The only specialised marine publication in Oceania that focuses on the maritime industry, from super yachts to small craft to large commercial ships, including coastal shipping, tugs, tow boats, barges, ferries, tourist, sport-fishing craft
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NZMTA NEWS RULEMAKERS VANISH FROM SIGHT BY ALAN MOORE W ednesday, September 14 is the date and 0900 the time. The venue is the Copthorne Hotel in Anzac Avenue, Auckland. The agenda is set and all we need is you. There are a number of subjects being discussed and these will be of interest to all. The highlights will be: • charter boat catch reporting • a roll-out of MOSS and QOL • oil spills • security on the water • employment issues • how to reduce your Accident Compensation Corporation bill • safety in high-speed craft, and • an introduction to the new harbourmaster and his deputy. Make sure you register by contacting alan.j.moore@ihug. co.nz to get registration forms for this important seminar. In the last issue of Professional Skipper the editor, Keith Ingram, raised in his editorial the matter of the delays in getting bureaucrats to react when clearly things are not working, and the need to apply common sense to keep the industry ticking over. We agree that this bureaucratic stick-in-the-mud attitude is depressing and practicability is sadly lacking. We have recently had obvious examples of this over the issue of the synthetic cannabis drug Kronic. In other matters, charter boats are prevented from capitalising on a huge opportunity to provide a service to keen fishermen when the matter of safety is not at risk but the rules have not kept up with the times. The association supports Keith in his approach and applauds his no-nonsense method of bringing it out in the open. We also raise the subject with Maritime New Zealand on a regular basis, to no avail. I am concerned that the rule makers in Maritime NZ are vanishing from sight. We do not know who makes up the policy team at Maritime NZ. In the last two months six highly experienced policy makers are no longer employed by them, due to an unheralded restructuring of the authority. We fear there are no experienced rule and policy experts left to continue to maintain and implement the process. We are aware the skills of rule writing require extensive industry knowledge and experience and take years to accumulate. It would be helpful if the industry knew what the plan is to replace these experienced people so we are comfortable in the knowledge the policy and rule writers know what they are doing and truly represent the view of all the stakeholders. At the recent Coastlines conference in Auckland there was considerable interest in and support for a marine spatial plan for the Hauraki Gulf. The Environmental Defence Society undertook to compile a list of interested stakeholders in such an exercise. The Hauraki Gulf Forum is an integrative body comprising iwi representatives and statutory managers of the gulf. The forum's mandate extends over some 13,900sq km of sea, from Te Arai in the north to south of Whiritoa on the Coromandel Peninsula. It includes the Waitemata Harbour and embraces some of the most intensively used coastal waters in New Zealand. The forum recently released the report Spatial Planning for the Gulf, which describes how such an approach could be applied. It should include representatives of user groups, including commercial and recreational boaties, aquaculture, fishing, mining, conservation groups, iwi and other resource users. Collaboration involves understanding the scientific and policy underpinnings of the area, then working to identify the preferred way forward via a plan describing the future of the gulf over time. These areas could then be subjected to vessel speed restrictions. It might identify areas where aquaculture would be acceptable as well as favourable anchorages for recreational users. It could identify popular bathing beaches and drive priorities for land- based investment in reducing runoff of contaminants. A marine spatial plan would also identify the biodiversity storehouses of the gulf, those areas which are critical to the on-going health and productivity of the marine system. These The Hauraki Gulf is now subjected to many conflicting pressures and has passed the point where a laissez-faire approach can continue would include key habitats which support juvenile snapper and valued shellfish beds. It would identify important marine mammal habitats for protection. Once agreed, the plan would be implemented through statutes, including the Resource Management Act, the Fisheries Act and conservation legislation. The plan would be prepared via a collaborative process in which all stakeholders reach a consensus about the way forward for New Zealand's most intensively used waterway. The Hauraki Gulf plays a big part in making Auckland a liveable city. Those involved in administering the area are starting to think about a new initiative that could protect its outstanding values and have international significance. The idea is to develop a marine spatial plan for the gulf which would set out where different activities would be allowed and where conservation imperatives would prevail. 56 Professional Skipper September/October 2011 The Hauraki Gulf is now subjected to many conflicting pressures and has passed the point where a laissez-faire approach to its management can continue. There is a need to intervene and think carefully about its future in order to protect its outstanding values and provide more certainty to all users. The MTA has approached the Environmental Defence Society to be included in the consultative process and intends to make the views of the commercial users of the area known. If any operators have any comments to make about this issue, please contact me. In the previous issue of Professional Skipper, Mike Pigneguy commented on the Accident Compensation Corporation and how he had been affected by their errors. At the September vessel operators' seminar we will be having a presentation from ACC and this will be an opportunity to discuss the matter of levies on operators. I believe there is a scheme for small business owners which can discount these levies considerably. For further information, contact Alan Moore, executive officer, New Zealand Marine Transport Association. Phone +64 9 520- 2727, mobile 021 942-850, e-mail alan.j.moore@ihug.co.n