The publics right to fish faces constant erosion.

By Keith Ingram.

President NZRFC

Reprinted courtesy of Fishing Coast to Coast magazine

One of the largest problems constantly being faced by the New Zealand Recreational Fishing Council is one of communication to its members and the wider fishing public. To this end the Council has started publishing a monthly electronic newsletter and with the kind support of Fishing Coast to Coast and Editor Mike we are now able to bring to the wider fishing public news of what is happening in our fisheries in a political sense.

One of the key problems faced by all representative organisations is getting feed back on issues that we currently face. Most fishing clubs only meet once a month and the committee may meet in between times. Recreational fishers by nature are not concerned with politics even when there own fishing and access rights are being eroded by commercial fishing effort and marine protected areas to name but two common threats.

Our fishing activity is further effected by a plethora of rules and regulations contain in the amateur fishing regs. Plus a more sinister impact has come from legal interpretations by the Courts which now in effect have fisheries officers, implementing silly rules which all impact on our rights to fish for food or fun. For example the rule that divers must count and measure scallops on the seafloor and could only take a bag for them selves were unnecessary and caused a safety risk.

Last year after much effort and meetings with the Ministry of Fisheries officials and the Minister, the Council efforts were rewarded by common sense in the first review of the amateur regulations done for some decades. The primary taker rule was changed allowing for a diver to take for the Skipper/boatman and safety lookout in the case of larger vessels. The measuring rule was changed to the first opportunity on reaching the surface.

The shucking of scallops at sea on live aboard capable vessel was also acknowledged but the onus remained on the fisher not to exceed his daily allowance or bag limit.

The rule making it illegal to be in possession of mussels and SCUBA was also relaxed.

The practice of using bobs, lift ring pots, scoop or landing nets was also deemed illegal. These are now all approved methods of taking seafood including rock lobster.

A successful outcome you might say. Unfortunately the Minister of Fisheries Jim Anderton fell short on our last two requests of approving cray loops as a method of taking rock lobster and increasing the scallop bag limit in the Coromandel scallop fisher from 20 to 30 stating a lack of information.

Both cray loops and the scallop bag limit are back on the agenda as we seek further information in support of these two requests.

The Coromandel scallop fishery is located between Cape Rodney (in the north) and Town Point (in the south), and includes the Hauraki Gulf, Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula and the northern part of the Bay of Plenty. Extensive parts of the Hauraki Gulf and many inshore scallop beds within fishery are closed by regulation to commercial fishing. Non-commercial fishing occurs throughout the fishery, however most occurs in those areas closed to commercial fishing.

Recreational fishers have expressed their disappointment with the decision not to increase the Coromandel scallop bag limit. Especially since this fishery has experienced a strong rebuild and is doubling and even tripling commercial catchs. We believe that its time for the recreational fishers to share in the rebuild we have contributed to.

We noted, however, the Minister’s statement in his decision letter:

“& there is not currently enough information available to support a bag limit increase. I have requested that the Ministry of Fisheries obtain further information on the nature and extent of the recreational fishery, (including through survey) and the potential impacts of an increase in the bag limit, particularly if the fishery were to enter a period of decline”

The NZRFC requested that MFish provide the Minister with this additional information, as requested, so that the Minister can reconsider his decision.

It was noted that once this information is available, rather than running another independent review process it would be best to review the bag limit either:

during the annual in-season allowance review for the fishery, or

through the Coromandel scallop fisheries plan currently being developed by MFish.

Council representatives also agreed that hand-held lassoes should be recognised in the Regulations. Lassoes are an existing method that causes little damage and allows for selective harvesting. In contrast to the views of the commercial fishers, they are thought to cause less damage to the lobster than hand gathering and do not improve the catching success beyond that of hand gathering.

The Council has advised MFish that the decision not to permit the use of lassoes to catch rock lobster has confused and frustrated many recreational fishers. The Minister’s press release stated:

“&I am not yet convinced that hand-held lassoes should be permitted to be used in capturing a crayfish”

In response, the NZRFC have organised for a postgraduate student at the Bay of Plenty Polytech to undertake a comparative study on mortality induced by collecting crayfish by hand and with lassoes. Pro Dive have donated lassoes for the trial and a scientist at NIWA is providing peer review of the project.

The Council notes that funding has not been provided for this work, and question where the additional Crown research funding that was promised to recreational fishers is. In the mean time the Council has sought the support of the charterboat fraternity to assist in giving access to dive sites and we are currently providing within our resources limited funding for the research projects addittional costs

The Council has advised that if results show mortality rates with lassoes are equal to or less than those inflicted by hand, we will be requesting the Minister to re-consider his decision in light of the new information.

Following on to this year the Recreational Fishing Council team, has responded to fishers requests who have identified a number of new issues that they felt are causing problems in the recreational fishing community. These issues are identified below, together with how the Council would like to proceed in mitigating the problem.

