| Govt
Wants to Talk About Fish Takes
National
Business Review article
16
January 2006
This article was originally
printed in the National
Business Review 16 Jan 2006
Who gets how much of what – from the National Business
Review
The Fisheries Ministry is to begin talks in February with key recreational,
customary and commercial groups about allocation of shared fisheries
-- including snapper, rock lobster, paua, blue cod, kingfish and
kahawai -- Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton said today.
A discussion document is slated for mid-June.
Mr Anderton said he hoped the talks will help reduce conflict between
the non-commercial and commercial sectors.
"The government wants to get better value from our shared fisheries.
To manage fisheries for greater benefit, we need people working
together, rather than against each other," Mr Anderton said.
Mr Anderton said one of the biggest problems in shared fisheries
is deciding how much of the catch each sector can take.
"Unfortunately, current fisheries legislation does not give
us a robust framework for resolution of allocation issues in shared
fisheries. This had led to a lot of uncertainty, which in turn can
lead to conflict and tension between the sectors. Uncertainty produces
a bad investment environment for industry.
"As a first step in the process of developing a new framework
for managing shared fisheries, I have asked the Fisheries Ministry
to begin talking with key recreational, customary and commercial
sector groups in February
"The Ministry will discuss with these groups the allocation
issues they think need addressing, and ask for suggestions on how
to resolve these issues.
"These ideas will be used to develop a document for public
discussion, which will contain practical options to address the
issues of concern in shared fisheries. I hope to release this in
mid June.
"Success in this current process will require goodwill and
commitment to positive outcomes from all parties," Mr Anderton
said.
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