| Snapper
8 (SNA8)
West
Coast North Island
2005 & 2006
The Ministry of Fisheries
(MFish) advised stakeholders in July 2005 that a new stock assessment
was available for the SNA8 stock. MFish also advised that under
the current TAC biomass is expected to increase slowly but will
not reach Bmsy within the next 20 years.
The Ministry proposed
three alternative TAC options to achieve a faster rebuild of the
SNA8 stock.
An Initial Position Paper
(IPP) was issued on 30 June 2005. MFish invited stakeholders to
provide comments on the consultation document.
Original deadline for
comments was 29th July 2005. MFish then extended the deadline to
10th August.
Background
SNA8 is one of those fisheries
where a powerful new fishing method (pair trawling) saw the stock
quickly fished down. This affected recreational catch rates then
and now, and it has held recreational harvest levels below what
they should have been.
Recreational fishers have
already had a number of bag limit reductions over the years and
agreed to a larger minimum legal size (27 cm) than commercial fishers.
A rebuild is required.
This leads to a number of questions:
- Should the sector that caused the problem contribute the most
to the solution?
- Should recreational fishers contribute some fish toward a faster
rebuild?
Fisheries managers need
to consider the way prevailing westerly winds can restrict access
to the west coast fishery. There are long periods were no fishing
is possible. When conditions are right (and if the fish are biting)
we should be able to keep a few more fish than on the sheltered
east coast fisheries.
If
the Minister decides to reduce the recreational catch by 26% using
bag limits alone then a bag limit of 5 or less is likely.
Consultation
Once again the Ministry
employed a very poor consultation process. They failed to adequately
advertise the management initiatives to all those who would be adversely
affected by the proposals. They also imposed a very short timeframe
for those who have an interest in the fishery to respond.
Draft
Submission
option4 was concerned about the limited time for consultation.
A draft submission was posted online to allow people to give us
their feedback. Alert
#8 was sent out on August 2nd to alert people to the opportunity
to have a say on the Ministry proposals. The feedback received was
incorporated, where possible, into the final option4 submission.
Full details below.
Your Opportunity to have Input
If you are not already registered to receive the option4
Updates and Alerts please subscribe
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| SNA8 |
| Articles and Letters |
Implications of Reallocation: Examples from New Zealand
A fishing industry perspective of allocation decisions and the effect of specific management measures on commercial, customary and amateur fishers. This is a paper presented to the Sharing the Fish Conference, Perth, February 2006.
|
Feb 2006
(PDF 110Kb)
|
The MFish Chief Executive defends the science behind fisheries management and assures us our fisheries are "world-class". |
17 Jan 06
|
Steve Radich writes about snapper8, "the commercial sector has single-handedly brought about the near collapse of this fishery". More here... |
11 Jan 06
|
| Bag Limit Changes |
| The west coast snapper bag limit changes from 15 to 10 per person apply from 1st March 2006. The full announcement from Ministry here... |
13 Feb 06
|
| Ministers
Decision |
A summary
of the Minister's decision for the west coast (North Island)
snapper 8 stock from the Ministry of Fisheries.
Full
text of IPP available in a PDF (70Kb) here...................................»
» |
Nov 2005
|
The Minister has
decided "to reduce each sector's allowance proportionally,
including customary, to fit to the new TAC.".............................PDF
(80Kb) |
22
Nov 05
|
| "In the interests of fairness" David Benson-Pope
has announced cuts to snapper quotas including a reduction in
the recreational bag limit. |
30
Sep 05
|
| MFish Final Advice |
| Bag limits
reduced - The Minister has made a cut to the snapper
bag limit for most fishers on the west coast. Commercial quota
has also been reduced, but is it enough to rebuild this fishery?....................(PDF
380Kb) |
Sept
2005
|
An Executive Summary
of the advice given to the Minister.......(PDF
40Kb) |
|
| Submissions |
| option4 wants the Minister to cut the commercial quota to
achieve a fast rebuild of SNA8. We also suggest voluntary conservation
measures could be devised by recreational fishers to accelerate
this rebuild. |
10
Aug 05
|
| Full
text of submission available in a PDF (90Kb) here........................»
» |
|
| Muriwai Sports Fishing Clubs submission to the Ministry of Fisheries on proposals for snapper 8, flounder 1 and grey mullet 1. |
10 Aug 05
|
| Letter from Muriwai SFC to Mfish objecting to proportional allocation of fisheries depleted by commercial overfishing and mismanagement. |
10 Aug 05
|
| Ministry of Fisheries
|
MFish
advise the deadline for submissions has been extended to the
10th August...............................................................................PDF
(20Kb) |
25 Jul
05
|
| Initial Position Paper (IPP) from the Ministry
of Fisheries on proposals for Snapper - SNA8................................................................PDF
(360Kb) |
1 July 05
|
| Statutory Obligations section of the IPP - what
the Minister has to take into account when considering changes
to fisheries management...PDF
(200Kb) |
1 July 05
|
| Letter from MFish advising of the IPP for snapper
8, elephant fish, flatfish (flounder), grey mullet and rig. |
1
July 05
|
|