1. Define Take

Currently, “taking” is defined in legislation as “fishing” and fishing is defined simply as “.. the catching, taking, or harvesting of fish, aquatic life, or seaweed”. The problem has arisen from the recent commercial fishers attack on recreational fishers tagging and releasing of kingfish.

The definition in its current form is not considered to provide enough guidance for recreational fishers. For example, if a fish is tagged and released, or released because it is undersize, does this count against the daily bag limit?

We have requested greater clarity around this definition, or a new definition be incorporated into legislation.

2. Minimum legal size

The Council has requested that the minimum legal size be reviewed for the following species:

Gurnard –no MLS exists

Blue cod –the national MLS is currently 33cm. This was increased from 30cm in 1993 due to concerns about blue cod sustainability in the South Island. However, 33cm is considered too high in most other places, and recreational fishers would like to see the 33cm MLS apply only to the area it was intended, with the national MLS reverted back to 30cm.

Trumpeter –no MLS exists

The Council has also requested that the commercial minimum legal size be removed for fish taken by the bulk fishing methods of Trawling, Purse & Danish seining and Set Netting. Concerns were raised that the current MLS regime applied when bulk fishing results in a significant amount of waste and could legitimise high grading. Further, the Council considers that all fish caught should be counted against a fisher’s quota.

It was noted that this issue relates to commercial fishing and is beyond the scope of a review of recreational regulations. It is appropriate that MFish flag the issue of MLS and bulk fishing methods as a part of the annual sustainability review process.

3. Recreational scallop fishing season

The Council has requested that the scallop season be changed from 15 July – 14 February to 1 September – 31 March, a six week shift in the season. We consider that benefits to recreational fishers from this action would include: leaving early season scallops to improve in condition, and making late season scallops available for harvest.

It is envisaged that there will be no change to the commercial season.

4. Auckland Shellfish Regulations

The Council has questioned whether the current amateur bag limits for shellfish in the Auckland region are actually reasonable. We note that there are significant levels of non-compliance associated with shellfish harvesting in the area and query whether this is because bag limits are too small.

We have questioned whether there may be alternative management measures that would be more effective in managing the shellfish resource –such as closing beaches if there are depletion issues.

5. Set Net Attendance

Many recreational fishers are concerned that the current regulations allow people to leave set nets unattended in the water. They feel this causes significant wastage, and often nets are lost in bad weather resulting in ghost fishing.

Currently there is a push from the environmental sector to ban the use of all set nets within our near shore and estuarine waters and as such unless we are proactive and develop a set net protocol we will once again end up with emotive environmental driven outcomes that may further impact on the publics rights to fish.

It was noted that this problem relates to both recreational and commercial set net fishing and requires a national review of the method. As such, it is more appropriate that MFish leads such a review as a part of its annual sustainability review process.

6. Paua size limit

The national minimum legal size for (ordinary) paua is 125mm. However, the Council notes that there are stunted populations in areas throughout New Zealand (such as Taranaki) and question whether the size limit should be reduced in these areas.

MFish have been asked to provide the NZRFC with information on stunted populations of paua throughout the country before proceeding further.

Now on to rock lobster. As many are aware the NZRFC has been representing recreational fishers on the National Rock Lobster management Group in Wellington. This is a national stakeholder group which includes all stake holders and besides us we have commercial, Maori commercial and customary, environmental, Mfish and all the science groups. Clearly this fishery has some unique issues that requires a collective approach towards addressing the management issues, with CRA2, CRA3 and CRA7 & 8 all in the lime light at present as we discuss there particular concerns. For this to happen and to ensure local fishers have their say it is important that these fishers have input and give their views to the Council.

The kahawai legal challenge is due into the high court in Auckland on the 6^th of June 2006 with the working group beavering away on final preparations for this important mile stone case. The case is not just about kahawai. Underpinning the case is our fundamental rights to a fair allocation and continued access to our near shore fisheries.

f this was not enough the Ministry of Fisheries has now thrown shared fisheries discussions and allocation of key fish stocks into the pot. This along with fish plans and a whole heap of other Ministry driven initiatives has the Council and its representatives at full stretch. The sad part is that we are continually being constrained in our ability to represent the public due to a lack of fiscal resources. In saying this I am of the firm belief that while we could do some things better, the wider fishing public continues to be well served by the Recreational Fishing Councils efforts.

To this end the Councils annual conference is being held in the Hamilton Air Port Motor Inn over the weekend of the 13^th to 15^th of July 2006 to which all members and new members are welcome to attend. This is the heart of the New Zealand trailer boat fraternity and an ideal time for fishers to get involved.

At this conference the Council will be discussing all the key issues surrounding shared fisheries, future allocation process and the various regulations that are required to be reviewed. It is important that all recreational fishers who value their right to fish for food or fun participate and attend.

For further information contact the secretary,Sheryl Hart on 04 9725041 email nzrfcsheryl@actrix.co.nz or mail: PO Box PO Box 238 Raglan

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