Less than 1% of our country’s seas are highly protected and the damaging practice of bottom-trawling must be restricted

It’s a remarkable feat that a small, isolated island nation of just five million people has managed to stake a claim to one of the largest ocean territories in the world.

New Zealand’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) spans more than 4m square kilometres – an area 15 times the size of our landmass.

Rt Hon Helen Clark is a former prime minister of New Zealand, and former administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Dr Kayla Kingdon-Bebb is chief executive of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) New Zealand.