Red-Banded perch, Fiordland

It includes the main Long Sound basin, ‘the Narrows’, and Revolver and Useless Bays.

This reserve was one of eight established in 2005, as part of the management measures proposed by the Fiordland Marine Guardians.

Long Sound is the most physically isolated basin in the Fiordland system, with a very narrow entrance and shallow sill at ‘the Narrows’ inhibiting the exchange of deep water from the open coast.

This physical structure means that all of the areas within the reserve are sheltered from oceanic swells and contain a constant and thick freshwater layer.

Research has shown that the rock wall habitats in Long Sound contain unique suspension feeder communities and species like the11 armed starfish whose genes are different to elsewhere in the fiords.

The Narrows contains the very delicate and internationally revered ‘strawberry fields’. This is an area with large congregations of the strawberry holothurian (sea cucumber), along with high densities of stony corals, including red coral. The inner regions of Long Sound are home to high densities of lampshells, tube worms and rock crab.

View a map of Te Tapuwae o Hua (Long Sound) Marine Reserve

Know before you go

• Anchoring is prohibited within a part of the reserve.
• Live rock lobster caught from the wild, outside the reserve, can be held in cages for up to two months within a specified area of the reserve.
• Storage only of open rock lobster pots and cages is permitted within a specified area of the reserve.
• Despite the above rules, the taking of marine life in the reserve is not permitted.