The South-East Marine Protection Forum expected to release its advice to the Government yesterday on what sites, from Timaru down to Waipapa Point in Southland, deserved marine protection and what type of protection they needed.
However, the group has another extension and now plans to release the document in February.
Forum chairwoman Maree Baker-Galloway said the latest extension was largely ''administrative''.
''The report is going to be over 200 pages long and we just need to make sure we get the mechanics right. We don't want to do a rushed job.''
Once it released the recommendations, the forum would disband and the Ministers of Conservation and Fisheries would decide which ideas to adopt, before going through more public consultation, she said.
The change of government and ministers would have little effect on the process, she said.
''The Marine Reserves Act was meant to change during this time, so we knew that we were going to be making our recommendations in an environment that could be completely different to when we started.
''A change of government is really just another factor on the horizon.''
The forum was created in 2014 by the Ministries of Conservation and Primary Industries.
The group received 2803 submissions to its consultation document last December.
