Fishery system indicators to support ecosystem based fishery management in Tīkapa Moana, Te Moananui-ā-toi

The Hauraki Gulf is a taonga, but is showing signs of degradation. The Governments action plan to restore the mauri of the Gulf is Revitalising the Gulf. Part of that plan is to develop fishery system indicators to assist with management and communication. To recommend which indicators would be useful we formed a co-developed group to ensure indicators had diverse coverage across ecological, cultural, social and economic aspects as well as management implementation. A mana moana advisory group also assisted with the development of a separate but aligned framework of particular relevance to mana whenua. A hierarchical framework was then developed, connected to the Hauraki Gulf Fishery Plan. Co-development partners then suggested candidate indicators that were subsequently assessed against eight evaluation criteria and given a traffic light rating to describe indicator utility. Final recommendations include the evaluation of >160 indicators as well as a separate framework, Te Niho Taniwha, for individual iwi and hapū to adapt to their local context.