Kia kaha - be strong!

Editor;

I want to congratulate the magazine and the option4 proponents for the way they have presented an alternative to the Soundings options.

Nothing the working group has come up with is good enough for the public which, as the option4 Group suggests, should have a priority right to what is their fish ahead of commercial interests.

Let's not forget that the fishery is a public asset with the public interest coming first (i.e. you and I and our fellow Kiwis regardless of their ethnic backgrounds).

I believe Maoridom should be supporting the option4 philosophies as it is reinforcing the rights of its own people to the fishery. As Maori blood is spread ever wider through the population as time goes on, the priority right for the people of New Zealand to the fish stocks becomes even more important to Maoridom... or are its leaders only interested in what they can get out of the fisheries debate for themselves?

I am one New Zealander with a strong Maori heritage who has had enough of the in-fighting among Maori over fisheries, and which sees plenty of the directors and other 'fat cats' benefiting while the common people end up with little to show for it.

The option4 Group has motivated recreational fishers like no other I have seen, even the NZ Recreational Fishing Council who, apart from the part they played in helping to formulate the Soundings document, have remained strangely silent on the issue. I look forward to reading its submission on the Soundings issue, as surely none of the three Options within Soundings fits completely within their own mandate of 'No licensing; no quota; and the Ministry to manage the fishery'.

Go for it, the option4 Group - your efforts on my and many of my fellow fishermen's behalf is much appreciated. I can't imagine you will have won many friends among the Ministry of Fisheries or possibly the (NZRFC) council, but you are on the right track.

Kia kaha! Be strong!

J. Tamaki