Kahawai FAP

Kahawai Final Advice Paper

Ministry of Fisheries

29 June 2004

Customary Mäori catch

99. The IPP at paragraph 18 proposed 50% of the recreational utilisation as a basis for estimating current customary harvest and setting an allowance for customary Mäori fishing.

100. Sanford considers that most fishing by Maori New Zealanders is for recreation or sustenance, except for fishing under a customary permit in relation to these activities, and is therefore not by definition customary fishing. Sanford submits that recreational fishing by Maori is sampled by the recreational fishing surveys and therefore is contained in recreational estimates. Sanford suggests that because the Maori population is only 15% of the New Zealand population, and, if few Maori reside in their tribal rohe, then genuine customary catch is likely to be small compared to the total recreational catch by hundreds of thousands of Maori and non-Maori recreational fishers.
101. TOKM and NIFCL accepted the estimate of customary Maori use proposed in the IPP proposing changes only to estimates of commercial use.
102. Non-Commercial Fishers submit that customary Maori harvest should be set at 50% of recreational use but say that it is not sufficient to just make a quantitative allowance for customary fishing. Management measures must be put in place to ensure that Maori are able to take kahawai within their allowance.

103. In order to assess customary catch for the purpose of TAC setting, policy guidelines were used to determine what might be an appropriate allowance for customary Maori fishing. Maori consider kahawai to be a species of significant importance and in these circumstances guidelines suggest that an allowance in excess of estimated recreational catch is appropriate. Given the size of the estimated recreational catch MFish concluded that an allowance of 50% of this amount should be made. This estimation took into account the factors that could influence customary catch. These include the facts that:

1. Kahawai are widely distributed in coastal waters, harbours and estuaries;
2. Kahawai are known to form seasonal spatial aggregations in some locations and form readily locatable schools in coastal waters;
3. Kahawai are accessible to customary fishers from shore and by boat; and
4. Kahawai is a preferred species for customary fishers in some areas.

104. While this estimate was intended for TAC setting purposes it was also the same level proposed as an allowance for customary fishing within the TAC.
105. It is important to note the distinction between allocation and TAC decisions. The MFish policy view is that when making decisions regarding an allowance to any sector you may take into account factors beyond actual catch. MFish notes that the allowance for customary Maori fishing is not intended to be constraining and should take into account the importance of the resource to that sector which may not be reflected by estimates of actual catch.
106. In this case MFish acknowledges that some Maori may chose to fish within recreational rules and their catch may be incorporated within current estimates of recreational harvest. However, MFish considers that there is evidence to support the historical importance of kahawai to Maori and it is likely that catches and catch rates by Maori have been greater because of targeting of this preferred species. The Motu River fishery is an example of a high catch rate seasonal fishery where kahawai were harvested for subsistence purposes.
107. New information is now available to suggest that recreational utilisation is larger than previously estimated. The most recent estimates of recreational harvest are now considered by MFish to be the best available to determine current recreational use with the result that increased estimates of use are now proposed for the recreational sector. MFish has re-evaluated the proportion of recreational use that could form an estimate of Maori customary fishing for TAC setting purposes and for the purpose of allowing for the interests of customary Maori fishers. An estimate and allowances based on 25% of the higher estimates of recreational utilisation are now recommended. This has the effect of reducing the estimate of customary Maori use and the Maori customary allowances from that proposed in the IPP by about 30% (refer Table 4).
108. It is important to note that this is intended as an estimate of customary use over and above any customary Maori fishing that may be included in recreational harvest estimates. MFish acknowledges that there is no quantitative information to support this estimate and you will need to take this into account when determining TACs and subsequent allowances for customary Maori fishing within those TACs. The level of customary harvest becomes important if you decide to set TACs that reduce existing use in the fishery. As a matter of policy MFish recommends that customary use/allowances are not constrained or reduced in this circumstance and the burden of reduction on commercial and recreational fishers is therefore proportionally higher.