The South-East Marine Protection Forum released a public consultation document last week and is calling for submissions on proposals for 20 sites for possible inclusion in a network of marine protected areas.
During a public meeting to discuss the proposed sites, Tautuku Fishing Club president Brett Bensemann said one of the proposed reserves covered Smaills, Tomahawk, St Kilda and St Clair beaches and White Island - all places where local recreational fishermen liked to take small boats out to go fishing.
"They take their little children out to introduce them to fishing, to help them master the art of fishing and also help them to provide food for the table," Mr Bensemann said.
"Now if you take that away, that means those small boats will have to go out further, past the reserves to go fishing. That presents a big problem - danger. It’s a safety issue.
"At the moment, if these small boats go out and the weather changes, which it does so quickly in this area, they can get back in quickly. And they’re much closer to help."
The proposed reserves are scattered about the southeast coast of the South Island, from north of the Pareora River, near Timaru, to Waipapa Point, in Southland.
Otago Rock Lobster Industry executive officer and South East Marine Protection Forum member Simon Gilmour spoke to about 100 people who attended the public meeting at Tautuku Fishing Club yesterday.
He gave information about the proposed reserves and encouraged local recreational and commercial fishermen to make submissions.
After the meeting, he said there was no question that the proposals would have an impact on people’s ability to go out and fish.
"But there are areas, though, that the commercial and recreation sector support as marine reserves."
He said not everyone was "anti-marine reserves", but care needed to be taken to make sure the reserves did not have a major impact on where people fished.
"If we create very large reserves in areas that are popular, then we will create a situation where we shift ‘fishing effort’ into other areas and we undermine the abundance of fish in those areas."
The meeting encouraged attendees to support selected proposals on the list — namely a marine reserve south of Timaru, one south of the Waitaki Mouth, one between Pleasant River to Stony Creek, and two others over the Papanui Canyon and the Bryozoan bed off the Dunedin coastline.
"We’re supportive of that network of marine reserves and we see it as an opportunity to provide the protection to a range of habitats on this coast."
Mr Bensemann said there would be two more meetings held over the next month with the same purpose.
He said public feedback would be crucial for the Forum to shape its final recommendations to the Ministers of Conservation and Primary Industries.
Submissions close at 5pm on December 20, and the Forum was expected to deliver its final recommendations to the Government in April next year.
