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The
Immeasurable Joys of Fishing
by
the option4 team
July 2008
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This article was originally
written for the New Zealand Fishing News August 2008 edition.
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The
next best thing to actually fishing is being able to give
your catch away.
The look in the
eyes of the neighbour’s kids as you load up their
dinner plate with freshly caught fish while answering their
incessant questions is priceless. And while economists search
for ways to put a ‘value’ on the pleasures derived
from fishing most people appreciate that a dollar-and-cents
analysis will never encompass their interest in fishing.
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| Fishing
differences
Previous legislators recognised the difference between commercial
and non-commercial fishing and drafted laws that treated each
activity separately, so it was pleasing to read the recent
Court
of Appeal kahawai decision, which upheld the 2007 High
Court’s ruling, that non-commercial fishing interests
must be allowed for first, prior to the Minister setting a
commercial catch limit in a fishery.
Currently
the Minister sets the total allowable catch (TAC), an overall
limit specifying how much can be extracted from each fish
stock.
Next
the Minister 'allows for' non-commercial fishing interests
and all fishing-related mortality. |
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This
is achieved by making allowances in the form of a tonnage,
which is subtracted from the TAC.
The
remainder is specified as the Total Allowable Commercial Catch
(TACC). |
| The allowances are: |
- Non-commercial fishing interests, both Maori customary
and recreational
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- All other mortality in the stock caused by fishing.
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| Finally, the TACC is set. So, the equation is: |
TAC – allowances =
TACC |
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What
are our non-commercial interests?
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Our non-commercial
fishing interests can range from supporting land conservation
measures that will give us a healthy marine environment
to having an abundance of fish in the places where we go
fishing.
For non-fishers,
their interests could be in having adequate measures that
limit the unnecessary mortality of a particular species.
Of high interest
to coastal bach owners is having surface-schooling fish
swimming in and out of the nearest bay, for others it is
the tranquillity of standing on the seashore at dawn while
the rest of the townsfolk are asleep.
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| Several
unsuccessful attempts have been made by government to redefine
the value of non-commercial fishing. |
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| Both the 2000 Soundings process and the 2006
Shared Fisheries policy sought to remove the requirement to
'allow for' non-commercial interests before the remainder becomes
the TACC. This would have achieved three outcomes: |
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non-commercial interests would be limited to a specific
tonnage within the quota management system
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a
rigorous reporting regime, funded by a licence scheme,
would be necessary to ensure our catch remained within
the allocated tonnage
- it would alter the Minister and Ministry of Fisheries
status from being guardians of sustainability to simply
fish accountants.
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| option4,
in conjunction with other non-commercial fishing representatives,
provided comprehensive responses to both of these processes.
Most of that feedback was ignored.
But
they will be back!
In anticipation of further attempts to downgrade your non-commercial
fishing interests from being ‘allowed for’ to
simply having a specific catch amount, all New Zealanders
need to consider how they want their, and their children’s,
fishing interests catered for in the future. |
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| 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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