Shared fisheries proposals rejected
The New Zealand Seafood Industry Council has formally rejected the government's proposals for the management of shared fisheries, but sees the discussion as an opportunity for all the sectors involved to move forward together.
The Council's submission on the Shared Fisheries public discussion document was released in late February 2007, prepared by Council staff based on a comprehensive series of industry briefings and workshops over the past year.
The submission says the Council supports the need to resolve outstanding management issues in shared fisheries, particularly in relation to gaps in information about how much fish is being taken by the recreational sector, and a failure to ensure that recreational catch is constrained to its allowances.
But the Council rejects the approach taken by the Ministry of Fisheries in its discussion document as there is no sound basis for many of the proposals in the document that will favour the recreational sector over the commercial sector. The submission also describes the government proposals as "profoundly unfair".
If implemented some of the proposals amount to expropriation of harvesting rights that have been purchased in good faith by individuals and companies, and rights allocated as part of the Treaty Settlement to Maori, in the expectation that these rights were certain.
The Council submits that the key to managing shared fisheries is to complete the rights-based framework. Its proposed solutions include:
- Ensuring reliable and timely information is available on the catches of all sectors
- Securing proportionality of TAC shares based on current allocations
- Enabling adjustments to shares to occur on a willing seller, willing buyer basis
- Ensuring each sector is represented by a properly resourced and mandated organisation
- Enabling negotiated agreements in particular fisheries and/or areas
- Compensation, as of right, if the government adjusts allocations or access for other than sustainability reasons.
Council Chief Executive Owen Symmans said it was in everyone's interests to provide good information on what they were catching. "We need to create incentives for people to participate. We don't want to make it onerous, but we do need to get the information. It's about creating a culture where it is cool to report your catch."
"The important thing is that we see this as an opportunity to move forward; to ensure that we have sustainable fisheries that benefit everyone."
