Marine – A real solution to depletion

Communities like Mahurangi continue to pay the price for decades of poorly managed fisheries. Right now, we’re dealing with temporary closures to shellfish harvesting, bans on crayfish and scallop gathering, and smaller bag limits.

These measures are only a Band-aid solution. They don’t solve the underlying problem of a failing fisheries management system driving the ongoing depletion of our coastal fisheries.

The disease of depletion is not unique to Mahurangi. It’s being felt right around the country. Northland, Coromandel, and parts of the South Island are particular areas also seeing fewer fish and shellfish and, as a result, less access to kaimoana.

Sometimes it takes a crisis to force real change. We’ve reached that crisis point, and there’s never been a better time to adopt a more nuanced management system. One where closures don’t become the norm. A system based on abundance.

In 2018, LegaSea supported the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council to develop an alternative to the broken Quota Management System. After researching overseas and local models, the resulting policy is called Rescue Fish Ika Rauora.

Every closure and catch reduction makes the case for Rescue Fish more obvious, and more urgent.

So far, officials have largely ignored our alternative. They remain convinced that the current system is fit for purpose, despite all the warning signs.

So what would Rescue Fish actually mean for you, our fish and the future for our coastal marine environment?

It would mean finer-scale management. Currently catch limits are set across broad stretches of coastline, failing to account for local differences in abundance. A commercial flounder fisher can fish all waters from the Waikato out west down to East Cape. Same for gurnard and mullet fishers. Our alternative would tailor catch limits to smaller areas, reflecting the different pressures each area faces.

Rescue Fish offers a more holistic management approach. Rather than managing our fisheries on a single species basis, catch limits would account for the wider ecosystem and the flow-on impacts fishing has on other species.

Rescue Fish means more fish are left in the water. International best practice suggests fish stocks should be kept at a minimum of 50% of their estimated original levels, right now ours are managed well below that. East coast tarakihi is around 8 per cent of original levels. Adopting Rescue Fish would more than double some fish populations.

More fish in the water is good for everyone. It means healthier oceans and more chances for us all to get out and catch a feed.

Our alternative isn’t the total answer, but it’s a step in the right direction. Rescue Fish is a starting point for how we can better manage our fisheries. Otherwise, it’s our kids who will live with the consequences of depletion long after we’re gone.

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