Characterising the regulatory seascape in Aotearoa New Zealand: Bridging local, regional and national scales for marine ecosystem-based management

Abstract

In the face of declining ocean health and marine biodiversity, marine management arrangements may need to change in many jurisdictions. This can occur in a planned process of legislative and institutional reform undertaken by central government, or by an incremental and ad hoc ‘unplanned’ process through court decisions or local actions. In either case, targeted characterisations of the contemporary regulatory seascape are necessary to accurately diagnose what system elements may need major change to address ecological degradation. In this study, we examine the regulatory and institutional interplay between central government, sub-national regional authorities, and Indigenous Māori in the protection and management of marine biogenic habitats in New Zealand. Based on an analysis of government documents, institutional responses to a set of questions, and recent case law, we found generic institutional failings to implement core legislation, at both sub-national ‘regional’ and national scales. In particular, less than half of the regional authorities had given effect to a mandatory national instrument that set environmental bottom-lines, and central government failure to identify and protect significant fisheries habitats. Concurrently, we identified an upsurge in requests for temporary fishing closures through rāhui (traditional customary prohibitions), and the potential for tools enabled in customary marine tenure legislation to play a significant future role in managing marine ecosystem health. Our study highlights that the regulatory seascape is devolving towards a greater polycentricity of management with an increased involvement of Māori at sub-national and local levels, which may hold lessons for Indigenous peoples in other jurisdictions. These ‘unplanned reforms’ are likely to be a key driver of improvements in the management and governance of biodiverse marine biogenic habitats at national and sub-national level, both prior to, and as a consequence of, the New Zealand Government's planned ocean reform programme.