World Marine Data

These data provide a snap shot of beach litter surveys submitted by Citizen Scientist ‘Monitoring Groups’ up to April, 2019. As defined by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP, 2009), marine litter is any persistent, manufactured or processed solid material discarded, disposed of, abandoned or lost in the marine and coastal environment. Marine litter washed onto beaches is one of the most obvious signs of marine pollution, and can have either land or sea-based origins. Land-based sources of marine litter include input from rivers, sewage and storm water outflows, tourism and recreation, illegal dumping, and waste disposal sites. Sea-based sources include commercial shipping, fisheries and aquaculture activities, recreational boating and offshore installations.

UNEP, 2009. Marine Litter: A Global Challenge. Nairobi: UNEP. 232 pp.

More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

The location and extent of Marine mammal sanctuaries in the territorial sea and the exclusive economic zone.

The pH of New Zealand subantarctic waters is calculated from pCO2 (dissolved carbon dioxide) and alkalinity measurements using refitted Mehrbach constants (see Mehrbach et al, 1973; Dickson & Millero, 1987), and in-situ temperature taken from the Munida time-series transect off the Otago coast. Measurements of pCO2 are taken every two months.
The Munida transect, in the subantarctic waters off Otago, is the Southern Hemisphere’s longest-running record of pH measurements (NIWA, 2015).
More information on this dataset and how it relates to our Environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

The location and extent of Type 2 marine protected areas in the territorial sea.

The location and extent of Marine reserves (type 1 marine protected areas) in the territorial sea.

New Zealand’s four million km2 marine environment is diverse, with a range of coastal habitats and offshore seabed environments. There are also many marine species unique to New Zealand. Marine protected areas conserve or manage some of these unique habitats and species, while a range of other tools also provide marine protection. We report on the area covered by these tools as an indirect measure to understand the state of the marine environment.
Seamount (underwater mountain area) closures are one of the marine protection tools used. They are designated areas in the exclusive economic zone, which extends to the 200 nautical mile limit. Seamount closures protect underwater mountain areas through the prohibition of all trawling activity. There are some areas where seamount closures overlap with benthic protection areas. In these cases the seamount closure restrictions apply.

New Zealand’s four million km2 marine environment is diverse, with a range of coastal habitats and offshore seabed environments. There are also many marine species unique to New Zealand. Marine protected areas (MPAs) conserve or manage some of these unique habitats and species, while a range of other tools also provide marine protection. We report on the area covered by these tools as an indirect measure to understand the state of the marine environment.
Type 2 MPAs have lower levels of protection than marine reserves. For example, they may allow fishing but restrict seabed trawling.

Adapted by Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ to provide for environmental reporting transparency. Dataset used to develop the "Ocean acidification" indicator (available at  www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/ocean-acidification).

This data set measures the change in pH in subantarctic surface waters at a station east of Otago from 1998 to 2020.

Ocean acidification describes the long-term decrease in the pH of our oceans and coastal waters. This indicator measures:

• change in pH, acidity and pCO2 (a measure of dissolved carbon dioxide) in New Zealand’s subantarctic surface waters (Munida Transect) from 1998 to 2020.

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More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

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This indicator measures the rise in annual mean coastal sea level relative to land. The national mean is derived from four long-term monitoring locations across New Zealand: Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin and Lyttelton. We also report the trends over time, from the beginning of our records until 2018. Relative sea-level rise includes the vertical land movement of the surrounding area (for example, a sinking landmass increases the rise in ocean sea level).

We report the change in annual mean coastal sea level to 2018 against the established baseline (mean sea level for 1986–2005) for the long-term sites plus an additional two sites: Moturiki (Mount Maunganui) and New Plymouth. These are not included in the national mean due to shorter records. We also measure the national annual sea-level rise for two time periods: the start of the records to 1960, and 1961–2018.

More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

New Zealand waters have at least 117 species of chondrichthyans (sharks, rays, and other cartilaginous fish species). They are particularly vulnerable to overfishing because they are long-lived, mature slowly, and have a low reproductive rate. Chondrichthyans are important for healthy ocean ecosystems, and reporting their commercial catch and bycatch helps us understand the sustainability of our fisheries.