This year we set out to promote the need for good quality fisheries policy from all political parties. By election day more than 17,000 people had registered support for LegaSea’s Tip the Scales campaign. If you were one of those people, thank you.

It was your support for the 5 principles that influenced the political parties to commit to Tip the Scales towards more abundant fisheries and fair management decisions.

Earlier in the year LegaSea developed 5 principles, sent those to all the political parties and then put them online. People who wanted to show the politicians that fish matter could register their support. Many of the 17,000 people who registered online commented that they would be voting on fish this election.

Results scorecard.
Prior to the election LegaSea published the results of our unbiased analysis of each party’s policy compared to the 5 principles. The results were surprising, with a clear leading bunch of five parties and the remaining four parties who did not have fisheries as a priority.

There has been mixed reactions to the results however, the scores are the outcome of a team analysis, to avoid any individual bias. Each party had equal opportunity to provide public friendly fisheries policy, clearly United Future, NZ First and the Greens decided to frame their policies to provide abundance and diversity.

Now, after the election, it is incumbent on all of us to hold the successful governing parties responsible for delivering sustainability and balanced decisions when it comes to our fisheries.

Support for LegaSea
LegaSea is working hard to keep you informed. Please, a simple, monthly contribution will go a long way to keep LegaSea active. Go online, use the mobile site or give us a call. We cannot continue to do this alone, we welcome your support.