The Waikato Regional Council has the opportunity to take into account the direct and indirect effects of fishing when setting its Coastal Management Plan.
In setting its planning provisions, the Council could enable much of the seafloor to naturally heal, but in some areas, we anticipate that species will need active restoration. For that reason, the Mussel Reef Restoration Trust has advocated that the Council explicitly allow the deposition of shell and shellfish in the Coastal Marine Area (CMA) for active restoration purposes.
You can read our submission below.
The opinions expressed in this submission are those of the MRRT backed up by science from the Institute of Marine Science UoA. This media release does not reflect the views of The Nature Conservancy or the Revive Our Gulf Tangata Whenua partners.