New Zealand to create enormous marine reserve

As per RT.com, the declaration was made by the New Zealand Prime Minister at an UN General Assembly in New York.

In his announcement on Tuesday, John Key outlined that “Establishing the sanctuary will create a no-take, fully-protected zone preventing all fishing and mining in the area, adding to the protections already in place”.

Labour warns legal challenges could be on the horizon over a lack of consultation on the new Kermadec ocean sanctuary, but the Environment Minister says stakeholders backed the project.

Nick Smith, New Zealand’s environment minister, said his country “needs to use its vast ocean resources for jobs and exports with industries like fishing, aquaculture, minerals and energy, but we also need to set aside special areas where nature comes first and marine life is fully protected”. “It contains the world’s longest underwater volcanic arc and he second deepest ocean trench at 10 kilometres deep”, Key highlighted. “There is increased pressure from over-fishing, mining and pollution, with the populations of fish and seabird species estimated to have halved over the past 40 years”. Creating the sanctuary as protected area will support the New Zealand’s fisheries as well as its Pacific neighbours, to “help grow Pacific economies through the responsible management of their ocean resources”. The sanctuary, according to Key, is twice the size of the New Zealand’s landmass, with a scale much larger than any of the current protected areas of the country.

The Kermadec area is home to thousands of important species, including whales.

The sanctuary will be a significant step toward preserving at least 30 percent of the world’s oceans from environmental degradation, said Matt Rand, environmental director of the Pew Global Ocean Legacy.

Official records show Te Ohu Kaimoana hadn’t fished in the area for the past five years and were also told of the decision before it was announced. George Clement, chairman of Seafood New Zealand commented that without an early warning from the government, the seafood sector should be given time to review the impacts of the pending law. The new ocean sanctuary will be comparable in area to the size of France, says an article on Newsy.