Greens Promise 30 Percent Protection for Hauraki Gulf, End to Bottom Trawling

The Green Party would close commercial fishing exemptions in the Hauraki Gulf and phase out bottom trawling in the Gulf if it is in government after the election.

Co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick announced the Hauraki Gulf - Tīkapa Moana policy in St Mary's Bay on Tuesday morning. The announcement was made on 5 October 2026, according to the party and campaign live blogs Greens.

What the party promised

The core promise is protection for 30 percent of the Gulf within the next four years. The Greens say they would get there by rewriting marine protected area law, the rules that set up ocean reserves RNZ.

Swarbrick said it took more than a decade and several processes to lift protection to 6 percent of the Gulf. She said: "The Greens will ensure Tīkapa Moana is restored now, flourishing for generations to come."

The party describes the current law as containing "Luxon's carve-outs". The law passed late last year to lift Gulf protection included an amendment giving commercial ring-net fishers, boats that use a large circling net, sole access to two High Protection Areas. High Protection Areas ban most commercial and recreational fishing. The Greens say they would remove those exemptions.

The bottom trawling phase-out would apply in the Gulf and only if the Greens join a coalition government. Sealord objected to the pledge Undercurrent News. The promise sits with the party's wider oceans policy. According to a 2023 speech, a Green Minister for Oceans and Fisheries would at once stop bottom trawling on seamounts, underwater mountains that support sea life. The party has also called for a ban after a New Zealand bottom trawler caught 37kg of coral.

Why the Gulf is in focus

More than 36,000 people have called for a ban on bottom trawling in the Hauraki Gulf, and hundreds of supporters gathered on the water and at Mission Bay Beach in April Greenpeace Aotearoa. The State of Our Gulf report says Tīkapa Moana is improving, but pollution, sedimentation and overfishing remain major challenges Te Ao News.

What it could mean after the election

The broader context here is that the policy is written as a position for post-election talks, not as a member's bill, a law put forward by a single MP, that could pass on its own. The 6 percent figure shows how slow the current law has been to deliver new High Protection Areas. That is why the Greens have tied the 30 percent target to law reform rather than new protections under the current rules. That reform would need agreement from Cabinet, time for drafting, and time in the House. It would test Labour and Te Pāti Māori, as well as New Zealand First if it holds the balance of power, on commercial access and method restrictions.

In my view, industry reaction will weigh heavily in those talks. Sealord's objection signals quota holders and processors will oppose a phase-out, and will raise transition, compensation and where fishing effort moves to. Ring-net access to the two High Protection Areas is a narrower but sharper test. That access was won by amendment late last year, and removing it would reopen that deal. The next markers for Gallery watchers are costings, the legal vehicle for reform, and whether Labour adopts, rules out or leaves room on the exemptions and the trawl phase-out.