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Setting course for a sustainable future: The management of New Zealand's marine environment

30 November 1999

The marine environment is a large, complex system with many overlapping and conflicting interests, agencies, processes and legislation. This overview study gives a comprehensive, multi-dimensional view of the marine world and the intricacies involved in its management.

The marine environment include the biophysical resources (the water, fish, birds, marine ecosystems, mineral resources) and the people (coastal communities, organisations and businesses) with a stake and interest in the marine world.

Issues discussed in the report include:

  • Why the marine environment matters to New Zealanders. This discussion covers the different values and expectations that people bring to their involvement with the sea, and the utilisation and monetary value of marine resources.
  • How the marine environment is managed, including an outline of the statutory and institutional framework that applies to marine management (a rather bewildering system with 18 main statutes and 14 agencies having some responsibility for management). Also explored is the relationship between government and community in marine management.
  • The different rights and responsibilities that people have, or expect to have, in the marine environment (for example the right to catch a fish, move cargo by ships, explore for mineral resources, and swim in the sea)
  • The adequacy of our information and knowledge about the marine environment.

Although the report identifies some constructive initiatives by Government, tangata whenua and communities in working toward sustainable marine management, it also identifies a number of areas for concern, namely:

  • There is a lack of communication and a grave lack of trust among marine stakeholders that is severely inhibiting the advancement of sustainable management.
  • New Zealand's lack of marine knowledge is a serious environmental and economic risk, and the willingness of Government to invest in attaining knowledge is crucial to achieving sustainable management.
  • Current marine management structures are arbitrary, fragmented, and lacking a coherent overarching strategic focus that would integrate diverse interests and values.
  • The current commercial fishing rights regime cannot by itself ensure sustainable management of fisheries and other marine resources.