19 new marine protected areas came into effect in the Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana on 25 October 2025, including two new areas in Kawau Bay (click here for a map)
High protection area (HPA)
This kind of protection aims to protect, restore, and enhance marine life in the depleted Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana by reducing human impacts on the environment.
Within the High Protection Area you can:
- Carefully anchor your boat.
- Snorkel, kayak, swim and boat, so long as you don’t harm marine life.
- Take just a handful of shells or driftwood.
- Practise authorised customary fishing.
- Get a permit to actively restore the ecosystem.
You can’t
- Go recreational or commercial fishing.
- Take any seafood, including by diving or collecting by hand.
- Discharge sewerage and waste.
- Land aircraft, including drones
- Disturb sea life and habitats, such as construction, destruction, drilling, vibrations, explosions and introducing living organisms.
Seafloor protection area (SPA)
This kind of protection aims to maintain and restore important seafloor habitats, by removing activities that have an impact on the seafloor. It protects sensitive species such as sponges and corals.
Within the Seafloor Protection Area you can:
- Carefully anchor your boat.
- Do low impact fishing, such as line fishing, spear fishing, diving, harvesting by hand, so long as you do not damage the sea floor.
- Snorkel, kayak, swim and boat, so long as you don’t damage the sea floor.
You can’t
- Operate high impact fishing methods, such as, bottom trawling, dredging, Danish seining.
- Discharge sewerage and waste.
- Disturb sea life and habitats, such as construction, destruction, drilling, vibrations, explosions and introducing living organisms.
For more details, including the other protection areas in the Hauraki Gulf, click here