December 18, 2019
At this time of year we often hear wailing about recreational fishers taking too many fish and how that threatens overall sustainability. The good news is twofold. One, we still have good access to fisheries that thousands of Kiwis enjoy over summer. Secondly, we have new national survey results that show that recreational harvest is […]
December 9, 2019
Let’s get real, LegaSea is not anti-commercial fishing. We want small-scale, low impact commercial fishing to be successful. LegaSea is against the Quota Management System and an inadequate Fisheries Act that fails to protect our fish stocks for future generations. Far from being innovative, over the past 30 years the QMS has been a backward […]
November 30, 2019
A recent government report on the state of our marine environment raises legitimate concerns about the lack of information on fishing levels, the impacts of fishing, and that fishing has become more industrialised. The report, Environment Aotearoa 2019 was a joint initiative by the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ. The report authors make […]
November 29, 2019
Prime fishing areas in the Bay of Plenty have been targeted for closure and LegaSea along with local fishers are pushing back. The closures of some reefs and islands in the area around Motiti are supported by Court decisions, although subject to appeal. The New Zealand Sport Fishing Council has registered as an “interested party” […]
November 22, 2019
From October 1st Stuart Nash has reduced the commercial catch of tarakihi on the east coast of the North and South Islands by 10 percent. LegaSea was calling for a 40 percent reduction. The arguments for minimal cuts were bolstered by an economic report commissioned by Fisheries New Zealand describing the impacts of any changes […]
November 20, 2019
In the Bay of Plenty we don’t have to look far for evidence that the Quota Management System is not working. LegaSea is concerned that the failure of the QMS is having major consequences. Moreover, the inaction by Fisheries New Zealand and the Minister of Fisheries Stuart Nash to address the serious issues of depletion […]
November 15, 2019
There is a growing call that the Quota Management System has to go. It is not fit for purpose because it is not delivering on its goals of resource sustainability and economic efficiency. Our fisheries managers need to start applying the environmental and precautionary principles in the Fisheries Act 1996 otherwise Regional Councils will step […]
November 10, 2019
In the same week that our Prime Minister is explaining the Maori concept of kaitiakitanga, guardianship, to the United Nations her fisheries Minister is at home setting catch limits way too high for some fish stocks. Stuart Nash announced his decisions for 20 fish stocks four days before they were due to come into effect […]
November 6, 2019
LegaSea is clear that decisive action needs to be taken now to protect our fish stocks from collapse. That means putting the handbrake on catch increases until we know more about how many fish are in the water. No such restraint is evidenced in the latest management proposals from Fisheries New Zealand. FNZ has just […]
November 5, 2019
There are a lot of things people did in the 1900s that are not acceptable today. One of those unacceptable behaviours is bottom trawling in inshore waters. Science shows us that bottom trawling catches fish indiscriminately and it impacts on the seabed, killing the three dimensional structure that supports essential organisms. Those organisms attract small […]
