History repeats ..we all know what the problem is ..Some are are saying it all happened in the past ..bullswool ..take all ..It happened in the H/G as well ..Strip it, destroy the sea floor ,it aint coming back in a hurry

This is what happened to the H/G scallops ..yes its been copied as pasted ..

The writing has been on the wall for over 10 years and regardless of what happened to the scallops (beds dying, run off from farms, silt from de-forestation, over fishing etc) its very plain to see not reducing the TACC until the fishery is rooted like now has been the main cause of this mis-managed fishery falling over.

What appears to be a problem is the damage to the sea floor ,allowing silting to occur because the sea floor has been destroyed by constant dredging ( all sea life balance destroyed ) sea weeds, sands ,crabs everything gone Just looks like a marine desert . I have seen the same thing when diving.The beds are hammered then collapse with just shells and starfish . This then gets covered in fine silt ,Kawau, Whangaroa , BOI.Reseeding will not work if the sea floor is inhospitable as it will kill the small spat

I think those figures are very telling Gatekeeper....it would also be very interesting to know the CPUE (Catch per Unit Effort) on the harvest they have got.
The damage scallop dredging does, same as bottom trawling, same as scampi/prawn/shrimp dredging is a crime I think. The dredging of the entire HG in the early 20th C, wiping out the almost solid mussel beds and turning it to a sand and mud desert is one of the worst ecological disasters in our country, and is almost totally unsung.
Too late to do anything about that now though, that was 50-100 years ago.
Thing is..... the sale of the product, scallops, is almost a bottomless market, perhaps reducing the demand a little may help ease the pressure on the beds.

make scallop harvesting dive only like paua (but with scuba tanks), create a few jobs, increase the value of the product to cover increased harvesting costs ... to simple?

Yes ..agree.diving would protect and restrict the amount taken.Slower but the eco system stays healthy
They cannot keep continue what they do .Put themselves out of a job is what is happening. .

As for Mpi..worse than a disgrace.
BOTH..labour and national are equally to blame..but under national and it's think big policy's have increase pressure by allowing increased harvesting.The effects of that are showing now.
National show little concern about sustainable methods.
What happens as stocks decrease increase effort by commercial ends up decimating remaining stocks.
By the time Mpi do anything to preserve what is left it's to late.
For any recovery to take place 10 year closure to allow habit to reestablish.
Methods have to change to sustain any rebuild

MPI In charge of our Fisheries is like giving matches to pre school students..

Mpi need a make over. .name is ok. But independent from Government control.
It's recommendations have to be listen to
Made up by independent people in no way connection to government.meaning not picked by the government or we end up with what we have got again

Unfortunately blame does go back on National to chairman John key and all his merry men.
Their increased export drive policy has been at the expense of the marine life as they have increased the commercial take.
As stated..taking it faster than it can breed.
Maximum amounts being harvested have seen it collapse.
The sea bed destruction which will not support re seeding..
They know it destroys the habitat .
As for that mother bed.yes maybe it might have died out..but who really knows? Maybe it had been reseeding itself and surrounding areas for years.
It won't now will it ?
Plus all other beds stripped out.
That has upset the natural balance.

What rocket scientists do they have advising them that all is well when history and nature has shown it's not..Eg H/g mussels
All these filter feeders are part of a balanced eco system.
They talk about water quality. .look what they are doing to degrade it..
There has to be a balance..clearly they don't care about balance and tipping points or they wouldn't embark on this continued over havesting of all species
They are fishing themselves out of a job.how narrow minded is that ?
Maybe it's A good thing everything collapse around them. Then they can all blame each other.
Most of us know where the problems stem from.
Some don't care..some think we are a bunch of moaners .Well the likes of Greenpeace. Legasea and all us moaners help in changes and conservation
The industry and government have to be held accountable for their actions
They don't own the fish..they manage..what a   shyt they do.They don't manage it..it's all or nothing