In a speech to the Environmental Defence Society this week, Dr Smith announced he was ''instigating a discussion on potential marine protection along the Otago coastline''.
Otago was the only region in New Zealand to have no marine reserve, which was ''out of step with the strength of Otago University's marine sciences and the presence of marine species on which the region prides itself such as albatross and yellow-eyed penguins,'' he said.
''I have asked the Department of Conservation to instigate such a process to explore what progress can be made to achieve more marine protection in this region.''
A Doc spokesman yesterday said the collaborative process it would be using was Otago's draft Conservation Management Strategy (CMS) on which the department was consulting.
''Doc wants to ask what the community thinks and have a discussion. It's just a community discussion, not the start of a formal process.''
Otago's CMS included discussion about protection of representative examples of Otago's marine ecosystems and habitats.
Last month, former Otago Conservation Board chairwoman Abby Smith questioned how effective the strategy would be after Doc took out the board's milestone of having a marine protected area in place off Otago's coast within five years, replacing it with a ''report back'' on progress.
Assoc Prof Smith yesterday said she agreed with Dr Smith's comments on the need for protected areas in Otago but questioned why Doc was not proposing following the agreed collaborative forum process instead of using the CMS: ''I don't think this is an appropriate method to do it, but if it works, I don't care.''
Commercial fishing representatives spoken to yesterday questioned Doc's approach, saying without knowing the areas it was hard to comment.
Paua Management Area Council chairman Storm Stanley said if there was to be a collaborative forum it would like to be involved. There were other reserves and mataitai (customary fishing areas) along Otago's coast which needed to be taken into account in any process, he said.
Port Chalmers Fishing Co-operative chairman Ant Smith said there could be a logic to a protected area around Dunedin and the group would be prepared to take part in discussions.
Doc Otago marine ranger Jim Fyfe urged people wanting to protect Otago's coast and its inhabitants to make a submission to the CMS: ''This would keep our marine environments healthy and ensure our special biodiversity, including the habitats of threatened wildlife, like whakahao/New Zealand sea lions and hoiho/yellow-eyed penguins, survives into the future.''
Doc had twice tried to get a marine protected area in South Otago's Nuggets area in the 1990s and again in 2004. Both failed over fishermen's concerns.
In March, Dr Smith approved an application for a marine reserve in Akaroa Harbour and in February announced five new marine reserves on the West Coast.
Submissions on Otago's CMS close on September 13.
