Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

Huge public support for better whitebait management options

Nearly 8,000 individuals made a submission calling for the introduction of a catch limit, fishing licence, and data collection to the whitebait fishery, through a Forest & Bird online submission page.

Department of Conservation's consultation on whitebait management closed today at 9:00am.

“Four of the native freshwater fish caught as whitebait are in decline and threatened with extinction. It’s time to put our fish first.” says Forest & Bird Freshwater Advocate, Tom Kay.

“The public are extremely engaged in this issue. New Zealanders love our native fish and want to protect them with some simple rules.”

In a Department of Conservation survey last year, nearly 80% of respondents said they’d like to see a catch limit and 60% said they’d support a fishing licence, but these options were excluded from the management options being consulted on over the past eight weeks

“Why these options aren’t in the proposed changes makes no sense. All other species commercially fished have a catch limit. Why should whitebait be any different? We are talking about endangered native fish, some of which are found nowhere else in the world,” says Mr Kay.

“We’re hoping this public outpouring of love for our native fish will give the Department of Conservation the courage to recommend the introduction of a catch limit, licence, and better data gathering to the Minister. These are the basic tools for running a commercial fishery.”

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

“Whitebait are an important part of the cultural fabric of New Zealand.”

“There’s no question we also need to rebuild damaged habitat for whitebait fish to grow up into thriving adult populations. But in the meantime we need some basic fishing rules to prevent overfishing.”

“Our whitebait fishery is at breaking point. Continuing to catch and sell these threatened species without a limit or data collection will be the final nail in the coffin."

“We need native freshwater fish populations to be healthy throughout their habitats if we want whitebait fishing to be sustainable. Our native fish need some reasonable limits on whitebaiting in order to recover.”

Our native fish
The Conservation status of New Zealand freshwater fishes 2017 lists the threat status of New Zealand’s freshwater fish.

76% of all native freshwater fish are listed as threatened or at risk of extinction.

The six native fish in the whitebait catch are: Kōaro (at risk - declining), shortjaw kōkopu (threatened - nationally vulnerable), banded kōkopu (doing okay), giant kōkopu (at risk - declining), īnanga (at risk - declining), and common smelt (doing okay).


© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines


Gordon Campbell: On The US Opposition To Mortgage Interest Deductibility For Landlords


Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don't think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of political capital by giving landlords a huge $2.9 billion tax break via interest deductibility, while still preaching the need for austerity to the disabled, and to everyone else...
More


 
 

Government: Concerns Conveyed To China Over Cyber Activity
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity... More

ALSO:


Government: GDP Decline Reinforces Government’s Fiscal Plan

Declining GDP for the December quarter reinforces the importance of restoring fiscal discipline to public spending and driving more economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says... More

ALSO:


Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.