Hon Dr Nick Smith, Minister for the Environment, Kaikoura MP Stuart Smith, and Hon Nathan Guy, Minister for Primary Industries announce proposal for recreational fishing reserve in the Marlborough Sounds.

The Government is pressing ahead with a plan to exclude commercial fishing from the entire Marlborough Sounds by establishing a new recreational fishing park.

The proposal has been announced in Picton on Tuesday morning by the primary industries, environment and conservation ministers Nathan Guy, Nick Smith and Maggie Barry.

Aquaculture will not be affected, and commercial fishers will be compensated for the loss of their fishing grounds. But in a move that recreational spokesman Geoff Rowling says will establish a "Clayton's park", commercial scalloping, crayfishing and paua-gathering will be allowed to continue.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/FAIRFAX NZ The Government has decided to put recreation and tourism ahead of commercial fishing in the Marlborough Sounds.

Nelson Inshore fishing spokesman Mathew Hardyment predicted that at least one small fishing company would go out of business and said Maori fishermen who worked the Sounds would be "doing the haka".

A similar recreational fishing park announcement for the Hauraki Gulf was made later on Tuesday.

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The changes will take place under a new Marine Protected Areas Act to replace the Marine Reserves Act 1971, and which the Government intends to pass during the current term.



A consultation document is being released today, with submissions to close on March 11.



Smith, who has talked up the plan several times over the past year, said the Government had given a commitment to have the two recreational fishing parks in place this term.



The hope was to get a bill into Parliament at "the back end of 2016", he said.



There had already been extensive discussions with iwi, commercial fishers, recreational fishers and environmental groups. The discussion paper reflected that "although in the oceans sector, it is nigh impossible to have everybody agree".

In November, Smith said $20 million had been set aside to compensate the commercial sector, which takes 139 tonnes of fish a year from the Sounds and 870 tonnes from the Hauraki Gulf.

Today he said the final payouts would not be known for some time.

The Marlborough Sounds was a jewel of the top of the south, offering tremendous opportunities for tourism and recreational fishing, Smith said.

Aquaculture was a significant industry which the Government wanted to see grow, and it was determined the recreational fishing park did not impede the industry's growth.

"We see the two as quite compatible, and the geographical area required by the aquaculture industry is very small, and very important to the economies of both Nelson and Marlborough."

The consultation document proposed a new system of marine protection including marine reserves, species-specific sanctuaries, seabed reserves and the recreational fishing parks.

Smith said this was a more sophisticated approach similar to what the Government used for land reserves.

Guy said there was also a need to recognise that a growing population, more recreational boats and technology like fish finders were putting more pressure on fish stocks. The recreational parks would enable fishers to have a greater say in management and more responsibility for sustainability, while there would be "an appropriate compensation regime" for affected quota holders.

The proposal covers the entire Marlborough Sounds from Stephens Island to Cape Koamaru, with French Pass the western boundary.

Rowling, a longstanding regional and national recreational fishing advocate and president of nationwide group Our Fishing Future said if crayfish, paua and scallops were not included "it could turn out to be a bit of a Clayton's recreational fishing area".

"You can't have the penny and the bun."

Hardyment, president of the Port Nelson Fishermen's Association, said they would fight the proposal, "but the Government doesn't take much notice of us, not these days".

"They go straight over the top of our heads and just consult with the big guys."

Hardyment said "quite a few" Maori would be put out of jobs.

"They're going to be doing the haka, I'd say."

There were plenty of fish for everybody, he said.

"They couldn't catch a bloody blue cod, these bureaucrats, if they tried."

New Zealand King Salmon chief executive Grant Rosewarne said the company had proved that recreational fishing and protecting the environment could co-exist with aquaculture.

"We support these initiatives from the Government and we think we can peacefully co-exist with these new polices and directions, as well as other stakeholders in the Marlborough Sounds."

For a copy of the discussion document go to www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/marine