Marine
recreational fishing report released
Wednesday,
07 March 2001
Minister
of Fisheries Pete Hodgson today released a report and summary
of submissions from the "Soundings" public consultation process
on the future management of marine recreational fishing.
The report,
from the Ministry of Fisheries-NZ Recreational Fishing Council
joint working group that ran the consultation process, outlines
the key issues raised in public comments on the "Soundings"
discussion document released last July.
"The
consultation process has shown widespread support for change
to the adminstration of marine recreational fishing, but diverse
and conflicting views on what that change should be," Mr Hodgson
said.
"As expected,
licensing for marine recreational fishing has been roundly
rejected by the fishing public. Licensing is contrary to Labour's
election policy and I have no hesitation in ruling it out
as an option for the future management of marine recreational
fishing."
Mr Hodgson
said he was pleased with the recommendations of the joint
working group, which asked him to support further policy development
to:
- better
define the public share of and access to fisheries;
- improve
the management of recreational fishing;
- rule
out licensing;
- improve
education and information on fisheries management;
- improve
measurement of the recreational catch;
- seek
more input and participation of iwi in future policy development.
"The
wide range of responses to "Soundings" tells me that defining
and protecting recreational fishing rights is not going to
be achieved with rapid, sweeping change," Mr Hodgson said.
"Equally, the call for progress is very strong.
"From
here, therefore, I intend to seek a way forward in stages.
The first priority must be to improve the capacity of the
recreational sector to participate in policy development and
fisheries management. The public demand for that came through
loud and clear.
"Other
useful first steps will include finding ways to improve information
on the recreational fishing catch and effort, opening new
lines of communication with and between recreational fishers
and Maori, and improving the procedures for resolving disputes
between recreational fishers and other interests.
"I am
exploring with recreational groups the possibility of setting
up a ministerial advisory group to work towards those goals
as a minimum.
"I am
optimistic that an open and inclusive policy process will
allow us to progressively secure recreational fishing rights
into the future. Those rights are threatened by population,
environmental and competitive pressures. We need to respond
before those pressures erode the right to fish enjoyed by
thousands of New Zealanders."
The joint
working group report and summary of submissions are available
at www.fish.govt.nz A full set of submissions is available
for public scrutiny at the Auckland, Wellington, Nelson and
Dunedin offices of the Ministry of Fisheries.
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