Fishing and outdoors newspaper jan 2018

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January 2018

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Our Future Catch - an orchestrated litany of deception Despite some powerful interests at work behind Bess’s New Zealand Initiative Future Catch report, the backlash from recreational fishers was swift and came as no surprise. Bess’s attempted to dupe the Minister of Fisheries failed, but he will not give up. Nash made the correct decision albeit naïvely Now we see the reinvention of the two failed supposedly recreational fishing representative groups New Zealand Recreational Fishing Council (NZRFC) and FishFuture. They are nothing more than an extension of the commercial fishing industry who they have strong links to. These groups claim to represent recreational fishers but they have received funding from the commercial fishing industry and their captured MPI. The NZRFC and the commercial fishing industry see Bess’s report as an opportunity to improve fisheries management, by bringing recreational fishing into the failed quota management system. Keith Ingram chairman of the NZRFC is looking to reaffirm the Councils mandate over all recreational fishing and take up new opportunities offered by Bess’s report to solve the overfishing problem. Research by MPI and NIWA shows that overall participation in recreational fishing is stable despite recent population growth. Around 600,000 Kiwis and about 100,000 tourists fish at least once every year. Excluding aquaculture, recreational fishing conservatively represents – Less than 3% of the total take from New Zealand’s marine waters. Less than 20% of total take

SEE INSIDE Page 2 -

Snapper boom predicted

Page 4 -

Sustainable mussel farming is not true

Page 7 -

Fish and Game Mag has become a patsy

Page 8 -

The Green Party must pay the price of betrayal

Page 14 - Fishing report dead in the water

from the inshore fisheries - inside the 12 mile limit which the public mostly fish. Recreational fishing has a significant impact in some shellfish fisheries and a few inshore finfish stocks such as snapper and kahawai on the northeast coast of the North Island and blue cod at the top of the South Island. Most other inshore fish stocks are dominated by commercial fishers. Existing controls have proven to be effective in managing recreational fishing. Generally, recreational take is less than the allowance set aside by the Minister. But, many fish stocks do not have an allowance set aside by the Minister because they have not been reviewed since at least 1986. Bess’s New Zealand Initiative report, “The Future Catch”, is nothing more than a conspiracy to defraud the public of its fish. Its launch to media came to a sudden halt in Auckland recently, when its author Randall Bess was confronted with strong rebuttals on why his biased, misguided and disingenuous recommendations that strip recreational fishers of their birth right, won’t work. Caught off guard by the onslaught Bess appeared to run for cover and disappeared out the door before finishing his lunch, ‘stating that he had a flight to catch’, leaving his CEO to wrap up the meeting. Hardly the actions of a man on a mission to improve the recreational fishing experience. Bess’s 76 page report under the deliberately misleading banner, “Preserving recreational fisheries for the next generation”, focuses on three main recommendations: 1.) The formation of a new ‘Peak Body’ to displace LegaSea and the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council. On page 49 Bess states that the Fisheries Minister wanted “some distance between himself and certain people in the recreational sector.” Having a Peak Body would be important for “keeping the lunatics away”; 2.) Licencing coupled with user-pay charges for “the recreational right to fish”; 3.) Restricting recreational catches to a share of the total allowable catch. As the population grows the recreational proportion may be increased by compensating commercial fishers for an increased share of the total allowable catch i.e. establishment of a willing-buyer, willing-seller system. These recommendations are not new. Industry has been pushing for proportionality since 1991. Bess’s disingenuous report has industry written all over it. Bess admits that

“the policy recommendations in the consultation draft of The Future Catch largely reflect the views” of those who went with him to Perth to assess the Western Australian Recfishwest system. Five of this group of nine, were from industry and one was Dave Turner, the former Director of Fisheries Management, who was caught lying on TV3 last year about why the Operation Achilles commercial fish dumpers were not prosecuted. Bess, admits that recreation fishing is under treat, the cost recovery system has failed, and that the Ministry only has poor quality data on many of the inshore fish stocks. Not surprising given the industry controlled self-reporting system. Bess recognises but demonstrably fails to address the biggest threats – dumping and misreporting by the commercial fishing industry, substandard science, lack of leadership at MPI that’s failing to meet their responsibilities under the Fisheries Act, and industry capture of the Ministry for Primary Industries and political processes.

search with a seemingly predetermined outcome in mind. It seems Bess has travelled the world to find a fishery that will fit his predetermined model for NZ. His arguments, conveniently overlook that NZ has a distinctively different fishery; in size, in abundance, the range of species, and by the diversity of kiwi fishers. The Western Australian Recfishwest system that Bess is pushing has few commercial fishers and those that are there are small family sized businesses with small quotas. When you compare that to the large litigious fishing companies that dominate the NZ industry, it clearly shows that the Recfishwest model should not be generalised to NZ. Importantly, Western Australia do not have Maori nor the Treaty of Waitangi to consider. Most Maori fish as recreational fishers and to suggest an Australian model caters for the Maori world view is absurd and frankly offensive.

