Marine – Breathing room

Common sense has prevailed. For now.

The controversial Fisheries Amendment Bill has been put on ice. Last month, Minister for Oceans and Fisheries Shane Jones announced that the Bill would not be progressed by the current government. This outcome belongs to all of us.

Months of relentless public pressure, culminating in more than 33,000 submissions to the Select Committee, have paid dividends. This is a significant win for the future of our fisheries.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to make a submission or email your local MP.

The Bill would have handed sweeping new powers to commercial quota owners, weakened environmental protections and locked the public out of key fisheries decisions. With the Bill shelved, commercial minimum legal sizes remain, and the public will retain access to onboard camera footage through the Official Information Act.

While this announcement gives us some breathing room, the Bill is not dead. The fight is not over. It could be revived after the general election.

If NZ First again holds the Oceans and Fisheries portfolio, there’s every chance the Bill will resurface and proposals to restrict bottom trawling in the Hauraki Gulf will be ditched. We have the perfect opportunity to bury the Amendment Bill at the ballot box and change the downward trajectory of our fisheries. We need change that bans destructive fishing methods, reduces excessive catch limits and controls run-off so we can restore abundance and biodiversity back into our coastal waters. We cannot continue to mask depletion.

Each year, we’re seeing increasing signs that the current fisheries management system is failing our fish and us. This year alone, communities across the country have sought to implement at least 10 different closures, prohibiting harvest of some of our favourite species – all in response to depleted local fish populations. This includes the recent community efforts to close the intertidal zone to harvesting of rock-bound species such as whelks, catseye and periwinkles.

Closures signal a failure of management – a failure to prevent fisheries from reaching such a depleted state. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Hauraki Gulf where we have more closures than ever. The Gulf’s productivity is near an all-time low.

The decisions made in Wellington will shape the future of our fisheries. This election provides the perfect opportunity to put the pressure on political parties to outline how they will restore abundance and biodiversity for future generations, rather than fast-tracking failure.

Ask your local MP where their party stands. Will they commit to abandoning the current version of the Fisheries Amendment Bill? Will they consider a transition away from bottom trawling in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park?

LegaSea will continue engaging with political parties on where they stand on fisheries policies. We will update you once we know more. It’s simple … tell your MP, “No policy; no vote.”