Questions Rise Over Recreational Fishing Parks

The Marlborough Recreational Fishing Association (MRFA) has “cautiously welcomed” announced Government's proposals in a government discussion paper to establish new recreational fishing parks in the Marlborough Sounds and the Hauraki Gulf.. However MRFA president added there were a number of questions to be answered before it could get full approval

“We welcome a move to give greater importance to recreational fishing in the Marlborough Sounds for since 2008 under the recreational blue cod and set regimes imposed by successive Labour and National-led governments, there has been discrimination against the recreational public," he said. “But some bitter experiences of fisheries ministers and bureaucrats over cod and set nets leave us wary and wanting answers to questions.”

Peter Watson said governments gave low priority to recreational fishing despite over a million New Zealanders going fishing each year and fishing rated by research as the number one sporting activity.

“We don’t want a political sideshow. We want sensible management of the total fishery and a restoration of a degraded, ailing environment in the case of the Marlborough Sounds.”

He said fish were migratory and some species such as snapper, kahawai, kingfish and others, highly so often moving long distances to spawn and or migrate seasonally in response to water temperatures.

"Fish do not recognise lines on a map. They migrate and often considerable distances seasonally. So the total national fishery needs much better management.”

A recreational zone, banning all commercial fishing, could have great benefits for the stressed scallop fishery which was teetering on disaster he said. There was a very strong argument to ban commercial scallop dredging anywhere in the Sounds. Another threat to the Sounds fishery was the degraded environment with recent surveys showing alarming sedimentation from forestry clear felling, aquaculture and to a lesser degree farming. Peter Watson said aquaculture continued to be allocated public sea bed space despite indications it was at a saturation point now.

Studies in the past had indicated recreational fishing was a generator of economic activity. One study about a decade ago showed NZ’s recreational fishery to worth over a billion dollars to the economy.

“There’s not the slightest doubt it’s a strong force in the local Marlborough economy,” he said.

He said the administration around a Marlborough Sounds recreational fishing park had unanswered questions. A democratically elected board would be far preferable to a puppet politically appointed board has had happened with Environment Canterbury. The forestry effects and over-allocation to marine farming needed addressing too.

“We would also be wary of the creation of such a park creating pocket handkerchief areas while the rest of New Zealand’s fishery was plundered by corporate company boats. The New Zealand recreation Public would want fishery debates to be about the total fishery not just a couple of recreational parks.”

Another issue was compensation as it was not certain what was the subject of compensation since there was llittle commercial fishing in the Sounds.

“In any case commercial quota holders have a shareholding by way of the TACC in a right to harvest fish, not the fish themselves.

"If they are to now compensate fishers to move from one area while maintaining the TACC are they merely compensating for an area right that arguably doesn’t exist.

Also displacement of fishing effort to other areas outside the park has to be a major concern,” he said.

ends

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