Bess’s disingenuous report dismally fails to address a range of issues, particularly: Bess is strangely focused on the 2.7% 1. Commercial trawling and of the total allowable catch that seining in close to camping and recreational and subsistence fish- holiday areas during the sumers (including most Maori) take for mer months which leaves areas a feed, rather than the 97.3% that decimated for weeks afterwards. commercial fisheries self-report. 2. The massive levels of wastage Targeting recreational fishers is a and dumping by commercial red herring as it dodges the real is- fishers that has yet to be resolved. sues which plague NZ’s fisheries. This problem was long denied by the industry and MPI, even Throughout his report he deni- when Operations Achilles and grates LegaSea and the NZ Sports Hippocamp were paraded through Fishing Council. He rules out the the media. The problem was only New Zealand Sport Fishing Council admitted after QC Heron released taking on the role of a peak body his report that highlighted the because of the “relentless confron- long standing problem and tation, deliberate misrepresenta- inappropriate conduct by the MPI in tion and intolerance for contrary not prosecuting commercial fishers. views, which characterise LegaSea’s 3. The absolutely necessity to approach, [which] would be a sig- have cameras and real-time reportnificant liability, if not a barrier… ing on all commercial fishing vesLegaSea’s lack of commitment to sels as soon as practicable is down constructive engagement. Its pref- played. This is despite the fact that erence for negative campaigns is MPI’s own reports have detailed the divisive and shown to be ineffective disturbing scale of the wastage by in influencing key decision makers.” commercial fishers. Only after the Bess must be referring to LegaSea’s camera provider and monitor was very successful 2013 snapper 1 exposed as industry owned, did the campaign, which resulted in the commercial industry cry foul. This is Minister stopping MPI’s proposed a very clear signal from the industry large cuts to recreational bag limits that despite denials they know what and a corresponding increase in the they have done and continue to do. commercial catch. LegaSea’s efforts 4. Some commercial fishers also saw the minister announce the have recognized that their practices roll out of cameras on commercial and methods were not working fishing vessels to stop dumping and have gone out of their way and misreporting. This was to address the issue. When asked hardly an ineffective campaign. what Bess’s thoughts were on the Clearly Bess had lied and unsur- cod end developed by a Hawkes prisingly, his report is full of holes, Bay commercial fisher that allowed showing biased and simplistic re- small fish to escape as opposed

to the mythical $52 million Preci- sustainable methods are unable sion Harvesting Net, Bess stated to catch their quota. They seem to that he was not aware of the in- blame recreational fishers for this. novation. The answer to the 8. The Fisheries Act clearly states commercial problem has been that customary and recreational fishsitting in front of Bess all along ing must be addressed before comyet he completely overlooks it. mercial interests yet Bess’s report 5. The national Government conveniently misses out this imporpromised recreational fishing re- tant part of the fisheries legislation. serves prior to three successive elec- tions and while they have not im- One has to wonder what motiplemented them, Bess’s report fails vates someone to write such a to even consider the benefits that biased report that deliberately recreational reserves would have. targets recreational fishers while 6. It is very clear that the in- ignoring Maori recreational fishdustry while promoting ‘sustain- ers, and completely leaves comable fishing practices’ are doing the mercial fishers out of the discussion. opposite, in order to maximise the value of exports. High-grading and Bess and those involved in the redumping of low value fish is an im- port have set up a Minister, new to portant profit-maximisation prac- his Portfolio, with a fraudulent protice. The fact that the industry has posal that if adopted would see him spent millions on TV coverage to and his government vehemently prop up their failing public image, attacked by Maori, recreational shows the lengths they will go to fishing, and conservation interests. protect their ‘business as usual mod- Recreational fishers will not cave el’. By omission Bess endorses this. in to the commercial fishing in7. The economic failing of the dustry. It was a mistake in 1980s industry with regards to fin fish is and it would be a bigger misappalling yet it appears that Bess take now. The damage that has has failed to mention that the been done too many inshore commercial industry using old un- Story continued page 2...

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