Gwyn Brown Tauranga Dive

Approximately 30 per cent of New Zealand's land is protected to some degree as either a reserve, partially protected DOC land, or fully protected no go areas.

As a comparison only 7 per cent of our coastal waters enjoy the same kind of protection. And our two largest reserves at the Kermadecs and Auckland Islands account for over 97 per cent of this 7 per cent protected area. Have you been to the Kemadecs? What about the Auckland Islands? If you have you are one of the privileged few. Both are accessible only by a major expedition.

Okakari Point or ‘Goat Island” reserve was NZ's first in 1977 and now attracts over 350,000 snorkelers annually. There's a shop there by the beach, several in fact. They make a killing during summer. I know because the wife, who isn't a creature of the sea, made me spend up large as penance for making her swim with the fishes (not figuratively; she's fine, don't worry). To be fair though, she loved it. And this is an important point we will come back to.

Most divers in NZ have been to Goat Island, it's like a pilgrimage. I had my very first dive there back in 1991, and it was amazing. Very few other places in NZ compare to it, the Poor Knights and Fiordland being two notable exceptions. The difference is Goat Island is accessible to anyone. It's right on the beach, and all you have to do is swim a few metres to be amongst it. The Poor Knights require a boat, and the associated costs. Fiordland is even more expensive.

Just imagine, if you will, what our beautiful coast would be like if we had a Marine Reserve every 10 kilometres. The spin-off would be amazing. No take areas that breed fish are left alone to travel into the take area. Good news for all.

So, how would that work here at the Mount?

The issue is, it's the only rocky/reef area close to shore in either direction for miles, and a major source of food gathering for everyone. So while making it a reserve would produce an amazing place, just like Goat Island, we would lose the only real close to shore hunting and gathering place in the Tauranga area.

Could a compromise work? The Mount and Leisure Island are hugely popular, especially in the summer. Every beginner diver uses them, as well as the free-divers. What if we made one side a reserve? Or half Rabbit Island? Or half the Mount?

Surely giving up half the area so that it can grow back and produce a significant increase of catch in the other half is worth it?

What if we made a large moored platform off Rabbit Island, on the sheltered side, and dumped rock to create a huge artificial reef that would be a Marine Reserve? We could make it a tourist mecca so when cruise ships arrived and disgorged their plethora of blue-rinsed gold-laying geese, they stayed in the Bay instead of all getting buses to Rotorua.

Can you imagine the spin off for our Economy.