7 March 2016

Recreational fishers to report their catch

Recreational fishers will be forced to report their catch in proposed fishing parks, says Labour's Fisheries Spokesperson Rino Tirikatene.

“Documents released under the Official Information Act show Nick Smith wants to force recreational fishers to report their catch in the proposed Hauraki Gulf and Marlborough Sounds fishing parks.

“This plan has been buried under tricky language such as "monitoring of the recreational fishing experience" in the Marine Protected Areas discussion document. But a memo to the Ministry of Primary Industries officials says ‘potential reporting of recreational catch’ is on the cards at ‘Minister Smith's request’.

“The Government isn’t being open and honest. I urge all recreational fishers to have their say as submissions on the proposed fishing parks close this week.

“The proposed fishing parks have been repeatedly delayed and stakeholders across the spectrum from recreational, commercial fishers, iwi and environmental groups have serious concerns. It's yet another Nick Smith stuff-up in the making,” says Rino Tirikatene.

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