Editorial By Graham Carter The review recently released by Nathan Guy Minister of Primary Industries is abhorrent and full of misrepresentation. Where is this proof and how do they come to this figure! Scientists state they can only estimate recreational catches based on ramp surveys. They know exactly what charter and commercial operators catch, but have absolutely no idea of recreational catches, it is simply a guess. Sure a minimal number of ramp surveys were held in the summer months when the majority of fish are caught. If a survey is to be held it must be done accurately and correctly not in the half hearted way it was. There is a clear lack of science. What we do know is that this is a very valuable community resource that needs to be looked after correctly, with benefits balancing both sectors fairly. Most recreational fishos are in favour of a size in fish length change up to at least 30cm and protection of our larger breeding stocks, over 55cms. When the original quota was a given out, right from the word go, there was more quota allocated to commercial than recreational fishers. MPI have had the wrong attitude – that balance need to change. The paper says that even if the total allowable catch was raised by 500 tonnes and shared proportionally, the recreational take would still need to come down by 635 tonnes, which would mean bag limits of four snapper per person, unless the minimum size was raised. Also the commercial fishermen will still be able to take 25cm fish, but then the scallop guys take 90mm scallops and still seem to sleep ok. Surely we should only export our surplus fish! If we have to cut our recreational limits then clearly there is no surplus. This rape and pillage must be stopped and the Iwi need to get involved in a big way. Stop all commercial fishing in Snapper 1 first. There is only one true sustainable way to export fish and that is to farm it. Let’s consider as an example that there is a working model for this already working well in NZ at the moment and that is pine trees. The pine forests of NZ are big enough so we no longer have to export native timber or they selectively log dead or dying native trees leaving the ground open for young trees to grow. They also have and provide large employment opportunities within the forestry commercial sector, and are open to recreational people through the permit system to have free access to enjoy one of out national heritages, hunting, shooting, bike riding, tramping and the likes, without discrimination. Mussel farmers and operators are the same – they allow free access to mussel farms for recreational fishers, the taking of mussels off floats after harvesting is allowed providing droppers aren’t tampered with. Leave the whole of snapper 1 for seafood farms and recreational fisherman and we will soon see why and how the fish have declined in other areas and the likely causes. The trouble is the commercial sector seems to have big teeth while our Government has the backbone similar to that of a spiney dog. LegaSea national programme leader Mandy Kupenga, said: “It’s a national disgrace that all options proposed by the government force recreational anglers to shoulder the responsibility for rebuilding Snapper 1 stocks, while the commercial sector continues to kill hundreds of thousands of juvenile fish with antiquated and indiscriminate bulk trawl methods.” LegaSea estimates that the proposed cuts are predicted to improve the stock size by less than 1 per cent by the end of 2018, less than the margin of error. Kupenga said: “New Zealanders are being sold out by the Government.” “The options proposed are quite frankly disgraceful and just another example of the willingness of our decision makers to turn their backs on the rights and wellbeing of the people to cash in on short-term economic gains for a few fishing corporates.” This has now become serious enough for me to look at putting my party vote to good use. I’m still going to vote for the best person in my electorate as my MP but my party vote will be going to the party who puts recreational fishing before commercial. I believe that the NZ public deserves to know what is driving these decisions and who is really behind this decision making. Have the commercial corporates through their legal teams put the screws on the Government to force these decisions? Is this more about corporate profits than sustainable fisheries? There needs to be a ministerial enquiry and the people behind these proposals need to have their governmental positions looked into. Every fisherman who fishes in the Bay of Plenty, (commonly called the Bay of FA), both recreational and commercial, knows that the fishery is in serious decline and some investigations need to be conducted to find out why. There is absolutely no way that the recreational fisherman could have caused this decline on there own. The evidence is clearly obvious, it is simply not being matched to those responsible. Time after time, day after day we see several trawlers almost up on the beaches catching huge quantities of fish. And we hear from the crews about the vast amounts of excess fish that are dumped, all for various reasons – surely this tells us that the quota system is not working. And the result, a minimal amount of legal size fish for recreational fishers. This review has to become an election issue and the Ministry of Primary Industries needs a shakeup much like the GCSB is undergoing. There is something irrefutably wrong in the way this whole review is being handled, especially when MPI staff have been overheard stating that the they have a mandatory process to go through to advise the public but the decisions have already been made, no matter what the outcome. MPI officials were outraged that some media reported this last month and stated that the media got it wrong yet it seems the MPI have it wrong and have already made up their minds. Heads need to roll. If these proposals come into force the Coromandel Marine Industry faces likely economic catastrophe. The TCDC have just introduced charges totally without any consultation, for every angler that charter operators take out, add this to a likely catch reduction and the fact that charter operators will likely have to increase there rates to cover this. Who is going to travel up to Coromandel to go fishing for 3 to six fish?? Every angler is going to head to the West Coast – disaster for the Coromandel economy. And more scary what is next – the West Coast fishing region. I put my money that that is planned in the short term. If the MPI have given the Minister any compelling evidence then we must band together and change his mind. Surely if recreational fishers have to reduce their catch limit then applying some commonsense the commercial rate should be reduced. Most fishermen that the Fishing and Outdoors newspaper spoke with would be happy with option three as it is the fairest but they agree that the commercial industry needs a shakeup. One needs to fully consider what the underlying truth behind all of this is. I believe that all stems from John Key our PM, and that this is all about the national deficit. Underneath all this you will find that he has directed Nathan Guy to take the 300 tons from recreational fishers and give it to the commercial sector. Why else would this be happens and the cabinet will have been plotting this for some time in order to get the economy back on track. John Key is focused on export created dollar, and not feeding hungry New Zealanders. The public especially recreational fishers need to find the best political party that are opposed to this ridiculous proposal, and unite with that party, so that collectively we can get together and stop being screwed by a department that is clearly out of control. Your submission on this review is paramount otherwise MPI will steal out recreational right to fish based on guesswork. If you don’t take the time to put in a submission then don’t complain on October 1st when the catch limit is reduced.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Jul 2013 23:51:33 +0000
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