Protect Our Rockpools extends to Piha & Muriwai

Protect Whangaparāoa Rockpools, Protect Piha Rockpools, and Protect Muriwai Rockpools are calling on all New Zealanders to submit to MPI's current fisheries review, after receving more than 300 submissions in support of strong intertidal protections.

The community-led campaign has mobilised coastal residents, divers, recreational fishers, parents, scientists and environmentalists from across the country in a bid to persuade MPI to adopt a full intertidal closure ('Option 3'), combined with a reduced daily limit of 10 shellfish outside the closure.

"This is not a niche conservation issue. This is New Zealanders standing up and saying 'enough is enough'," says Protect Whangaparāoa Rockpools spokesperson Mark Lenton. "Our rock pools have been stripped bare within a generation. Families who grew up exploring vibrant intertidal zones are now walking their children along dead rocks. MPI has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reverse this, and the public is watching."

Locals and visitors have described witnessing the systemic decimation of shellfish beds, rock pools emptied of crabs, starfish, anemones and juvenile sea life, and organised groups harvesting everything in their path. Large flocks of shore birds and sea birds, who once foraged among the rockpools, have left the area.

"What strikes me about these submissions is that they come from every corner of New Zealand, from Gisborne to Dunedin, the Coromandel to the West Coast," says Protect Piha Rockpools spokesperson Luella Bartlett. "These are not standard templates with tick boxes coming in. These are people's stories, their memories, their grief and their demand for urgent action."

Key themes emerging from the submissions include:
* Overwhelming support for Option 3 as the strongest and most enforceable option
* Calls for seaweed to be explicitly included in the closure, as it carries mussel spat essential to shellfish recruitment
* Demands for strong enforcement from Day 1, with visible fines and prosecutions for serious offending
* Calls for multilingual signage at beach access points, reflecting the reality of who is harvesting
* Concern that partial measures create loopholes that will be exploited, undermining any recovery
* A powerful message that the current trajectory will leave nothing for future generations.

Public consultation closes on June 12th 2026. To submit, click on this link.