A ten per cent cut to commercial catch limits of tarakihi will not be enough to save the species from its depleted state, says LegaSea.

Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash announced today his management plan to restore the East Coast tarakihi fishery by applying a ten per cent cut to commercial catch limits this year on top of twenty per cent last year.

But recreational fishing advocacy group LegaSea says MPI science shows another 40 per cent cut to catch limits is needed for tarakihi stocks to regrow to healthy levels in the next decade.

LegaSea spokesperson Sam Woolford says the Minister has failed in his obligation to safeguard a sustainable fishery and instead put his faith in a rebuild plan devised by the same industry that did the damage in the first place.

“We’re hugely disappointed that the government has bowed to commercial interests instead of putting the sustainability of this prized fishery first.”

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern explained the Māori concept of kaitiakitanga, or guardianship, to the United Nations this week. LegaSea calls on her government to demonstrate its commitment to this principle in our own waters first.

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