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 […]
March 8, 2019
Crayfish are an important species in the marine ecosystem so when we hear stories from experienced divers in the eastern Bay of Plenty who have only taken three crays in two years it’s pretty scary for all of us. Over January and February we worked with Spearfishing New Zealand to develop a submission responding to […]
March 3, 2019
Stuart Nash the Minister of Fisheries has issued the ‘Fisheries Change Programme’ to tweak the way commercial fishing is managed. He awaits public feedback by mid-March. Meanwhile, we wait for meaningful changes that will rebuild abundance in our fisheries and restore the health of our marine environment. Fiddling around the margins of a broken Quota […]
February 28, 2019
The governance of our marine fisheries is under increasing scrutiny because maintaining highly productive ecosystems has given way to transactional advocacy targeting every possible fish that can be justified. Local depletion and inter-tidal reefs stripped bare sees coastal communities and Kaitiaki [guardians] crying out for effective restraints. Clearly the current system is not working and […]
February 27, 2019
The world of fisheries management, research and advocacy has become increasingly complex. So, it’s encouraging for LegaSea and our parent body the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council that there is a growing number of organisations willing to step up and help resource the necessary work. In the past year LegaSea has worked on five new […]
