9. Question No. 9—Oceans and FisheriesHon EUGENIE SAGE (Green) to the Minister for Oceans and FisheriesQuestion No. 9—Oceans and Fisheries9. Hon EUGENIE SAGE (Green) to the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries: Why has the Government's response to the Sea Change–Tai Timu Tai Pari Hauraki Gulf Marine Spatial Plan not implemented the Hauraki Gulf Forum target of protecting 30 percent of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park/Tīkapa Moana/Te Moananui-ā-Toi?Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister for Oceans and Fisheries): The Government's plan to revitalise the Hauraki Gulf announced today includes just under a threefold increase in marine protected areas plus a significant reduction in the areas open to bottom trawling and Danish seine fishing plus restrictions on scallop dredging plus habitat restoration. All of these actions are supported by a cross-agency implementation plan with a new monitoring and reporting approach to enable changes to this strategy if we're not satisfied with progress. I note the Hauraki Gulf Forum today welcomed the Government's announcement calling it an important first step" towards the desired 30 percent of marine area protection. Today's announcement in my view is a milestone that ought not to be understated.Hon Eugenie Sage: Were the potential impacts on commercial fishing the major reason for fully protecting only 5 percent of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park?Hon DAVID PARKER: No.Hon Eugenie Sage: Why is the Government proposing to delay legislation to establish the proposed new marine protected areas until 2024?Hon DAVID PARKER: That I think is the date for completion of legislation. There are some preliminary steps that we are required to go through before introducing legislation and then it will take its ordinary course. I would note that the process that's been proposed is just about identical to that which the member was promoting when she was herself the Minister of Conservation. I don't think a lot has changed since and I thank her for her good efforts back then.Hon Eugenie Sage: What scientific research and modelling supports the Government's decision to allow bottom trawling to continue in some areas against the Sea Change plan recommendation that the Government exclude activities such as dredging and bottom trawling from the gulf by 2025?Hon DAVID PARKER: There's significant changes being made here. Already bottom trawling is banned on all of the inner part of the gulf. There are extensions to some of the seining methods and as I've already explained future bottom-trawling will be limited to corridors. Those will be chosen on the basis of minimising damage to benthic environments—in other words protecting the most important benthic environments from bottom trawling. We think that this will make significant progress. It will also enable us through the monitoring regime to assess the longer-term outcomes of the sites relative to each other. If we've got limited corridors for bottom trawling we will be able to carry out some in-depth science as to what is the effect of bottom trawling in the areas in which it remains compared with the environmental outcomes in other areas.Hon Eugenie Sage: Why does the Government's strategy exclude protection of the waters around the Noises islands Ōtata Ruapuke and David Rocks even though the Ōtata owners research organisations such as Auckland Museum and others have actively sought the protection of those waters?Hon DAVID PARKER: That protection hasn't been ruled out but it hasn't been landed yet and work is continuing on those issues.Hon Eugenie Sage: Will the Minister commit to further work to establish marine protected areas over at least 30 percent of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park in this term of Government; if not why not?Hon DAVID PARKER: I'm very suspicious of people who call for us to effectively halt and go back again and have another talk about what we might do. I'd rather get on and do what we're doing. I really do think we should not understate the significance of what's been announced today."