Mahurangi Matters_Issue 351_17 October 2018

Page 1

October 17, 2018

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What’s inside Spring Festivities pages 31-42

Kowhai Festival Pullout pages 27-30

Brigade turns 75

pages 16-20

Stunning Catwalk Arts page 23 Marine life in reserves is facing a decline in numbers due to fishing in the vicinity and ocean waste, such as this ‘ghost net’ discovered near Tawharanui Marine Reserve.

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Crayfish crisis worries marine scientists Auckland University scientists are calling for an expansion of the Cape Rodney-Okakari Point (Goat Island) Marine Reserve to stop crayfish numbers dwindling to an all-time low. The university operates the Leigh Marine Laboratory, and the reserve was originally set up for scientific research purposes in 1975. It is administered

by the Department of Conservation. Laboratory senior lecturer Dr Nick Shears says the first research into crayfish numbers, when the reserve opened, showed there were 10 per 500 square metres. As the 518ha reserve became more effective that figure grew to around 40, but due to more intensive fishing on the

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reserve border, numbers have dropped back to just 10 – wiping out more than 40 years of conservation efforts. “The reserve boundary extends 800 metres offshore, but the sand flats where the crayfish feed are beyond this,” Dr Shears says. “The reserve needs to constantly protect its marine life, which isn’t

happening, and this means we could soon have less crayfish than when the reserve first opened.” Relevant agencies are aware of the issue and a Sea Change Plan, designed to enhance the Hauraki Gulf, proposes to extend the boundary a further 2.2km to 3km. continued page 2

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