Speech by Minister of Research, Science and Technology, Steve Maharey and Minister for Land Information, Pete Hodgson to launch Ocean Survey 20/20, 6:00 pm, Wednesday 16 March, HMNZS Resolution, Queens Wharf, Wellington.

Steve Maharey
Good evening everyone. Thank you to both NIWA and the Navy for making Tangaroa and Resolution available for this launch and for giving us an insight into the valuable work that takes place on these vessels.

The vastness and complexity of the ocean area over which New Zealand has jurisdiction is amazing. Our exclusive economic zone is 18 times greater than our land area. And that area will grow when our rights to an additional area of continental shelf are confirmed.

We are a maritime people. The sea dominates New Zealand's climate, life and economy. Our exports and imports are all transported on or over the sea and the bounty of the sea makes a major contribution to our economy, in fish, shellfish and minerals as diverse as oil, gas and ironsand.

But our knowledge of the ocean around us is not as well developed as we would like it to be. And that is not to diminish the efforts of many of the people here today and those who have worked to increase New Zealand’s ocean knowledge.

All around the planet we are learning that, despite the apparent vastness of the oceans, humans can do seriously detrimental things to them. We need better knowledge to understand and manage human impacts on the world’s oceans.

Understanding our ocean environment is a technically difficult challenge. From ships like the one we’re on and Tangaroa, we use increasingly sophisticated technologies to understand what is down there. This may seem like a reasonably significant vessel in the safe confines of Wellington Harbour, but any vessel, no matter how substantial, is dwarfed by the immensity of the southern ocean and southwest Pacific Ocean – our back yard.

The technologies now available are enabling much better pictures, literally, of what is down there. We can map the features on the seabed much more accurately. Recently I understand scientists on board Tangaroa continued an exploration programme along the Kermadec Arc, discovering along the way an undersea volcano the size of Wellington harbour.

And just to the south of here, in Cook Strait, the multi-beam mapping equipment on Tangaroa has revealed an underwater slip that, at some stage of our country’s past, would have been big enough to cause a tsunami. I’m sure none of us needs reminding about the importance of understanding the causes and effects of tsunami.

Many exploratory voyages result in the discovery of new species, together with new questions to be asked and the possibilities of new economic opportunities. Some of the weird and wonderful creatures that can be found in our ocean are set out in front of me.

There has been a huge increase in the income New Zealand generates from the oceans over the last two decades, largely as a result of the establishment of the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone and the development of aquaculture. There is potential for much greater increases in wealth from the oceans, especially as the area New Zealand has control over increases in the future to the edge of the continental shelf.

Future possibilities for new wealth that could be derived from the oceans are diverse. These opportunities could be in the biotechnology area; new species yet to be discovered could provide routes to novel substances. Or the microbiological community under the sea could provide new opportunities for a range of industrial and pharmaceutical processes. The mineral wealth could also provide considerable opportunities. And of course there are the fisheries, both in terms of wild fisheries and aquaculture.

Across the economy we spend around $60 million per year on marine research. This research has generated important knowledge that is providing a range of benefits. Research into understanding oceanic nutrient processes, for instance, has helped with the development of the shore-based aquaculture industry.

With the potential of our seas waiting to be unlocked but needing much better information to do so in a sustainable way, I’m very pleased now to hand over to my colleague, Pete Hodgson, to introduce the concepts and drivers behind the Ocean Survey 20/20 project.

Pete Hodgson
Thank you Steve, and good evening everyone. It’s good to be here with so many people who have an interest in and commitment to the oceans that surround New Zealand.

We think of ourselves as an island nation surrounded by a whole lot of ocean. But New Zealand can also be viewed as a small continent, about 95 per cent of which is submerged. It is the vast size of our continental shelf that will cause our marine area to increase from 18 to 24 times the size of our dry land area once our jurisdiction over the seabed continental shelf is confirmed.

We have spent the last 150 years mapping and surveying the five per cent of our land that stands above the water, including collecting extensive information on its geology and its flora and fauna. Today, every day, we make decisions about land use based on the comprehensive data we began collecting all those years ago, and which we continue to update and manage.

Yet we don't have parallel comprehensive data on which to confidently make good, long-term decisions about the use, management and protection of our marine resources and ocean environment. We need to know a lot more about this highly dynamic, diverse and complex system, to ensure sustainable management of the oceans.

