Fishing – Just a box-ticking exercise

Having your say on our fishery and how it is managed has never been easy and according to LegaSea, the NZ Sport Fishing Council’s (NZSFC) public advocacy arm, it is about to get worst.

LegaSea says public consultation is one of the few times that everyday New Zealanders can have a say on the future management of its fisheries. It’s also an opportunity for groups such as LegaSea, the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council, NZ Underwater and the NZ Angling and Casting Association along with other representative organisations to pull together decades of knowledge, science and lived experience to advocate for more fish in the water.

The way this government treats public input shows just how far we’ve drifted from anything resembling meaningful engagement.

Minister for Oceans and Fisheries Shane Jones recently announced that the government will proceed with proposals to limit public consultation further. If passed into law, the legislation would allow the Minister to set catch limits for specific species for up to five years at a time, with only one chance for public consultation.

It’s clear the public isn’t keen on this either. Out of the 25,000 submissions LegaSea received opposing the Ministers’ so-called ‘reforms’ to the Fisheries Act, 93 per cent of submitters did not support proposals to limit public consultation.

Despite the immense public opposition, the Minister is bulldozing through with his proposals. Worse yet, the government supports it, too. Public consultation is not a favour, or a nice to have, it’s a legal obligation. But this government is determined to sidestep it because Kiwis aren’t buying what they’re selling.

LegaSea recently wrapped up its public consultation for the October ‘sustainability’ reviews. Fisheries NZ released proposals to review catch limits for 29 different fish stocks, then gave the public just 21 working days to respond. This is the least amount of time ever to submit on so many fish stocks at once. The intention was clear – overwhelm the public, burn out the not-for-profit organisations and hope everyone cracks under pressure.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get more cynical, three hours before submissions closed, the Minister granted a token five working-day extension. This move confirmed there is no goodwill when it comes to consulting the public on the future management of our fish. Meaningful engagement is becoming as rare as scallops in Coromandel.

Legally, Ministerial officials must consider what the public says in these consultations. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they are obliged to act on them.

In December 2023, more than 97 per cent of submissions on the proposed trawl corridors in the Hauraki Gulf supported a complete ban of bottom trawling in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park. Our united public voice fell on deaf ears. The Minister has ignored widespread public opposition, scrapping the idea of restricting trawling so trawling can continue.

The reason the public isn’t being taken seriously is that it disagrees with Shane Jones’ vision to export more fish faster for short-term profit. We want more fish in the water, not less.

Ironically, a thriving fishery benefits the commercial fishing industry in the long term, too. More fish in the water makes transitioning to selective fishing methods such as long-lining more economically viable. But instead of leading that transition for the benefit of our future generations, the government is treating public opposition like another inconvenient road cone to be managed.

As Matt Watson says, “We want to be the first generation to give our kids and grandkids a healthier, more abundant coastal fishery than the one we inherited. To do so, we need to transition away from destructive fishing methods and focus on rebuilding our coastal fisheries and we’ll keep on saying that even though it’s inconvenient for those in power.”

In April 2022, former Mangawhai based charter operator Tony Orton (Offshore Adventures), was nominated to be a part of the Hauraki Gulf Fisheries Plan Advisory Group. It took only 10 months before this straight shooter had resigned in disgust – his resignation letter makes interesting (and sad) reading. You can read his resignation here https://legasea.co.nz/2023/02/28/open-letter-of-resignation/

Reproduced in part with the permission of LegaSea – More Fish for the People.