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Celebration
Time!
by
the option4 team
April 2008
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This article was originally
published in the New Zealand Fishing News May 2008 edition.
This
Update marks one hundred monthly articles written by the
option4 team since August 2000!
In addition to
the commitment to keep you informed of your right to fish
and feed your family, many other tasks relating to fisheries
management and marine protection have been undertaken.
Most of these
processes have been captured online at the option4
website and are freely available to download and share
with your family and friends.
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Having
‘scored a century’ it seems timely to reflect
on what got over 100,000 amateur fishers so up in arms.
It
was the Soundings document, released in July 2000.
Soundings was issued by the Rights Working Group comprised
of Ministry of Fisheries staff and members of the NZ Recreational
Fishing Council.
The
Group asked for submissions on the future management and rights
of all New Zealanders to fish. |
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Soundings included
three options:
| Option 1: |
Discretionary share (status quo. Described
as a weak and vulnerable right subject to erosion). |
| Option 2: |
Proportional share (a fixed share of the available
fishery). |
| Option 3: |
Recreational management (proportional share with
management control and licensing). |
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option4
An
affiliation of concerned New Zealanders and fishing advocates
created a lobby group to respond to the proposals and developed
a fourth option.
option4
drafted a submission, sought input through widespread debate
and nationwide meetings. |
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Four
principles
The final, comprehensive submission was presented to MFish
in December 2000, including four principles:
| Principle#1 |
A
priority right over commercial fishers
for free access to a reasonable daily bag limit to be
written into legislation. |
| Principle#2 |
An
Area Right - The ability to exclude
commercial fishing methods that deplete recreationally
important areas. |
| Principle#3 |
A
Planning Right – The ability to
devise plans to ensure future generations enjoy the
same or better quality of rights while preventing fish
conserved for recreational use being given to the commercial
sector. |
| Principle#4 |
No licensing of
recreational fishers. |
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Unprecedented
response
Soundings
attracted an unprecedented response.
Over 62,000 submissions
were sent to MFish, of which over 98 percent supported the
option4 principles.
The ‘sleeping
giant’ of public fishers had awakened.
There have been three major reform processes since Soundings:
- The Ministerial Consultative Group (2001);
- The Reference Group (2003); and
- Shared Fisheries (2006).
option4 continues
to work with many other representative organisations to promote
sustainable use of our fisheries and protect your right and
that of your children, to fish and harvest food from the sea. |
Kahawai
Legal Challenge
More latterly
option4 has been an integral part of the Kahawai Legal Challenge
team.
The High Court’s
clarification that every New Zealander has a well settled
common law right to fish has given your advocates the boost
to continue with their work.
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option4
website
If you haven’t already, or if your email has changed,
please sign up at the option4 website
to receive timely, free news on fisheries management and marine
protection issues.
Having a strong collective voice adds power to the effort
of the team, both volunteers and contractors, working to achieve
abundant fisheries.
This
would be a celebration in itself. |
| If you value the work option4
is doing please use the secure online facility available
here and invest in your fishing future. |
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