Environment (4)Thriving Oceans - Conservative Party Fishing Policy Brief

Note: this policy covers the scarce wild resource, not farmed fish.

The sea zone surrounding New Zealand is arguably our most valuable resource. The perpetual wealth that is offered by the fisheries resource depends upon a long term management plan being prioritised over short term commercial gain. It is our view that the wild fish of New Zealand belong firstly to the New Zealand people for their recreational enjoyment and secondly as a resource to be sustainably used by the commercial sector. Properly managed, this resource will give to each generation abundant food enough to feed ourselves and to sell at a profit to others. As world fisheries decline due to overfishing, a well-managed fishery gives New Zealand a  significant competitive advantage.  

We support the following changes to the system currently employed to regulate fishing in New Zealand and specifically SNA1

1/. That the legal size will be the same for both recreational and commercial fisherman for all species (Crayfish etc.) in the sea/shoreline. The legal size will be set at 27cm for snapper.

2/. That there will be a ban of commercial trawling within 7nm of the mainland coast of New Zealand.

3/. That there will be a ban on commercial fishing within the Hauraki Gulf. (All other areas are covered by the 7nm ban)

4/. Gill nets will be banned for everything except flounder and mullet.

5/. Commercial fisherman will be banned from catching Kahawai and Kingfish. These will become recreational species only.

6/. Recreational fishers total catch (bag limit) of snapper will remain at 7 until biomass has increased.

7/. Commercial fisherman will return to port with ALL by-catch and be prohibited from dumping any at sea and a proper monitoring program will be implemented to limit by-catch.

8/. The Minister of Tourism will ensure that adequate resources are provided to attract recreational fishermen from offshore as part of our Clean & Green Tourism industry.

9/. In addition to cameras already legislated for, all commercial fishing boats should be fitted with Continuous Beacon Transmitters and their location plotted to ensure compliance with inshore fishing restriction.

10/. No snapper will be exported unless the price for export equals the wholesale market price. New Zealanders are not going to subsidise to the tune of 4 to 6 times the current export price. There is more value leaving the snapper in the sea than exporting them when price is so low..