Recreational fishers and divers' hopes of the astrolabe exclusion zone being lifted this month have been dashed by last week's passage of former tropical cyclone Victor passed East Cape.

The solid north easterly swells coming ashore over nearly two weeks meant divers at the reef were unable to continue working which has set back their completion date.

Recreational fishers and divers remain barred from Astrolabe Reef. Picture: Supplied.

Harbourmaster Peter Buell now doesn't expect the work to be completed before the end of the month.

'It remains in place,” says Peter. 'We will look at the date when the work is complete. As long as it is going on the exclusions zone as it stands now has to remain. Once the work is finished then we can look at what the future of that might be.”

The weather forecast for Waitangi weekend means the divers won't be working this weekend either, says Peter.

'Every time they lose a couple of days it adds more days to the end.”

There's been an exclusion zone round the Astrolabe reef ever since the containership Rena struck the reef on October 5, 2011 and subsequently broke up. It is currently set at two nautical miles or 3.7km.

The owners and insurers were briefing local dive and fishing clubs before Christmas about an anticipated removal of the exclusion zone this month – weather permitting – when New Zealand Diving and Salvage was expected to complete the final stages of the debris removal contract.

Also expected this month is the announcement of the Hearings Commissioners, decision on the owners and insurers resource consent application. That's expected on February 26.

Meanwhile the exclusion zone continues to be actively monitored. There have been a number of breaches by recreational vessels over the summer. Owners and insurers spokesperson Hugo Shanahan says this week two recreational boats came within 0.6nm and 0.5nm of the Reef, that's 1.1km and 900m. He believes their skippers were warned off and not fined.