1: Let’s rebuild the fishery Many NZ inshore fish stocks have been fished below the internationally recognised sustainability level. LegaSea says: Let’s adopt a target 40% of the unfished stock size as a minimum. The New Zealand Harvest Strategy Standard expects fisheries to be rebuilt within twice the time taken to rebuild the fishery in the absence of all fishing. National is firmly committed to the principle of sustainability, and believes we must limit our use of resources to a rate that will serve us not just in the short term, but for future generations. We want to carefully manage our fisheries sustainably for all sectors – recreational, commercial and customary.  The Fisheries Act requires that all stocks that are part of the Quota Management System (QMS) are managed at or above the biomass that supports the maximum sustainable yield. This will vary between species and areas depending on productivity and other important factors.    This is why we need to retain some flexibility in different areas and for different species, because imposing too tough a target too soon could mean slashing recreational and commercial limits in many areas.  This is also why there are regular reviews of all fishing stocks.  Overall we’re proud of the Quota Management System (QMS) which is considered one of the best in the world. In 2009 New Zealand was ranked as having the most sustainably managed fishery in the world by the international publications “Science” and “Marine Policy”. As part of rebuilding fisheries, by the end of this year we will establish a record number and area of marine reserves. We will have created 11 marine reserves since 2011 (the last three are still in the process of being established but this will be completed sometime this year). These include:          Tawharanui          Subantarctics (3 reserves)          Akaroa         West Coast (5 reserves)          Kaikoura  2: Stop senseless waste Fish that are currently being wasted are the first target of any rebuilding strategy.

Trawling inshore waters wastes enormous numbers of fish every year. We have been refused access to a report that exposes this level of waste, despite several Official Information Act requests. Recreational fishers need to also develop ways to reduce waste. We are cracking down on illegal practices with increased monitoring, new rules for the commercial sector, and investing in science and research. We monitor commercial fishing across the country, and last year we announced a major package of reform for the Snapper 1 area (Northland East, Hauraki Gulf and Bay of Plenty). This includes:          Camera or observer coverage on all trawl vessels by 1 October 2015         Mandatory Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) on all commercial vessels by 1

October 2014.         Commercial fishers are now required to report all catch under the commercial legal

size         Trialling the use of cameras to record and measure fish returned to the sea         Introducing a “move on rule”, where commercial fishers will move from fishing spots

where a significant portion of catch is small juvenile fish.         Implement a scientific tagging survey by 1 October 2014 to provide up to date and

reliable information on the Snapper 1 stock. This will come with a cost of $7 million and will be split 50/50 between the government and the commercial sector.

         Introducing a maximum size limit for commercial long line fishers.          Established a Management Strategy Group to develop long term plans for this

fishery, with Sir Ian Barker as Chair.         Passed the Fisheries (Foreign Charter Vessels and Other Matters) Amendment Bill.

This means foreign vessels must be reflagged and operate under New Zealand’s laws by 2016. Observers are already in place on all foreign vessels.

 We also have the Precision Seafood Harvesting Programme, which is a $52 million project with funding coming from both industry and government. This is developing new technology that will allow fish to be landed on fishing boats alive, and in perfect condition, while safely releasing small fish and other species. The potential economic and environmental benefits of this are huge.  3: Our fisheries are publicly owned All the fish and mineral resources in New Zealand’s EEZ belong to New Zealand.The resource royalties generated from exploiting the public’s fishery resources are being collected by private quota owners – these quota owners are acting as if they own the fish! 

Government needs to impose a resource royalty and redirect these rents to the owners; the public We don’t support a resource levy on commercial fishers for the same reason we don’t support licenses for recreational fishers – because it would add an extra layer of tax and complexity to the system. Resource rentals have been explored by previous Governments, but in 1994, a decision was made to instead impose a system of levies and charges to recover the Government’s cost of administering the Quota Management System. This was because cost recovery levies and charges were technically more feasible to administer, compared to estimating profits earned on each individual species of fish. The 1992 Deed of Settlement with Maori in relation to their fisheries claims also created legal complications for imposing resource rentals. The Government obtains a financial return through the tendering of new quota for new species introduced into the quota management system. The seafood industry has paid over $300 million in levies to the Crown over the last 10 years. Clearly, commercial fishers do not have ‘free’ access to fish. Any extra tax or levy would cost jobs, exports and raise the price of fish for consumers. It’s worth noting that the commercial seafood industry generates $1.5 billion in exports, pays tax and employs over 10,000 people.   4: Equal size limits for all In some fisheries commercial fishermen have smaller minimum size limits than recreational fishers. Size differentials are reducing public catch in an increasing number of fisheries, including snapper, crayfish, scallops and kingfish. This size creep continues for no biological purpose. It is a blatant way of transferring public catch to private interests, creating an unfair advantage. The reason why commercial fishers have different size limits for some species in a small number of areas is that it encourages them to use more of what they catch, instead of dumping it.  

For this reason, some recreational fishers have argued there should be no minimum size limit for commercial fishers.  However I believe we have the balance right in most fisheries, but this is something we monitor very closely.    5: Value recreational fishing A US study found that a recreational caught fish is worth 68 times more to the national economy than a commercially caught one. We must establish a value for recreational fishing in New Zealand so that Ministerial decisions can be balanced according to the social, economic and cultural wellbeing of our people and country. Estimating the value for recreational fishing is difficult as it’s impossible to put a dollar value on the enjoyment and pleasure gained by New Zealanders. We do know that the value of recreational fishing in New Zealand for the top five recreational species (snapper, rock lobster, kingfish, kawhai and blue cod) is $342 million.  Of course there are 638 fish stocks throughout New Zealand, and it would be almost impossible to calculate the total value of these or the jobs created by the recreational sector.  Various studies have attempted to quantify this using a wide variety of methods for estimating fishing values, but there is little that can be applied to the New Zealand context.  A Snapper 1 Strategy Group has been set up to develop long term plans for this fishery, involving both recreational and commercial representatives. This group may be interested in looking further at this issue.