NZ First response to LegaSea

1. For New Zealand to have sustainable and well managed fisheries that provide abundance for current and future generations
5 Key Policy Recommendations – as sent to all political parties
1. Let’s rebuild the fishery
International best practice in setting management targets for fish stocks at a minimum biomass of 40% of the original unfished stock size. To achieve this the exploitation rate on the snapper stock should not exceed 8%. The 40% stock target may not apply to fast growing stocks, but remains the default starting point.
Recommendations:
1. Adopt the default target of 40% or better of the unfished biomass and set Total Allowable Catches (TACs) accordingly.
2. When the target biomass is reached allocation decisions can be made after fully considering the obligations to future generations, and after the full intentions of Part 3 of the Fisheries Act are adopted.
3. Adopt an ecosystem approach to stock management which better accounts for interdependent and associated species.
4. Adopt a cautious approach to management when stock assessments do not match up with the reality of what is actually happening in the water
New Zealand First agrees with the arguments in favour of BM40 and we undertake to set this figure as the default target for stock biomass.
Fish stocks: Sustainable management of our precious marine resources is essential. Our prime inshore stocks have been under pressure for a long time. New Zealand First will ensure modern stock targets are set to restore stocks were necessary. Best practice science and stock monitoring needs to be supported by adequate resources and clear government standards.
2. Stop senseless waste
Everyone loses when fish are discarded or wasted due to perverse incentives within the QMS, poor selectivity, poor release practices, and inappropriate fishing methods. Rebuilding toward the 40% target is much easier if wastage be reduced or eliminated. Responsible utilisation will achieve far better yield per recruit, reduced juvenile mortality, and will require adopting environmentally benign fishing techniques.
Recommendations:
1. Information. All fisheries information is in the public interest, and all records that identify catch mix, species, methods, and areas of commercial catch needs to be immediately

2. released into the public domain. In particular all data that has been collected on catch composition of inshore trawlers that has been gathered since 1990 must be immediately available for public scrutiny.
2. Remove trawling that cannot demonstrate compliance with reasonable selectivity standards and minimised benthic contact from within the 100m contour.
Notes: The recent Snapper1 Commercial agreement sets a selectivity standard of juvenile catch at 15% of the total snapper catch by weight, which will typically run to 30% by number of total fish killed. Clearly, this is a standard that accepts poor selectivity and is not reasonable.
3. Resource the public conversation designed to develop ways to reduce waste in the recreational sector. Invest in education to provide the public with the tools and understanding required to better conserve fish.
Notes - The public are more than ready to further conserve precious resources, but only in the context of rebuilding abundance, not to subsidise export driven commercial fishing.
Inshore Fishery: The extent of the inshore fishery will be determined by region through consultation with interest groups, but it is envisaged that in most regions it will typically be to the 12-mile territorial limit. In some regions a depth limit such as the 100m line may be more appropriate than a distance limit. This inshore fishery must be the primary preserve of recreational fishers. Commercial fishers will be compensated for the loss of access to bulk harvesting methods in the inshore fishery.
No trawling will be permitted in the inshore fishery, and no commercial catch from the inshore fishery will be allowed to be exported.
Where commercial fishing in the inshore is required in order to supply local trade (for example coastal set netting for flat fish), this must be only in designated areas, and only by approved methods.
Monitoring and dumping: Observers on large fishing vessels will be augmented with video surveillance and GPS monitoring on all commercial fishing vessels, to ensure that quota and regulations are adhered to by commercial fishers. This will safeguard both the inshore fishery and fish breeding grounds against any potential illegal commercial fishing activity. Schedule 6 will be abolished, and all dumping of fish or parts of fish at sea by commercial fishers will be prohibited, as has been proven to be effective by the highly successful Icelandic fishing industry. All fish caught must be returned to port, to prevent wastage and to encourage compliance with quota and size regulations.
Commercial fishers will be incentivised as well as regulated to ensure maximum compliance with quota, size, and selectivity requirements.
3. The public own the fishery
The public are the sole owners of the fish stocks and minerals in the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone and therefore our fisheries should be managed in ways that deliver public benefits from the fishery, this includes social and cultural benefits. The economic exploitation of fish and minerals in the NZ EEZ must deliver economic returns to us, the owners. The oil and gas, mining, any commercial industry that exploits public resources always pay a resource rental; it recognises that the public are the owners and are deserving of a return.
Recommendations:

