Lobster fishery talks wanted

Consultation between commercial and customary users is the surest way to settle fears the multimillion-dollar Wairarapa rock lobster fishery could be plundered under the guise of customary rights.
Daryl Sykes, executive officer of the NZ Rock Lobster Industry Council and a former Wairarapa fisherman, said yesterday that only through close discussion between the two groups can the region hope to avoid a conflict similar to that now raging over the legal taking "for customary purposes" of 1400 crayfish a week from the Moremore mataitai reserve in Napier.
Napier National MP Chris Tremain said last week that up to 40 commercial crayfish pots had been seen in the reserve, although a Ministry of Fisheries investigation had confirmed that customary permits had been legally issued.
"A mataitai reserve is set aside for the explicit purpose of customary food gathering, and it is quite literally a decision of the kaitiaki (guardian) who calls for that reserve, as to what happens next," Mr Sykes said.
There are no size or catch limits, he said, and customary users are completely within their rights "to fish it all tomorrow if they are able, and then not go there for another 10 years".
"The kaitiaki in this respect are assigned a great deal of authority. Their customary rights are legitimate and how they choose to give expression to this right is for them to decide.
"It's not for me to tell them what to do. It would be like telling someone what colour to paint their house, or what car to drive," he said, although he believed the proposed locations of Wairarapa mataitai and the reasons for their establishment are important points yet to be discussed between commercial and customary users in the region.
Mr Sykes represented commercial users in talks held early last year that included customary users and Ministry of Fisheries officials over the institution of the Moremore reserve, although he felt his group were prematurely dismissed from proceedings.
Commercial fishing was banned at the Moremore reserve in August last year, he said.
"We didn't even get a look in. My argument is with the process of setting aside the mataitai, in that the establishment of that reserve was not sufficiently well-considered by the Ministry of Fisheries."
In contrast, Mr Sykes is "very confident that open dialogue" will strike an accord for Wairarapa fisheries stakeholders who are committed to protecting and sustaining the regional fisheries against pirates and the plundering of seafood breeding stock quality and vitality.
"Quite often a well-meaning response to some observed localised depletion of rock lobsters or some other species, is a proposal to close a bay or reef system to commercial fishing."
If not properly developed and implemented, he said, closures to commercial fishing "generally have the effect of displacing efforts to other locations" and can promote an accelerated serial depletion of other fishing grounds.
"The spiritual and cultural values which underpin customary rights do need to be defined in such a way as to be adequately understood by the wider community, and Wairarapa Maori appear willing to have the dialogue that will enable that understanding.
"I'd be surprised if Wairarapa kaitiaki were to be reckless regarding mataitai and their use for customary fishing, because the same people have a wider responsibility to all Wairarapa fishing grounds under their guardianship."
The pressure on some Wairarapa fish and shellfish stocks is more pronounced, he said, because public access to crayfish and paua fisheries in the region is limited and occurs mostly at locations such as Ngawi, Tora and Castlepoint.
Localised depletion of stocks is almost inevitable in those places if increasing numbers of non-commercial users continue to fish to the limit of their regulatory allowances, he said. "Stock depletion is almost assured if fish thieves are not eliminated."
Mr Sykes said the industry will continue to invest in stock monitoring, stock assessment and co-operative dialogue.
"Those of us with the most to lose have the most to gain from the responsible stewardship of Wairarapa coastal fisheries."