| Mark
Feldman M.D.
Kerikeri
Northland
March 25, 2004
Dear Minister:
I would like to draw your
attention to a part of the last letter you sent to me. As you can
see from enclosed copy, the letter asserted that the Ministry of
Fisheries does not "favour the commercial sector or any other sector
group."
As a new Minister of Fisheries
it would be comforting if you could believe that statement and have
complete trust in your Ministry's advise, but this would be a very
dangerous assumption for you to make. In actuality, commercial bias
is a part of just about every body that regulates fishing anywhere
in the world. Despite the fact that there's very little outright
corruption here, New Zealand is no exception. The Quota System,
and its pattern of property rights, has yielded a unique variety
of problems with bias.
These assertions are explained in
the enclosed article published worldwide in "New
Scientist" in 1998; nothing has changed since then.
To cope with the very difficult
job of being Minister of Fisheries you will need to understand that
the Ministry has been very successful at self-promotion but not
at fisheries' management. lt will be up to you, as Minister, to
balance the power the commercial sector has over the Ministry so
you can protect the rights of the average Kiwi.
If you would like to discuss
the enclosed article, or get an alternative opinion on the issue
of bias and how it will effect your coming decision on kahawai,
I would be happy to meet with you at your convenience.
Sincerely,
Mark Feldman MD. |
