Uf response to lega sea email
- 1. Hi Adam, Since our last communication on the matter of fisheries policy and Legasea's desire to communicate to the angling public political party responses to Legasea's key areas, I have given some thought to how we might mesh our policy with the thinking of your organisation. Obviously we wish to pursue radical change to recreational fishing but I must stress whatever we do will be in consultation with Legasea. Our overriding goal is to "claim back our fish" for the people of NZ. However in the world of politics not everything is possible so we have given thought to also adopting the ideas of the Legasea as additional amended policy. We would therefore advise that we will accommodate all of legasea's key plan areas. In Rebuilding the fishery. (1) United Future will adopt the target of 40% for all species but we do believe the target should be higher at about 50% of the unfished biomass for popular inshore recreational species such as snapper, kahawai, kingfish and blue cod and that all commercial fishing for those species should cease until stocks recover. (2) Only recreational angling should take place until stocks are sufficient for commercial quotas to be allocated for the surplus. (3)This meshes with our current policy of recreational only fish where commercial interests can only fish for the surplus after a sustainable biomass (40%) (50%) has been reached. Our whole policy is based around a sustainable resource for now and future generations. (3) & (4) We believe our policy to create a category called "recreational only fish" allows for better species dependent management of those inshore species taking into account the different stock management requirements of different species. With regard to the overall fishery we certainly want to see a holistic management adopted where every species is managed in relationship to its environment and its dependence on other species. With regard to Senseless waste! New fishing methods and better management of areas allowed to be netted could increase the survivability of fish considerably... Substantially increase the level of funding available for robust scientific monitoring of the impact that specific catch limits and fishing methods are having on fish populations and the marine environment, in order to ensure sustainability of the resource. This funding will be made available to universities, Crown Research Institutes, and other relevant institutions; Work with the recreational fishing sector to establish a public consultation process regarding the future of inshore fisheries management. Our intention is to preserve the ability for future generations of New Zealanders to have access to the recreational fishing opportunities that we, and previous generations, have enjoyed. Fund a comprehensive scientific study to ascertain how much damage is being caused by bottom trawling in New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and what are the best ways to mitigate or prevent future damage;
- 2. Review procedures for charging “deemed values” on fish caught without a corresponding allocation of “by catch” quota, to ensure that charges are set at levels that achieve a balance between discouraging illegal fishing without being overly burdensome on legitimate fishing operations. New net designs and methods that eliminate waste and allow undersized fish to escape alive must be adopted immediately and we would look to make that an urgent priority. (United Future have been consulting with one inventor of a net that is undergoing trials now which cameras show undersized fish swimming out from the net.) With regards to Legaseas desire to see the ownership if fish back in the publics hands. UF have been advocating that very point at meetings around NZ and in our campaign leaflets. As a result we have been attacked by the Seafood council for advocating that. Our statement on our "general letterbox fliers" says " Fish belong to the people of NZ , we must claim back our fish, This is common theme used in our material and in our campaign song. We believe that a resource rental should apply so that the benefits of fishing the publics resource are returned to the people of NZ. Our policy of creating a recreational Only species category under the fisheries act will ensure recreational fish are managed differently than non recreational species. Work with the recreational fishing sector to establish a public consultation process regarding the future of inshore fisheries management. Our intention is to preserve the ability for future generations of New Zealanders to have access to the recreational fishing opportunities that we, and previous generations, have enjoyed. In addressing equal size limits... The system we have at the moment is unfair and inequitable. Just plain stupid. To force a recreational angler to release a snapper just to have it scoped up in a commercial net is just plain wrong. We will seek to have all fish sizes standardized. There is no debate on this issue.! Legaseas concern about the need for a funded research into the economic value of recreational fishing is paramount to any understanding of the fishery and we are astounded this still has not been done. You cannot manage anything without the evidence. We suspect this research has deliberately been sidelined for obvious reasons. We believe our polices covering research will allow for this to prevail. If not it will become part of our review supply agreement talks.. Substantially increase the level of funding available for robust scientific monitoring of the impact that specific catch limits and fishing methods are having on fish populations and the marine environment, in order to ensure sustainability of the resource. This funding will be made available to universities, Crown Research Institutes, and other relevant institutions;
- 3. Work with the recreational fishing sector to establish a public consultation process regarding the future of inshore fisheries management. Our intention is to preserve the ability for future generations of New Zealanders to have access to the recreational fishing opportunities that we, and previous generations, have enjoyed. I would like to finish by reiterating that our statements are policy, all of which which has been well scrutinised by both the party and bureaucrats, therefore we are committed to them. Party leader Peter Dunne sent an email to your Scott Macindoe stating that! "Let me make it categorically clear that this policy is one of the first we will put on the table in any post-election talks" We trust these additional comments and amended policy meet with your approval. Your faithfully Alan Simmons United Future NZ. Party President.