Island Bay Marine Reserve

I grew up in Island Bay and lived there for around 20 years. It will always be home to me, despite having lived in Thorndon for over a decade. It is a lovely place to live, and a great place to bring up a family.

So it is with interest I read the Dom Post story on the proposed marine reserve.

As a general rule I think marine reserves are a great thing. In the late 90s a fairly large number were established.

However I do has misgivings over the proposed location of this one. The Italian fishing families are a huge part of the community of Island Bay. It would be a huge shame to push them out of the area, especially as the marine reserve won’t even allow them to land their catches from further out in Island Bay.

As Tony Muollo says: “It would be sad to lose Island Bay’s iconic fishing fleet”