2020 election: Green Party promises ‘boldest’ ocean protection plan in decades

The Greens want to overhaul New Zealand’s Fishing Quota Management System, ban bottom trawling and spend $ 50 million to help the country’s fishing sector become more sustainable.

The party also plans to protect at least 30 percent of all of New Zealand’s oceans by 2030 by passing a new law that would create a network of marine protected areas.

The pledges are all part of the Greens’ “Thriving Oceans Plan,” a plan that they claim would restore the health and productivity of New Zealand’s seas and fisheries.

“The oceans are the lifeblood of our planet and home to thousands of species of taonga,” said Greens co-leader Marama Davidson.

But, as a result of successive governments exploiting the ocean for short-term economic benefits, he said New Zealand’s oceans are under threat.

The Green oceans plan, which Davidson described as the boldest vision for ocean protection in decades, would attempt to prevent further damage.

Greens policy says the party:
• Protect at least 30 percent of New Zealand’s oceans by 2030.
• Ban bottom trawling in seamounts and net fishing in the habitats of endangered seabirds and dolphins.
• Review the Quota Management System (QMS) in consultation with the Maori.
• Eliminate harmful commercial fishing practices in the Hauraki Gulf.
• Spend $ 50 million to create sustainable fishing methods.
• Eliminate non-recyclable plastic.
• Introduce a 10-year moratorium on seabed mining.

“Here at Aotearoa we love our big blue backyard. If we think ahead, we can protect this precious taonga for generations to come,” Davidson said.

He said the Greens would work with the Maori if the plan is implemented.

“The Green Party recognizes the customary right of the Maori to collect kaimoana and also that the Maori have commercial fishing rights under te Tiriti or Waitangi.”

The Greens’ plan is relatively light on detail when it comes to the SGC review. Party policy only says that the system “has not sustained healthy fishing.”

The SGC imposes an annual fish catch limit and is designed to manage fish stocks in New Zealand’s oceans.

But the policy says one option could be a co-governance system between the government and the iwi and the hapū.

A key pillar of the Greens plan is their commitment to reform the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park Act to urgently eliminate the most destructive commercial fishing practices.

These include bottom trawling, dredging and Danish purse seining in the region.

“We will commit funds to restore 100,000 hectares of shellfish farms in the Gulf, the equivalent of 100,000 rugby fields,” says party policy.