Marine Data

The location and extent of Type 2 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 (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.

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.

The location and extent of seamount closures designated in the exclusive economic zone.

The average concentration of chlorophyll-a (chl-a) in phytoplankton for 2015.
Concentrations of chl-a in phytoplankton are used to assess primary productivity in our oceans. Phytoplankton are primary producers of biomass (mass of living organisms) and form the main basis of marine food chains. They use the chl-a pigment to capture the sun’s energy through the process of photosynthesis. Phytoplankton growth is affected by the availability of nutrients and light, which in turn are affected by the structure of the surface water column. The surface water column structure is affected by oceanographic and climate processes; large-scale changes to climate and oceanographic conditions can lead to changes in phytoplankton growth and chl-a concentrations.

These data estimate the occurence of extreme wave events in coastal and oceanic waters for 2012, particularly for wave events where significant wave height exceeds a threshold of 8 metres and for a period of at least 12 hours. Significant wave height is defined as four times the square root of the variance of sea surface elevation due to wave motion.

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.

These data estimate the occurence of extreme wave events in coastal and oceanic waters for 2011, particularly for wave events where significant wave height exceeds a threshold of 8 metres and for a period of at least 12 hours. Significant wave height is defined as four times the square root of the variance of sea surface elevation due to wave motion.

This index was generated using NIWA’s operational wave forecasting model NZWAVE-12.

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.

These data estimate the occurence of extreme wave events in coastal and oceanic waters for 2010, particularly for wave events where significant wave height exceeds a threshold of 8 metres and for a period of at least 12 hours. Significant wave height is defined as four times the square root of the variance of sea surface elevation due to wave motion.

This index was generated using NIWA’s operational wave forecasting model NZWAVE-12.

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.

These data estimate the occurence of extreme wave events in coastal and oceanic waters for 2009, particularly for wave events where significant wave height exceeds a threshold of 8 metres and for a period of at least 12 hours. Significant wave height is defined as four times the square root of the variance of sea surface elevation due to wave motion.

This index was generated using NIWA’s operational wave forecasting model NZWAVE-12.

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.

These data estimate the occurence of extreme wave events in coastal and oceanic waters for 2008, particularly for wave events where significant wave height exceeds a threshold of 8 metres and for a period of at least 12 hours. Significant wave height is defined as four times the square root of the variance of sea surface elevation due to wave motion.

This index was generated using NIWA’s operational wave forecasting model NZWAVE-12.

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.