Twyford Phil: Subantarctic Islands Marine Reserves Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTwyford Phil: Subantarctic Islands Marine Reserves Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 11 February 2014. Volume:696;Page:15825. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]PHIL TWYFORD (Labour—Te Atatū): That was—even by Claudette Hauiti’s standards—a very short and enigmatic speech. There is plenty to say about this bill the Subantarctic Islands Marine Reserves Bill. Marine reserves I think are increasingly an important part of the conservation agenda. I want to start by noting that marine conservation has been I suppose the poor cousin in the conservation field. As New Zealanders I think we were probably late to the game. For at least a couple of decades much of the conservation energy was really devoted to protecting our forests and our terrestrial biodiversity.I think it has been heartening to see that New Zealanders increasingly see the importance of not only our coastal and marine environment but also our inland waterways. The degradation of our streams and our rivers from intensive dairying and the other uses that are putting those waterways at threat has become a major public focus. Our marine environment has also become a major public focus particularly in areas where you have got large populations urbanisation and industrial development and where even just recreational use depletes fish stocks and shellfish populations. So this is something that is increasingly coming up on the agenda.As a number of colleagues have pointed out there has been a little too much self-congratulation on the Government benches over this bill considering that these marine reserves have been sitting around for a number of years and were in fact started during the fifth Labour Government. Also I think that although it is undoubtedly a positive thing that these marine reserves are being created they are you would have to say low-hanging fruit. There is very little in the way of commercial fishing where these zones are down in the Subantarctic Islands. There are not big vested commercial interests that are wanting to protect their right to fish in the area although I know that earlier in the debate a number of speakers pointed out that one of the zones was somewhat truncated in order to allow the possibility that the industry might develop some commercial fishing in that area.These reserves are low-hanging fruit and it would be great to see the Minister of Conservation show the same kind of enthusiasm and resolve for establishing marine reserves in the Hauraki Gulf. That would be a fine thing. It is an altogether more complicated proposition to establish marine reserves close to a large population base but that is exactly what I think we should be doing.I recently spent a few days kayaking around the Waitematā Harbour and spent time with many of the marine biologists scientists and environmental activists who are working in the Hauraki Gulf and working to restore those waters. They make the case that in terms of repairing the damaged marine habitats marine reserves are probably the most powerful tool that we have. The particular problem in the Hauraki Gulf is that the depletion of crayfish and snapper stocks has been so severe that it has allowed for an explosion in the population of kina believe it or not. What the kina do when they reach a certain level is that they wipe out the kelp forests which are an endemic habitat there in the gulf and they create these things called kina barrens. Basically a kina barren is a completely bare ocean floor devoid of any kind of vegetation and devoid of any life except for kina. If you really love kina you might think that that is a fine thing but it is very much a degraded habitat.The only way that we know of to restore that habitat and to restore the biodiversity like the snapper and the crayfish is through having marine reserves. Reserves at places like Hāhei and up at Goat Island have demonstrated how successful that is. I do not suppose that the problems are the same down in the Subantarctic Islands but nevertheless we do support the creation of these reserves and we want to see many more of them.