Biased proposals to reduce public snapper catch Our snapper catch will be limited to a fixed quota to protect commercial shareholder. That is the objective of the Ministry for Primary Industries’ recent management proposals for Snapper 1. But this intent has been shrouded by officious language and irrelevancies in an 82-page document. Submissions have closed and any changes will apply from 1 October. A quota limiting recreational catch in other fisheries could be next. The New Zealand Sport Fishing Council has dismantled Ministry’s proposals for Snapper 1, between North Cape and East Cape. There is a clear bias towards allocating recreational fishers a fixed quota, rather than maintaining the existing allowance that can be varied as population and values change. It is no accident that this allocation agenda is hidden behind a range of bag limit reductions and size limit increases. These were a distraction, but not for long. Quota owners face the prospect that their shareholding will be eroded over time as population and recreational fishing increases. Already the increasing value, benefits and wellbeing we derive from snapper fishing far outweighs that gained from selling trawl-caught snapper. The Ministry’s preference is proportional allocation. Not because it has any statutory support, but it would relieve them from their role to serve the public, and reduce political pressure on the Minister. Each user group would be left to slug it out over management and responsibilities while the government sets about achieving its aim of doubling the value of primary industry exports by 2025. Corporate interests have been demanding proportional allocation for more than 10 years. It would suit them to have both commercial and recreational interests allocated a quota that would increase or decrease by the same percentage, depending on the health of the fishery. Proportional allocation relieves the commercial sector from taking responsibility for the millions of juvenile fish that are killed by indiscriminate fishing methods. If a fishery fails to rebuild in a reasonable timeframe recreational catch is suppressed at minimum levels while they can continue to bulk-harvest our snapper. When a fishery does rebuild, as expected in Snapper 1 over the next 10 years, the commercial sector is allocated the majority of the available increase. If recreational catch is included in the quota system there will be no escape from the need to monitor and record catch. The simplest way to do that is to register and count fishermen, then make them responsible for staying within the quota limit. It’s a dead-end and not surprisingly recreational fishers have reacted angrily to the Ministry’s proposals alleging that recreational fishers have exceeded the current allowance by 40%. Individually recreational fishers in Snapper 1 can take up to nine fish over 27cm and their average catch is around three fish per boat trip. But it is not possible to exceed the overall allowance, because unlike commercial quota, the recreational allowance is just a number the Minister must deduct from the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) before he sets the commercial catch level. In 1997 it was estimated that the overall recreational catch was about 2300 tonnes. Now it is estimated to be over 3000t, with the increase coming from a few boat ramps at the head of the Hauraki Gulf. If increased public catch results from higher populations or greater availability of fish, then the Minister can make technical adjustments to the TAC to allow for it. After all, the Minister is obliged to allow for our non-commercial interests, not just our catch, so we must put aside the profits made from serving swanky New York diners, and give Kiwis the opportunity to feed our families first.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Aug 2013 09:53:23 +0000
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