Recent advances in technology mean we are now better able to start filling the gaps in our knowledge and we now plan to spend the next 15 years doing so.

We’ll be covering an area from subtropical waters to sub Antarctic islands, from shallow estuaries to seabed trenches as deep as 10 kilometres. And we’ll also be covering the Ross Sea region and, as a secondary focus, the South Pacific islands for which New Zealand has special obligations.

Some information already exists on New Zealand’s seafloor and ocean resources. Some stunning maps already exist, and we have all stared at them hard.

But existing information has been acquired at different times for a range of diverse scientific, resource management or business purposes. It is highly variable in its specification and quality, is fragmented and incomplete in its coverage, and is often inaccessible to those who need it. Ocean Survey 20/20 is being established because this information now mostly falls short of that required to meet New Zealand’s oceans interests and responsibilities.

Already, however, Land Information New Zealand, as part of its core business, coordinates an on-going programme of charting the sea floor and providing data to mariners to ensure their safe passage. Tangaroa itself, of course, carries out much of that work. And a good deal of work has been undertaken recently to delineate our continental shelf.

Also, a programme funded by the Ministry for Economic Development is surveying off the East Coast of the North Island, providing information to support the further exploration of minerals and hydrocarbons.

The vision of Ocean Survey 20/20 is to complete by 2020 an ocean survey that will provide New Zealand with the knowledge of its ocean territory:

·to demonstrate our stewardship and exercise our sovereign rights
·to conserve, protect, manage and sustainably utilise our ocean resources, and
·to facilitate safe navigation and enjoyment of the oceans around New Zealand.

Advances in technology now give us the means to bring together a wealth and diversity of data, so we can build the more complete picture that we need. We can now combine data in ways that were not imagined even a few years ago. We can use increasingly sophisticated equipment on our vessels, and greater volumes of satellite data are becoming available.

Ocean Survey 20/20 will be looking at the subsurface, seafloor, water column and atmosphere. The range of information collected will be relevant for minerals exploration, fisheries, maritime safety, oceanographic science (including geological hazards), environmental protection, conservation, resource management, recreation and tourism.

Through Ocean Survey 20/20 our objectives are:

·to identify the information priorities
·to ensure that a co-ordinated approach to acquiring the priority information is taken by all the government agencies involved, and
·to ensure that the information is accessible.

This will be a whole of government project co-ordinated by Land Information New Zealand, which is the Ministerial hat that I am wearing tonight.

However, I’ve worn another hat for a few years as well, as the Minister primarily responsible for Oceans Policy.

Oceans Policy is about putting in place cohesive and integrated management for all of New Zealand’s oceans so that we can improve our decision-making about them. But without good information, we can’t make good decisions. A key desired outcome already signalled for Oceans Policy is much better marine information, and more effective coordination of research. That, of course, is what Ocean Survey 20/20 is setting out to achieve, and in doing so it will underpin the development of Oceans Policy and oceans management tools.

You are probably aware that the Oceans Policy project has been on hold while the Government addressed foreshore and seabed issues. I’m now looking at getting Oceans Policy moving again. Because it too is a whole of government exercise, it requires input and effort from a whole range of different agencies. I have asked that relevant Chief Executives report to me on available resources. We should soon be able to tell stakeholders what’s going to happen and when.

As to Ocean Survey 20/20, we will first focus on identifying priorities.
Ministers have asked the Chief Executives of LINZ, the Environment, Fisheries and Economic Development ministries, MORST, FRST, the Defence Force, relevant Crown Research Institutes and the university sector to work together to establish marine information and research priorities over the next 15 years.

Chief Executives will provide Ministers with a work programme to achieve the vision and funding options for supporting it. The programme will leverage off the Crown’s deep-water survey vessels, RV Tangaroa and HMNZS Resolution, and will also provide some opportunities for new ocean science at marginal cost.

This Ocean Survey 20/20 initiative is the start of a new era in learning about New Zealand’s marine environment. With the dedication and expertise of our marine science community, robust co-ordination and strong government backing, I am confident that Ocean Survey 2020 will deliver the knowledge base to underpin the sustainable development of New Zealand’s blue corner of the planet.

I now have great pleasure in formally launching Ocean Survey 20/20. Here’s to 20/20 vision in the year 2020!

Thank you.