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Robert Kitchin / Things
Green Party co-leader James Shaw went diving on Sunday afternoon to celebrate the party’s electoral promise to cover 30% of New Zealand’s ocean space with marine reserve.
While most politicians spend elections shaking hands, for a political leader it was fewer phalanxes and more fins on Sunday afternoon.
Green Party co-leader James Shaw went diving in the Taputeranga Marine Reserve off the south coast of Wellington, to celebrate the party’s electoral promise to cover 30 percent of New Zealand’s ocean space in marine reserves by 2030.
Shaw said the 12-year-old Taputeranga Marine Reserve showed what can be accomplished by protecting ocean space.
“What you have here is one of the most successful examples of a coastal marine reserve around Aotearoa, and it has led to the rebuilding of a biodiversity hotspot.”
STUFF
The Greens announced a series of new ocean protection policies earlier this month.
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While Green’s PR team may have been a little concerned about the shore excursion, Shaw himself has been diving for about 15 years, though not often.
Aside from a dry joke about being glad he voted already, he said diving was like riding a bike, and he was looking forward to his first dive in New Zealand.
While the dive itself was not a concern, Shaw expressed concern about the temperature before getting into the water, as he was more used to the warmer waters of Niue, Fiji, Egypt and Thailand than to the southern coast of Wellington. .
“I’m a little concerned about the temperature, because October is not really an ideal diving territory.”
Robert Kitchin / Things
Shaw has some experience as a diver, but Sunday’s excursion was his first time diving in New Zealand.
Returning to the surface (a relief to the PR team), he said the dive hadn’t been too bad and that he had a list of just a few of the 180 species that have been seen off the south coast.
He said he had gotten close to many of them: “Full-size blue cod, a huge crayfish lounging on the bottom, a lot of blue moki that get really close to you because they’re quite territorial, and the biggest ones get right on your face and tell you to get lost. “
He was also happy to see a lot of algae grow, which he said would be important for storing carbon.
The increasing diversity, compared to even 10 years ago, showed the importance of marine reserves, he said.
“The idea that we have presented in this election is that we want 30 percent of the EEZ [exclusive economic zone] in marine protected areas in one way or another.
“Obviously this is a coastal reserve, which is having fantastic secondary effects on the ecology outside the reserve. More of this sort of thing off the Aotearoa / New Zealand shores would be really nice. “
Robert Kitchin / Things
Shaw was brought to the reserve by Nicole Miller from Friends Taputeranga Marine Reserve and Ben Knight from Guardians of the Kāpiti Marine Reserve. The group saw cod, blue moki, and crawfish.
While on the reservation, Shaw also took the opportunity to emphatically rule out working with Judith Collins after the election. When asked, his answer was one word: No.
“Our membership decides who we work with, and that really stems from what voters have to say on Election Day about the constellation of parties that make up the government, but I don’t see much enthusiasm from our members. or our supporters of a coalition with National.
“Having said that, it is completely academic. National does not have a path to government. “
Shaw was guided through the water by Nicole Miller from Friends Taputeranga Marine Reserve and Ben Knight from Guardians of the Kāpiti Marine Reserve.
