Welcome to the FryUp – a regular look back at the week of fishing in the news.
Submit
It’s been a busy-old time of it at LegaSea and the NZ Sport Fishing Council because it’s open season on submissions – or something like that.
This month we’ve put together submissions supporting the temporary closure of Maunganui Bay in the Bay of Islands, the Snapper 7 (Zone 7 is the top of the South Island/Bottom of the North, for those who want to know) rate of depletion, cuts to harvesting the Paua 7 area, overfishing in the John Dory 7 area, the need to rebuild the bluenose fishery and the need to reduce the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for Jack mackerel 3 (bottom of the South Island) and that’s after we submitted on the closure of the Scallop 7 fishery.
Clearly these fish stocks need protecting and rebuilding. So why has it come to this? Isn’t MPI supposed to regularly review TAC levels and adjust the catch limits accordingly? How can we be in a position where fisheries have to be closed in order to protect what’s left?
The submission on the need to rebuild bluenose stock numbers refers to one possible cause. “Catch reductions must not be deferred again, as they were in 2013/14, on the promise of more data gathering,” says our submission and rightly so. These fish are depleted in number and, if we’re not careful, they will be unfishable in a couple of years’ time.
As Clarke Gayford said in his interview in the New Zealand Herald last week, it’s all about Section 21 of the Fisheries Act.
We all, as New Zealanders, have an equal share in it. The first cab off the rank is customary rights, then they allow for mortality, then recreational, then, if there’s any fish left over, that is the commercial take.
It’s high time those who view fish as a commercial product remember they’re far more than that.
Maunganui Bay temporary closure application 2016
Snapper 7 management review
Paua 7 South Island
John dory 7 management review
Bluenose fish stocks management review
Jack mackerel 3 management review
Southern Scallops (SCA7) management 2016
ISSF – Study Confirms Value of Fisheries Management, Regulatory Enforcement Measures
Hey look, it’s us
If you’re reading this we’re probably preaching to the choir but hey look, it’s an ad for LegaSea!
LegaSea, as you know, lobbies on your behalf, reminding politicians and media, commercial fishers and the Ministry, that recreational fishing is alive, is a valuable asset to New Zealand’s economy and that we’re determined to make sure our grandchildren can enjoy fishing New Zealand’s waters as much as we have.
But we can’t do it without your support, so we’d ask that you share the video with others who are interested in fishing, who might not know about the role LegaSea plays and that you encourage them to become part of this crazy family as well.
Thanks to the ITM Fishing Show team for putting this together for us and you’ll see it screening during the ITM Fishing Show for the rest of the season – Saturdays, 5pm on TVOne.
And on that note, the ITM Fishing Show has been visiting in the South Island and has two episodes coming up on the fishing paradise that is New Zealand’s South Island, so check them out on July 30 and August 6.
ITM Fishing Show
Bagging the plastic
Did you know that more than 100,000 plastic bags go into landfill every week? It’s a huge number – but that’s only for the Gisborne region alone. Around New Zealand, the total number is nearer to the million bag mark.
Gisborne councillors heard from Plastic Bag-free Tairawhiti (PBFT), a group hoping to raise awareness of the problems plastics cause our environment, in particular, our sea life.
PBT was formed in May and its aims include reducing bag use, promoting reusable alternatives and promoting community pride. It hopes Gisborne will follow the example set by Marlborough District Council, which invested in reusable bags distributed through schools.
The amount of plastic going into the oceans is increasing every day and the impact on fish and bird life is huge. Here at the FryUp we’re keen to fish for snapper, not snap-lock bags, so we hope Gisborne and other councils around the country get in behind this campaign. As the PBFT says, plastic bags are the tip of the plastic iceberg but they’re a good place to start.
