June 3, 2019
When it comes to blue cod fishing most of the rule changes over the past 10 years have applied to recreational fishing. These changes have had major impacts on the social, economic and cultural wellbeing of people and businesses in some areas of the South Island. So, it’s bizarre that after a decade of changes […]
May 30, 2019
Tribute by Tony Orman The recent passing of Lloyd Hanson will be felt far and wide. An estimated 500 people attended his funeral in Blenheim, reflecting his influence in many outdoor related causes and the high esteem of the man. Lloyd loved being in the great outdoors, whether it was saltwater or trout fishing, or […]
May 15, 2019
New Zealand’s leading environmental organisations have today joined with recreational fishers to call on the Government to ban bottom trawling on seamounts. The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC), ECO, Forest and Bird, Greenpeace, LegaSea and WWF-New Zealand are urging the public to sign a petition to the Minister of Fisheries, Stuart Nash, and the Minister […]
April 28, 2019
For people like us invested in improving the management of our taonga, our marine treasures, it is frustrating times. Four years after the Ministry for Primary Industries signalled it was reviewing aspects of the Quota Management System all we have is a watered down electronic reporting system for commercial catch and ongoing confusion over the […]
April 20, 2019
In mid-March our team sent a comprehensive submission to Fisheries New Zealand calling for a broad look at fisheries management, to better understand why the Government has decided that electronic monitoring of commercial fishing activity is an unacceptable intrusion into fishing practices. It is important to know the reasons for this stance because other countries […]
April 18, 2019
It has been a strange start to 2019 and the coalition government has contributed to the weirdness, especially in terms of fisheries management. On the one hand we have Labour Party policy supporting an independent inquiry into the Quota Management System, and on the other we have a coalition partner stonewalling the installation of cameras […]
April 6, 2019
Cyclones are a regular feature of summers in Aotearoa, and while we haven’t experienced a direct hit this summer many events have been affected by activity in the Pacific. One of those events was the long-standing Fanatical Fishos fishing tournament organised by Chesters Plumbing and Bathroom Centre in New Lynn, Auckland. As the forecasters were […]
March 29, 2019
In February the Ministry for Primary Industries held a series of public meetings to discuss their latest proposals for the future management of commercial fishing. The Fisheries Change Programme is being welcomed by large quota owners who clearly expect the Minister to increase catch limits. However, if the proposals are pushed through commercial fishers on […]
March 28, 2019
In February the Ministry for Primary Industries issued a discussion paper Your fisheries – your say that proposed a range of measures to “simplify” the rules around discarding fish from commercial vessels. These included removing the minimum legal size limits for most species, paving the way for a land-all catch policy for commercial vessels and […]
March 15, 2019
In early February the Minister Stuart Nash released proposals to incentivise good fishing practices and provide better information. Feedback to Ministry on the ‘Fisheries Change Programme’ is required by mid-March. On the surface the proposals seem okay, but when you pull up the blankets there are loopholes for commercial interests to slide through with no […]
