Legasea applauds fisheries portfolio

Recreational fishers have long been calling for changes to the Quota Management System according to LegaSea, and might now be heard.

LegaSea has welcomed the government's return to a separate portfolio for Fisheries, and last week wished the new Minister of Fisheries, Stuart Nash, good luck as he tackled what it said had become a highly contentious portfolio.

"Fisheries has been lumped in with forestry and farming, under the Ministry for Primary Industries' banner, since 2012 but it has never sat well within the portfolio," spokesman Scott Macindoe said.

"Farmers grow crops, till the soil, manage the herd, maintain their fences. Fish live in the wild and aren't farmed at all, but hunted.

"There's an urgent need to now reconsider whether exporting tonnes of fish with no added value for several dollars a kilo is actually good for the New Zealand economy and our people. LegaSea believes there is much more value to be gained from growing our fisheries to abundant levels, enabling small businesses to take advantage of that abundance, and developing much-needed jobs in the regions."

LegaSea saw a huge future for New Zealand's fisheries in economic terms, hesaid. The country's potential as a tourism destination was second to none, and action was needed now to halt the depletion of fish stocks before it was too late.

The Quota Management System had driven some fisheries to the point of total collapse, and recreational fishers had been calling for a change to the way those fisheries were managed for some time.

"Everywhere I go I'm inundated by recreational fishers who are desperate to call the public's attention to the plight of our fisheries," Mr Macindoe said. "We've seen once abundant stocks depleted to the point where it's unusual in some areas to see gurnard or groper in our waters. We have to reverse this trend before it's too late."

Formation of a specialised team that would look after New Zealand's fisheries was a great first step, he said.