Story of the Fiordland Marine Guardians
In 1995 a group of concerned local Fiordland users and community representatives formed the Guardians of Fiordland’s Fisheries Inc, which later became the Guardians of Fiordland’s Fisheries and Marine environment Inc. This group included commercial and recreational fishers, charter boat and tourism operators, environmentalists, marine scientists, community representatives and tangata whenua (Ngai Tahu).
The formation of the Guardians of Fiordland was in response to concerns about the escalating pressures on the Fiordland Marine Area resulting from increasing human use, the need for improved integrated management of the area and a desire that the local community be more involved in the management of Fiordland’s marine environment.
At their first meeting, the Guardians of Fiordland adopted the following vision:
This vision guided the Guardians of Fiordland in developing their Fiordland Marine Conservation Strategy (the Strategy), which was published as a draft in October 2002. The production of the Strategy involved publishing information, prioritising issues, and consulting the public and stakeholders (including local and central government management agencies). A major success for the Guardians of Fiordland was in their gaining stakeholders' agreement to proposals for the integrated management of the Fiordland marine environment. Generally, this involved each stakeholder group relinquishing benefits in the interests of ensuring the quality and sustainable management of the Fiordland marine environment and fisheries. The Guardians of Fiordland referred to this process as the "gifts and gains". One notable proposal by the Guardians of Fiordland was for the protection of small, discrete areas containing items of special significance. These areas have become known as "china shops".
In September 2003, the Guardians of Fiordland presented their finalised Fiordland Marine Conservation Strategy to the Minister of Fisheries and the Minister for the Environment. On that occasion, the Ministers made a commitment to implement the strategy by September 2005. Subsequently, the Government appointed an Investigative Group (comprising representatives of central and regional government and the Guardians of Fiordland) 
to report on how best to implement the Strategy. In September 2004 the Government accepted a review of the strategy recommendations and agreed to develop special legislation to give effect to many of the recommendations. The Government also agreed to amend fisheries regulations for non-commercial harvesting, to exclude commercial fishing from large areas of the internal waters of Fiordland, and to implement a range of other non-legislative measures.
This has now been realised with the enactment of the new Fiordland (Te Moana o Atawhenua) Marine Management Act 2005. The Act created the Fiordland (Te Moana o Atawhenua) Marine Area, which extends from Awarua Point on the West Coast to Sandhill Point, Te Waewae Bay. The Act also gave formal recognition to the Fiordland Marine Guardians who are now appointed by the Minister for the Environment as an advisory body to advise management agencies on the management of the Fiordland Marine Area. This ensures community input into the new management regime.
The Fiordland Marine Conservation Strategy provided a framework for the future management of the Fiordland marine environment. The Government's commitment to implementing the Strategy recognises this fact and also acknowledges the local community's wealth of knowledge of the Fiordland area. The spirit of goodwill and co-operation that exists among stakeholders will underpin the new collaborative approach for the management of the area
