Ian McLean Green candidate for Tauranga

That shiny sheen on the water surface around the Rena is not just oil. It is fish, lots of fish.

It was in 1975 that the battle to create a marine reserve at Goat Island at Leigh was won. Local fishers, who had strongly resisted the reserve, soon discovered that more crayfish and bigger snapper were caught at the edges of the reserve than they had seen for years within the protected area.

The exclusion zone around the Rena is an impromptu marine reserve. Fishers working the edges of the zone are finding an abundance of fish not seen for many years. This is no surprise.

Astrolabe is (or was) already a popular diving destination. Why not make the exclusion zone permanent and create a haven for marine life, divers and tourism at the same time? Subsistence harvesting by the local iwi could be enabled. It's not all bad.