Aotea Local Board chair and election candidate Izzy Fordham says the community has “had enough” of blanket restrictions under the Caulerpa Controlled Area Notice and is urging islanders to put in feedback before a review closes.
The CAN, in place since 2021, covers much of the island’s west coast including the Brokens and parts of Hauturu. It bans anchoring and seabed disturbance in order to contain exotic caulerpa. The current notice is up for review at the end of September, with MPI expected to make a decision in October.
Fordham told Aotea FM the notice had served a purpose. “It has stopped the spread and bought some time to get heads around what is this caulerpa,” she said. Aotea is unique in having both species, brachypus and parvifolia.
Fordham pointed to AoteaGBI.news’s exclusive in January which first reported that caulerpa was mysteriously dying off in patches around the island. She urged the community to pay attention to upcoming reports confirming the change.
“But it doesn’t appear to be there where it was before. Things are changing. Yes it is dissipating — and we don’t know why. I think you’ll find it’s probably going to have the scientists bamboozled.”
Unlike other sites such as Kawau and Great Mercury, Aotea hasn’t seen chlorine chambers or dredging. “We haven’t embarked on a whole lot of dredging of the seafloor. We haven’t gone the chlorine chamber pathway. We haven’t gone around any of those tools,” Fordham said. “Now we’re probably quite thankful that we just didn’t mess with it.”
Her personal view is that the rules can’t remain in their current form. “We’ve had enough of how it is. We can’t keep going with a whole of our west coast area locked up. If there are still heavily infested areas, then perhaps look at those and no anchoring in those, or have safe anchoring zones for people, but something’s got to change.”
At a public meeting in Claris this week, views were divided. “There were some people that said get rid of it, and there were other people that said, well hang on a minute, further surveillance, those heavily infested areas, yep sure, maybe lock them up, but free up the rest,” Fordham said.
The review comes after a year of controversy. In May, AoteaGBI.news revealed MPI had allowed commercial fishing to continue inside CAN waters — sparking outrage as recreational fishers remained banned.
Small business owners have also raised concerns that the notice has scared off boaties, cutting into summer trade for fuel suppliers, hospitality and charter operators. With summer approaching, the pressure is on MPI to balance biosecurity with the viability of the island economy.
Fordham says that makes feedback essential. “It’s quite a simple form. Put your feedback in, it’s online unfortunately, but put that feedback and help them make their decisions.”
MPI is expected to announce its decision in October.
