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Recreational anglers say anecdotal evidence from thousands of people over many years shows fish stocks are declining, regardless of what the Government's scientific assessments say.

A crowd of 350 people packed into the Hawke's Bay Sports Fishing Club on Wednesday evening to mark the launch of LegaSea Hawke's Bay, and to hear speakers spell out the issues and discuss possible solutions.

As well as drumming up financial support for the organisation to begin advocating for the local fishery, the meeting focused on the impact of commercial operations and the commercial catch limits set by the Ministry for Primary Industries.

Extreme fisherman and TV host Matt Watson noted the ministry had assured anglers that stocks in the area were healthy, but said he was sick of hearing experienced anglers' views so readily dismissed.

"It annoys me that even the word ‘anecdotal' and the way it's used is like it doesn't matter, like it's some fantasy and everyone in this room is making up s..., that it doesn't count. We're being treated like idiots. We're not.

"If we notice the decline is real, we're not making it up. To hear the statements from the ministry that there's no problem . . . I think that's really disgraceful."

Brian Firman, who has fished locally for 40 years, said a survey conducted by the club since 2006 attracted responses from 14,744 anglers and showed that the number of gurnard caught per person per day had fallen from 2.2 in 2006 to 1.5 now. "The trend line shows that we will be at zero by 2021 if nothing changes."

In 2006, anglers were catching just under one snapper per person per day but "on opening day this year, two weeks ago, we caught just 0.35 snapper per angler . . . We're in a serious decline here."

Firman said survey results from a local surfcasting club showed worse results.

But the ministry had maintained the gurnard fishery was "well above levels where sustainability is a concern" and that snapper abundance would continue to increase, he said.

"They're clearly on a different page than we are here in the Bay, or they just simply know very little about what's going on in our local area.

"If we do nothing, then nothing's going to change and our fishery's going downhill, just like those graphs are."

MPI director of fisheries management Dave Turner said ministry staff had attended the meeting and "MPI has and will continue to discuss these concerns".

Data and analysis were based on scientific assessment of the best available information.

"The biological populations of the fish that are of concern to the recreational sector often cover an area that is wider than just Hawke's Bay . . . The abundance of biological populations can vary in an area due to a variety of factors, not all of which are fishing-related . . . All of this illustrates that the concerns being raised are complex."

Recreational anglers say anecdotal evidence from thousands of people over many years shows fish stocks are declining, regardless of what the Government's scientific assessments say. ..........