| Minister
Announces New Regulations for the 2005/06 Fishing Year
David
Benson-Pope
30
September 2005
| Decision Letter |
22
Nov 05 |
| Full details of the Minister's decision have
now been released.................................(PDF 80Kb) |
|
Media
Statement
Caretaker Fisheries Minister David
Benson-Pope has today announced sustainability measures and other
management controls for the new fishing year, which begins on 1
October 2005.
"These decisions will ensure ongoing sustainable management
of New Zealand's fisheries resources, and follow consideration of
the best available information and consultation with all stakeholders,
including recreational, commercial and customary fishers, as well
as environmental groups," said Mr Benson-Pope.
These decisions have been gazetted today [30 September 2005].
North Island west coast snapper fishery
(SNA 8)
The annual Total Allowable Catch in the Snapper 8 fishery will be
reduced from 2060 tonnes to 1785 tonnes to allow the fishstock to
rebuild more quickly. In the interests of fairness, the Minister
says this reduction in harvest will be shared between all users
of the fishery. In addition, the Minister has reduced the amateur
daily bag limit in the northern part of the management area from
15 to 10 - bringing the bag limit into line with the southern part
of the management area. The Minister has made an increase to the
penalty rate (annual deemed value) payable by commercial fishers
in the snapper (SNA 8) fishery.
"The west coast snapper fishery is one of our most important
shared fisheries," said Mr Benson-Pope. "A 2005 stock
assessment estimates snapper at just half the target biomass for
this species, and that a rebuild strategy put in place in 1998 hasn't
achieved expected results. Fish numbers aren't rebuilding
as quickly as I'd like, and we need to reduce our catch. To be fair
to all New Zealanders, I've decided these reductions should be shared
across all sectors."
Kahawai
The annual Total Allowable Catch of kahawai in all areas will be
reduced by 10 percent, to allow stocks to rebuild. Again, this reduction
in catch will be shared between all sectors.
"Kahawai is important to our recreational and customary fishers;
it is also a significant commercial species," said Mr Benson
Pope. "I have been persuaded of the benefits of a faster and
more certain rebuild of kahawai, and in having greater certainty
that this species will not decline."
Mr Benson-Pope said no change would be made to recreational bag
limits pending further information on recreational take. He says
there is no evidence that the recreational sector is catching the
allowance assigned to it, however, this issue will need to be monitored
on an on-going basis.
Northern North Island Grey Mullet (GMU
1), Rig (SPO 1), and Flatfish (FLA 1)
No changes will be made to the annual Total Allowable Catches (TAC)
of grey mullet, rig or flatfish in the northern North Island region.
"I've carefully considered the best available information from
scientists and stakeholders," said Mr Benson-Pope. "I've
decided that changing the TAC is not likely to address the particular
concerns about localised depletion. However, the review process
has emphasised the concerns of a range of stakeholders and I have
directed the Ministry to provide advice on a range of options to
deal with these concerns as a matter of priority."
Other fisheries
The Minister has agreed to retain catch allowances at current levels
for the eastern and southern elephant fish stocks (ELE 3 & 5),
the eastern South Island rig (SPO 3) fishery, and the Hoki (HOK
1) fishery.
He has decided to increase the Total Allowable Catch of the western
South Island hake fishery (HAK 7) from 6,923.4 tonnes to 7,777 tonnes,
to reflect the healthy state of this fish stock.
Other Regulation changes include:
Kingfish
The Minister has agreed to regulations that will allow kingfish
to be returned to the sea by commercial fishers, providing the fish
are likely to survive. This measure will not apply to kingfish caught
by set nets.
The Minister says this change will let commercial fishers who take
unwanted kingfish as a bycatch to return them to the sea. "This
change has the potential to improve the availability of fish for
other users," he said.
Beach-cast seaweeds
The Minister has agreed to make four new areas available for commercial
harvesting of beach-cast seaweeds. These include parts of the Bay
of Plenty/Coromandel Peninsula, Gisborne region, Banks Peninsula
region, and the Marlborough Sounds region. These areas are based
on sensible boundaries around areas of known current use, and exclude
areas of particular sensitivity in terms of wildlife or environmental
impact.
Deemed values adjustments
The Minister has agreed to reduce some penalty rates (annual deemed
values) payable by commercial fishers on catches above their Annual
Catch Entitlement. These will apply to: alfonsino (BYX 1), Jack
mackerel (JMA 3), rough skate (RSK 1 & 3), stargazer (STA 8),
tarakihi (TAR 4), sea perch (SPE 4), elephant fish (ELE 3 &
5), and häpuka (HPB 3). Differential deemed values will no
longer apply to pale ghost shark (GSP) or elephant fish (ELE 3 and
5).
These decisions were required to be made prior to the start of the
1 October fishing year, so the Minister, acting under the caretaker
government convention, consulted with other political parties before
coming to these decisions.
Recreational fishing groups had asked the Minister to consider a
number of changes to the recreational fishing regulations prior
to this coming summer. However, these are not time dependent, so
they will be left for the incoming Minister of Fisheries in a new
Government to address.
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