Sustainability awards finalists announced

There were several non-commercial nominations for the inaugural Fisheries NZ Seafood Sustainability Awards, which are to be announced at a function in Wellington in mid-March.

There are six award categories, including Operational Innovation, Marketing Innovation, Kaitiakitanga (Guardianship), Emerging Leader, the Minister’s Award and the Supreme Sustainability Award.

Regular NZ Fishing News contributor Tony Orton and his Mangawhai based charter business was among the nominations for his sustainable charter operation which includes a strong catch-and-release philosophy, the use of circle hooks and not anchoring.

LegaSea was nominated for its work as a recreational fisheries leader with its FishCare and the OBC’s Kai Ika programme where anglers are encouraged to fully utilise their catch, sharing the heads, offal and frames with the local community. It is a programme that has since been duplicated at other clubs.

Auckland’s Sue and Scott Tindale were nominated for their ‘citizen science’ tagging programme where anglers are encouraged to tag a range of species, many of which little is known about, as well as use sustainable recreational fishing practices such as measuring the catch.

All three were nominated in the Kaitiakitanga category with the Tindale’s making it through as one of the four finalists for that award.

NZ Fishing Media’s managing editor Grant Dixon was one of the five judges. (See this month’s ‘From the Helm’ for his comments.)

New Zealand Seafood Sustainability Award finalists:

The winners of the Supreme Sustainability Award and Minister of Fisheries Award will be announced at a presentation dinner on March 18 in Wellington.