p. Lead authors: Irene Pohl and Greig Funnell This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. In essence, you are free to copy, distribute and adapt the work, as long as you attribute the work to the Crown and abide by the other licence terms. To view a copy of this licence, www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 Please note that no departmental or governmental emblem, logo or Coat of Arms may be used in any way that infringes any provision of the Flags, Emblems, and Names Protection Act 1981. Use the wording ‘Department of Conservation’ in your attribution, not the Department of Conservation logo. Contents Executive summary ................................................................................................................................. 5 Purpose of this report ............................................................................................................................. 6 Glossary ................................................................................................................................................... 7 The Hauraki Gulf Marine Park ................................................................................................................. 8 Background ......................................................................................................................................... 8 The Sea Change – Tai Timu Tai Pari Plan proposals for marine protection .......................................... 12 MPA tools defined in the Sea Change Plan ....................................................................................... 12 Sea Change MPA Proposals .............................................................................................................. 14 Agency approach towards assessing the Sea Change MPA proposal ................................................... 16 Best available information ................................................................................................................ 16 Part 1 – Site-by-site assessment of Sea Change MPA proposals and Agency response ....................... 18 1. Mokohinau Islands .................................................................................................................... 19 2. Te Hauturu-o-Toi / Little Barrier Island and Cradock Channel .................................................. 28 3. Cape Colville .............................................................................................................................. 41 4. Aldermen Islands ...................................................................................................................... 49 5. Mercury Islands – Great Mercury Island (Ahuahu) and Red Mercury Island (Whakau) ........... 60 6. Whanganui-A-Hei (Catheral Cove) marine reserve extension .................................................. 65 7. Slipper Island/Whakahau .......................................................................................................... 70 8. Cape Rodney-Okakari Point Marine Reserve extension ........................................................... 76 9. Whangateau Harbour ............................................................................................................... 83 10. Kawau Bay ............................................................................................................................. 86 11. Tiritiri Matangi ...................................................................................................................... 96 12. The Noises ........................................................................................................................... 105 13. Rangitoto/Motutapu ........................................................................................................... 110 14. Firth of Thames, including Ponui and Rotoroa Islands ....................................................... 116 15. Motukawao Islands ............................................................................................................. 124 Summary of preferred network options ............................................................................................. 129 Part 2 – Contribution of our Strategy proposals towards a HGMP MPA network ............................. 131 What makes an MPA? ..................................................................................................................... 131 Proposed protection areas ............................................................................................................. 132 MPA network assessment ............................................................................................................... 132 Summary ......................................................................................................................................... 138 Part 3 – Summary of impact analysis on commercial and recreational fisheries ............................... 140 Commercial fisheries....................................................................................................................... 140 Recreational fisheries...................................................................................................................... 144 3 References .......................................................................................................................................... 146 Appendix I – Data sources ................................................................................................................... 150 Appendix 2 – Habitats of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park ..................................................................... 158 Appendix 3 – Habitat tables ................................................................................................................ 160 4 Executive summary In response to the ongoing decline of the health of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park, the Sea Change – Tai Timu Tai Pari process brought together a range of stakeholders and Treaty partners with the sole purpose of developing a marine spatial plan to address the environmental decline in the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana and provide for social, cultural and economic wellbeing. Developed over 3 years, the Sea Change – Tai Timu Tai Pari Plan (hereafter referred to as the Sea Change Plan), New Zealand’s first marine spatial plan, was launched at the end of 2016. The Sea Change Plan provides an aspirational blueprint to inform and guide statutory agencies with a role in the management of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park. The Sea Change Plan’s proposals sought to integrate and improve management across a variety of domains, including fisheries management, and seeks to integrate management measures to holistically improve the environmental health outcomes of the Hauraki Gulf. To this end, the Sea Change Plan proposes a range of marine protected areas (MPAs) to protect and restore habitats and ecosystems. In 2019 the Ministers of Conservation and Fisheries announced the development of a Government Response Strategy to the Sea Change Plan’s proposals falling under their respective remits. This report brings together the technical and scientific assessments of the Sea Change MPA proposals, giving regard to best-practice guidance on MPA planning. Preferred options for MPAs are identified, which are expected to be further discussed and refined with input of Treaty partners and stakeholders. The preferred options include extending two existing marine reserves, 11 high protection areas and five seafloor protection areas. Gaps in establishing a network of MPAs are discussed, but recommendations of additional sites to complete the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park network is outside the scope of the assessment. The proposals aim to lay a foundation for an MPA network that progresses the protection and restoration of ecological and societal/spiritual values as envisioned in the Sea Change Plan. 5 Purpose of this report The purpose of this document is to assess the Sea Change Plan’s proposals for marine protection in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park and to summarise the advice developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC) and Fisheries New Zealand (FNZ) as part of the development of the Government Response Strategy to the Sea Change Plan. The report is structured to: • Provide a brief overview of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park and the existing MPAs it contains. • Provide an overview of the process, outcomes, objectives and proposals made through the Sea Change Plan for MPAs. • Describe how agencies carried out the assessment of the Sea Change Plan proposals. • Provide a detailed assessment of each site proposed within the Sea Change Plan, and how proposals align with the Sea Change Plan’s objectives for marine protection and with national best-practice MPA design principles. • Provide agencies’ response on which proposals to progress, including where any modifications could improve overarching biodiversity protection and restoration outcomes. • Provide an indicative assessment of affected users and potential associated costs.