"I want to continue taking my kids out and show them how to fish so when they get older they can do the same thing," Mr Meeuws, of Dunedin, said.
"That’s why we want them [the marine protected areas] in the right place."
The South-East Marine Protection Forum is calling for submissions on proposals for 20 sites for possible inclusion in a network of marine protected areas.
The reserves stretch from north of the Pareora River, near Timaru, to Waipapa Point in southeast Southland.
In his submission, he supported greater marine protection at the following proposed sites — Tuhawaiki to Pareora, Waitaki Coastal, Pleasant River to Stony Creek, Papanui Canyon and the bryozoan bed and kelp forest off Otago Peninsula.
If a proposed area, such as Harakeke Point to White Island — which includes Tomahawk Beach and Smaills Beach — was approved for a marine reserve, it would result in the need for fishers to sail more than 3km "out to sea" to access fishing grounds.
The weather tends to change quickly in the south and boat users’ safety could be compromised if they had to sail too far off the coast to fish.
"If you are out there in a dinghy with your family, two miles out to sea, trying to put food on your table and all of a sudden the weather turns, it’s going to be a scary ride back in for a family — if they make it back in."
