Recreational fishing group LegaSea is calling on Minister of Fisheries Stuart Nash to stand firm against industry pressure to dump the introduction of cameras and electronic monitoring on commercial fishing boats.

LegaSea is challenging industry claims that it is engaging in best practice fishing endeavours, and that cameras and other forms of monitoring are not required.

Dave Turner, director of Fisheries Management at the Ministry for Primary Industries has been quoted saying,"We estimate that if we found the golden bullet to stop discarding, we would probably put over half of the inshore fleet out of business overnight..." This admission alone should be truth enough to continue with the surveillance cameras.

”Fisheries Management can't quantify the tonnages involved but we suspect they are significant to the point that they are impacting on stocks,” said Turner.

When historical claims of dumping against the industry were investigated in 2013 MPI officials countered by announcing plans for a new electronic monitoring package to solve these systemic sins. Now it seems we are to forego even this.

While many boats are run professionally there are fishers who operate illegally. They are difficult to catch because offending is easily hidden far out at sea.

LegaSea spokesman Scott Macindoe says, "These fishers give the industry a bad name but worse still, they give the fishery a hiding. This has to stop. The public are sick of it, the stocks can’t sustain this kind of abuse and unless these operators are exposed or forced to change their ways, everyone including our kids will lose”.

“We know that more seabirds are killed on boats with cameras than are reported killed on boats without direct observers in place. We know from the ‘Sea Around Us’ research that the industry dumps more fish than it lands. We know that the industry was happy to have cameras when they were run by its own privately-held company, and we know that the industry lost the footage recorded in the early trials. Cameras are the least we can do to protect our fisheries, our dolphins and our seabirds, and we strongly urge the Minister to make the right decision here.”

“The industry needs reform. We’ve called for a Commission of Inquiry into the way our fisheries are managed and we need to know what is going on aboard these vessels. After all, our fisheries are a public resource and as such we all have kaitiakitanga obligations to fulfill.

“Recently we applauded the Minister for rejecting the industry call for camera footage to be withheld from public scrutiny. Now sir, please put our fisheries first and follow through with both the implementation of the electronic monitoring package as well as a full and proper inquiry into the way our fisheries are being managed”

ENDS

References

Sea Around Us New Zealand catch reconstruction research

http://www.nzai.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/our-research/new-zealand-catch-reconstruction.html

MPI officials admits fish dumping widespread

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/313631/mpi-official-admits-fish-dumping-widespread

Fish boat cameras fail in first months

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/317999/fish-boat-cameras-fail-in-first-months

NZ fishing industry wants damaging videos suppressed

http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/01/nz-fishing-industry-wants-damaging-videos-suppressed.html

About LegaSea

LegaSea is a public outreach initiative of the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council. The Council has an experienced fisheries management, science, policy and legal team. On behalf of the Council LegaSea raises funds and provides public-friendly information about a variety of processes that are important to the sustainable management of fisheries for future generations.

www.legasea.co.nz

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