Statistics regarding marine protection in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park have become inconsistent since the Hauraki Gulf Marine Protection Bill came into effect in 2025. Many people are still citing protection figures from early consultation documents, which do not reflect the boundary edits made following public feedback. To determine the actual current extent, I downloaded the GPX coordinates for the newly designated areas and used GIS software to generate polygons, tracing the coastlines and excluding vegetated island landmasses to calculate the true marine area.
| High Protection Area (HPA) | Hectares |
|---|---|
| Te Hauturu-o-Toi / Little Barrier Island HPA | 18,768 |
| Aldermen Islands / Te Ruamahua (north) HPA | 13,326 |
| Aldermen Islands / Te Ruamahua (south) HPA | 15,600 |
| Mokohinau Islands HPA | 11,886 |
| The Noises HPA | 6,049 |
| Kawau Bay HPA | 4,190 |
| Motukawao Islands HPA | 2,910 |
| Cape Colville HPA | 2,665 |
| Slipper Island / Whakahau HPA | 1,348 |
| Pakatoa and Tarahiki / Shag Island HPA | 1,273 |
| Rangitoto and Motutapu HPA | 1,058 |
| Tiritiri Matangi HPA | 826 |
| Marine Reserves in the Gulf | Hectares |
|---|---|
| Tāwharanui Marine Reserve | 364 |
| Mōtū Manawa-Pollen Island Marine Reserve | 500 |
| Te Matuku Marine Reserve | 690 |
| Cape Rodney-Okakari Point Marine Reserve | 2,036 |
| Te Whanganui-o-Hei / Cathedral Cove Marine Reserve | 2,243 |
| Proposed Hākaimangō-Matiatia Marine Reserve | 2,350 |
Note I have excluded the Seafloor Protection Areas which are mostly meaningless.
The Hauraki Gulf Marine Park was calculated at 1,200,000 ha, but modern GIS software is giving us a figure closer to 1,400,000 ha (page 3). These numbers include the islands (~60,000 ha), so the area of ocean is about 1,340,000 ha.
We can now calculate the percent of any given marine protection area. E.g.
The Cape Rodney-Okakari Point Marine Reserve 2,036 ha is 0.152% of the 1,340,000 ha Marine Park.
There are 79,899 ha of HPAs (5.96% of the Marine Park) and 5,833 ha (0.44 % of the Marine Park) in Marine Reserves (excluding the proposed Hākaimangō-Matiatia Marine Reserve). The State of the Gulf 2020 reported that Cable Protection Zones (CPZs) (which also prevent all forms of fishing) cover 4.9% of the Marine Park. However this Fisheries NZ report (page 5) says they CPZs cover ~6% and allow fishing from “small vessels that avoid bottom contact”.
== Below to be updated ==
- 0.44 % of the Marine Park is closed to all forms of fishing.
- 11.3% of the Gulf is protected from recreational fishers.
- Recreational fishers are legally allowed to fish in 88.7% of the Marine Park.