Iwi worry scallop bed closure will concentrate fishing in rāhui area

Tuesday, 29 March 2022

Iwi are concerned that the closure of several tipa (scallop) fisheries will cause commercial fishers to concentrate on the last two open areas.

On Tuesday morning, Minister for Oceans and Fisheries David Parker announced that scallop fisheries in Northland and most of the Coromandel will close from April 1 to allow the population to recover.

Two areas around Hauturu/Little Barrier Island and near the Colville Channel will remain open to scallop fishing, but with some restrictions.

Ngāti Manuhiri CEO Nicola MacDonald said the iwi were deeply disappointed to hear those areas would be left open, as tipa are on the verge of being functionally extinct in their lifetimes.

**READ MORE:

* Calls for scallop beds to close after 'destructive' fishing sees population plummet

* Fears Coromandel's two-year scallop rāhui will squeeze other Hauraki Gulf fisheries

* Hauraki Gulf's marine protection areas expanded, but no action on dredging

**

Earlier in the year, Ngāti Manuhiri laid a rāhui in the northern waters of Hauraki Gulf, which encompassed the Hauturu/Little Barrier Island and near the Colville Channel. MacDonald said an application was made to the minister at the time to close those fisheries.

By allowing those two to remain open, it will drive a lot of demand from the industry into those spaces, she said.

“Right now, we are on the brink of total collapse.”

The announcement comes just over a month after the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) delivered a report to Auckland Council on dwindling scallop numbers.

The report showed Hauraki Gulf scallop numbers have plummeted 93 per cent in the last 10 years, while numbers at Northland’s East Coast scallop beds have fallen 63 per cent over 13 years.

Scientific surveys of scallop numbers across the top of the North Island have confirmed iwi and community concerns that scallop beds in the region are in bad shape, Parker said.

“Removing fishing pressure is an important and immediate measure that can contribute to their ongoing sustainability. It is the responsible action to take,” he said.

“A number of factors are contributing to the continued serious decline in scallop numbers including sedimentation, dredging and the use of GPS technology to locate and exploit scallop beds.”

Rock lobster, redbait and southern blue whiting have also had their catch limits updated.

New Zealand Underwater Association Allan Davidson said Little Barrier and Colville are the last areas of any real density.

“We still haven’t learned from the past two decades. We’re going to allow commercial fishers to concentrate effort on these remaining beds.”

Tipa in the Hauraki Gulf are protected under a two-year temporary rāhui, or ritual ban, which was recognised by the Government in 2021.

Hauraki Gulf scallop biomass had dropped from 776 tonnes in 2012 to an estimated 52 tonnes, according to the Niwa report.