3. 1. Recognise fish stocks as public resources and consider applying a Resource Rental regime to captures the extra competitive profit that arise from commercial fishing in the EEZ.
2. That your party unequivocally states the intention to keep managing recreational fishing outside the Quota Management System (QMS).
3. Encourage the public to conserve fish by resourcing public led research and consultation aimed at developing a raft of measures to accelerate rebuilds without fear of those fish being later allocated to export driven commercial fishing.
Notes: Government needs certainty and safety when regulating public fishing interests. Both Government and the public are tired of being ‘gamed’ by Ministry led regulatory measures designed to increase commercial access at the expense of public utility and wellbeing.
We do not support the imposition of resource rentals on the commercial fishing sector.
Recreational and Customary Needs: One of the most important and fundamental foundations of our society is the right of people to catch food from the wild. The People of New Zealand and the needs of future generations will come first when setting allowances based on reliable surveys. No-one wants to deny the commercial fishing industry the right to earn an honest living, but the fishery belongs to the nation as a whole, and the needs of ordinary people must come first.
Sport Fishing and licencing: Fishing is important to wide cross section of New Zealanders. New Zealand First will ensure that there will be no saltwater fishing licencing system put in place. Our sport fisheries will be maintained and promoted as world class.
In addition, the value of the recreational fishing sector, including sport fishing, to the New Zealand economy, both as a source of foreign exchange from across the entire tourism industry, and as a measure of economic activity generated by the involvement of more than 25% of the population in recreational fishing, needs to be fully realised and maximised.
Suppliers of everything from boats and trailers, to tackle and bait, to accommodation, fuel, charter operations, and many other requirements, derive a significant income from the activity of sport fishing. It is a major contributor to the economies of many coastal towns and communities and must be safeguarded.

4. 4. Equal size limits for all
It is no longer tolerable for the differential size limits to prevail in fisheries such as snapper, scallops, crayfish and kingfish. These so called ‘concessions’ are spurious; they are nothing more than MPI sanctioned mechanisms to protect commercial interests from competition in the form of recreational fishing. The Fisheries Act contains a large number of management tools for managing fishing effort. Using minimum legal size (MLS) to offer advantage to private, commercial interests at public cost is becoming more widely understood and recognised for what it is, and therefore more repugnant.
Recommendation:
1. Standardise, across all sectors, the MLS for all fish stocks and set them for biological and stock management outcomes rather than using it as an allocation tool. The default policy is to increase MLS to the highest current size.
Fish size and selectivity: Target fish species must have minimum and maximum allowable catch sizes determined as necessary and appropriate. Juvenile fish must be allowed to grow to maturity, and the biggest and oldest fish which are the best breeders must be preserved so that populations can continue to regenerate. Size limits promote best use of the resource and must be the same for both recreational and commercial fishers.
Modern methods and technologies such as those required by the European Union, including smart nets which allow small fish to escape, and restrictions on certain types of nets and certain types of trawling, will be phased in to minimise the number of under-and over-sized fish being caught.
The exclusion of trawling from the inshore fishery will help to ensure that a much greater proportion of fish available to commercial fishers beyond the 12-mile line are above minimum legal size, assisting with selectivity.
5. Value recreational fishing
In several overseas jurisdictions economic studies have been commissioned that compare the size of the economies of commercial and recreational fishing. These studies are recognising the huge advantage national economies receive from public fishing in inshore stocks. This methodology needs to be applied to NZ before any more attempts are made to exclude or reduce public fishing.
Recommendation:
1. Commit to resourcing full and proper research in order to establish an economic value of recreational fishing.
Note: This is work that needs to be undertaken independent of MPI. The NZSFC and Marine Research Foundation stand by to coordinate and supervise this work and deliver both outstanding value and definitive results.
As above - the value of the recreational fishing sector, including sport fishing, to the New Zealand economy, both as a source of foreign exchange from across the entire tourism industry, and as a measure of economic activity generated by the involvement of more than 25% of the population in recreational fishing, needs to be fully realised and maximised.

5. Suppliers of everything from boats and trailers, to tackle and bait, to accommodation, fuel, charter operations, and many other requirements, derive a significant income from the activity of sport fishing. It is a major contributor to the economies of many coastal towns and communities and must be safeguarded.