NZBGFC News

Our Fishing Rights

So what is being reviewed and how will it effect your ability to take fish? Essentially the current system relies heavily on the Minister of Fisheries making adequate provision of fish stock so you may take upto your bag limit. Which works fine until a fishery becomes stressed (over fished) and there is insufficient stock to satisfy the three extracting groups of Customary Maori, the public and the Commercial fishing industry. In a fully exploited fishery or one under stress the minister has to make some tough decisions, who takes a reduction, how much and for how long? The easy bit to decide is the Maori customary share. In law, their right comes first. They make claim for what they need, provided it fits the qualification criteria they get it. Typically this share is quite small relative to what is available. The remainder is then available for allocation to the other two groups.

However there is no official formula for this allocation because it has never been addressed until now. Commercial fishers have an expectation that they will retain past quota allocation unless the minister decrees that there is insufficient stock. In this case all commercial fishers take a proportional reduction without compensation until the fishery recovers and then original quotas are restored. The minister may also increase their share if sufficient scientific evidence supports that the fishery can maintain a higher level. I should add that if a minister dropped their normal allocation for reasons other than sustaining the species at safe levels they have a case for government compensation.

In the case of a stressed fishery where the minister has dropped the available catch for commercial, the minister will normally for consistency, to avoid compensation issues and legal challenge, reduce the available share to the public. You will notice this as either reduced bag limit, size increase or closed season. A process I am sure you are familiar with and has for us only gone one way, backwards. The public has been proactive in trying to assist in stressed fisheries recovery.  By offering voluntary closed areas, making representation to increase our minimum size limits and even asking for reduced bag limits, because we could see that the fishery was in distress from our increasing difficulty to catch that particular species. We genuinely felt our efforts were in support of the fishery.  Great, except we don’t appear to benefiting from our contribution. We also point the finger at commercial operations as the greatest extractor of fish from the seas and accusingly blame them for the original problem. Why should we be made or volunteer in assisting to rebuild a fishery to which we believe had no fault in over exploitation.

We have some government sympathy in our thinking as various Minister of Fisheries have been challenged on the allocation process when they did reduce commercial take but not the public share. This government and the ones before it are acutely aware that there has never been a defined right for the public for them to fall back on. Hence the soundings process and our chance to secure an allocation right. We also need to determine management methods of the share that comes from that right for now and the future. It may seem complex but in reality can be very simple if we follow some basic principles. Understand those and the rest will follow in time. 

The crux of the matter as far as the NZBGFC is concerned, is for the public of NZ to be provided annually with a share that allows an individual access to a reasonable bag limit provided it is sustainable.  This share must be able to accommodate for the increasing growth of population without eroding that reasonable bag limit. Should the need arise to maintain that share, the public are given priority ahead of commercial allocation. And as it is always topical we don’t support any notion of an idea that could be interpreted as public licensing to catch fish from the sea.  

We have a number of secondary considerations on how our share could be managed but they hinge on achieving the basics. None of the available options as defined in the soundings document came close to adequately addressing the basic principles. So this council choose to support the principles defined by the option 4 group as being closest to the ideal. Option 4 has been formulated by a group of knowledgeable concerned fishers tired of seeing the gradual erosion of public ability to catch a reasonable feed or a trophy fish for pleasure. The details can be found on their web site www.option4.co.nz. Surprisingly the basic principles of option 4 are not that much different from a policy document put together under the last Labour lead government on recreational fishing but never made it into legislation before being defeated in the polls.

The priority right over commercial will require considerable public support to be successful. By support I mean numbers, lots of you are asking for the same basic principles, so much so it can not be misinterpreted or brushed aside. Many of you already have with submissions made, radio station talkback and letters to editors. Don’t forget to let your own MP know. The public right is the last of the three to be defined and if it doesn’t fit into what is presently available, may cost the government compensation to commercial. Not a particularly desirable outcome for government and could result in the process being buried. An apathetic or confusing response to Soundings will allow weaker public right options to be installed or a return to the status quo. Both will inevitably result in further bag reductions downstream. Maybe not this year or even next but it will happen and you and I will have fishing stories that start with “I remember when”.  

The Soundings process may have concluded its first stage with public submissions due on the 30^th November. An extension to early next year has been applied for by several groups including the NZBGFC and NZRFC to allow greater public awareness but at the time of writing had not been received. What ever happens you can be sure this is merely the beginning and an extended period of public pressure will be required to bring about a satisfactory result. Remember we are talking about your public right to take fish and have some expectation of catching them now and for the future. 

NZBGFC Nationals

Nearly 1500 anglers regularly take part in the only tournament hosted by council, our Nationals. That makes it the biggest gamefishing event in New Zealand and a mystery to gamefishing associations outside of NZ who ponder how on earth we can stage a countrywide contest. It is a feat unique to NZ and plausible because of the well-established club structure we enjoy. The idea is to have the whole of NZ as a fishing area and have anglers from throughout the country compete, club against club, team against team and angler against angler. Important titles and trophies are at stake such as NZ champion club, team and angler. The later two being broken down into various fish species of Billfish, Tuna, Shark, Albacore and of course Yellowtail Kingfish. 

This year the dates of the contest are 17^th -24^th February 2001 and almost all of the councils 50 clubs will have teams competing from Dunedin to North Cape. An eight-day fishing festival in which many clubs also host their own local contests to entice their anglers to fish in conjunction with the Nationals. The Warkworth Club stages a similar nation-wide event over the same dates called the “Lowrance NZ Wide” offering prizes for the same fish caught by National contestants. So its possible that teams could in fact enter the fish they catch or tagged into thwo different contests for the same fishing effort.  

Most club anglers stay close to their home ground when fishing the nationals as each area has proven strengths. A case in point was last years champion club Canterbury Sportfishing Club, they had all of their team fishing from Christchurch. Their anglers scoring heavily using light tackle on medium size sharks. Other unique features of the contest are no daily stop fishing times except for the last day which means teams can overnight where they want and fish as long as they want. Anglers weigh catches or record their tag at their own club or host club if fishing out of their area. Each afternoon every club recorder sends their clubs catches through to the national co-ordinator, the council’s hard working secretary who generates daily results for all to see. These are sent out each night to every club entered and listed on the web on the www.fishing.net.nz site.

To enter you must be a financial member of an affiliated club to the NZBGFC. Entry fee is only $25 and the entry form with rules can be found in the council yearbook available from every club. Minimum team size is two anglers. 

Nationals Denim Shirts

As part of the promotion of the nationals every year there is an official garment supporting the event. Last year was the very popular vest of which over 1500 were sold and orders turned away being too late. This year we have a short sleeve denim shirt with the council logo and nationals 2001 promotion embroidered on the left chest pocket. Available by ordering though your club and cost only $40 each.  Samples are available at your club now in sizes from small to XXXL, Im sure you will find one that will fit. Orders must be in by Christmas and there will be no reorders as there is only going to be a single run of the garment.  

It is great to see so many vests being worn which shows it popularity and actively advertises your involvement in a unique event. I expect this years shirt to be just as popular so to avoid disappointment make sure you get your order in now. 

NZBGFC continues to grow

The past year saw four new clubs enter the council bringing our combined strength to 50 clubs and 30,000 members. We welcome the Kerikeri Game & Sports Fishing Club, Big Fish Fishing Club (Akl), Raglan Sportfishing Club and the Tairua Boating Club as full members.