Thanks for your email on the CRA2 fishery.

I’m very aware of concerns expressed by locals over the availability of crayfish in this area. I’ve listened closely to local feedback which is why I’ve asked MPI to bring forward a scientific survey to later this year to take a good look at the state of the fishery.

This is an important step because we need to have good objective science behind any decisions we make.

It’s also why in 2014 I reduced the commercial limits in CRA2 by 15 per cent and the commercial industry has voluntarily further reduced their catch.

More details will be coming out later this year on the survey, and community engagement with local fishers will be an important part of this. I encourage everyone to have their say because this is an important shared fishery for recreational, customary and commercial fishers.

In terms of an inquiry, we already have a major programme of work underway called “Future of our Fisheries”. This was announced in August 2015 with the aim of improving the long term sustainable benefits of our fisheries for all New Zealanders.

As part of this, late last year a discussion document was released with a range of ideas and proposals for how to achieve this. Public meetings were held around the country and we received a wide range of submissions and feedback. You can read more about this at http://www.mpi.govt.nz/law-and-policy/legal-overviews/fisheries/future-of-our-fisheries/

The first major step in the programme is digital monitoring of commercial fishing– including cameras on every vessel. This is being rolled out from 1 October this year and will give us arguably the most transparent and accountable commercial fishery anywhere in the world.

MPI is also making changes to regulations to allow the use of innovative new trawl technologies on commercial fishing boats. These new nets have less impact on the environment, and can reduce by-catch of undersized fish, seabirds, and mammals.

In this year’s Budget I announced a funding boost of $30.5 million to support this work and upgrade and modernise the fisheries management system.

This will support more detailed scientific research to improve our knowledge of the marine environment and help develop new information about the state of our fisheries.

Overall we have a strong system of fisheries management that has been recognised around the world, but at the same time we need to be constantly making improvements and adopting new technology.

Thanks for your feedback and please keep an eye out for news coming later this year about the CRA2 scientific survey.

Regards

Nathan Guy

Minister for Primary Industries

Calls for Commission of Inquiry into fisheries mismanagement grow

Four political parties have joined LegaSea and the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council’s call for an inquiry into the state of New Zealand’s fisheries management practices.

New Zealand First, the Māori Party, United Future and the New Zealand Outdoors Party have all agreed New Zealand’s fisheries management needs an overhaul and cannot continue the way it is currently going.

Support is also forthcoming from New Zealand’s largest iwi, Ngapuhi, and the Hokianga Accord, the mid-north iwi fisheries forum, who endorse the call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry.

Māori and Pakeha alike are concerned about collapsing stock numbers, fish dumping, and overfishing that appears to be beyond the control of the Ministry for Primary Industries........