Whāngarei meeting to find the catch with fishing quotas

The future of fishing and the Quota Management System is on the agenda at the meeting on July 24. Photo / Dave Murdoch

Fishing for Abundance is the catch-cry of conservation lobby groups looking into alternatives to the current fishing quota system.

Possible new pathways will be discussed at a meeting in Whāngarei organised by LegaSea and Forest & Bird.

The organisations share a common concern about disappearing fish stocks due to commercial overfishing and lack of industry accountability, Forest & Bird Northern Branch chairman Jack Craw said.

''The goal of the meeting is to tell local fishers about alternatives to the Quota Management System that will return fish to our waters, allow for full recreational and customary take, open up tourism potential and restore marine habitats.''

Marine experts from both groups organising the meeting will speak about how to achieve fishing abundance and the impact on the resource over the last 10 or 20 years of what was once touted as a world-leading Quota Management System.

The discussion will include topics such as innovation, technology, economic performance, people's health and wellbeing, participation, marine protection, spatial planning and constraint.

''The future of marine protection in New Zealand will require more than just more marine reserves, necessary as they are. It will require banning bottom trawling and dredging, and strict transparent controls over industrial fishing,'' Craw said.

Next week's meeting is open to anyone interested in the future of local fisheries but will concentrate on recreational fishing. Data presented will cover Northland and northern New Zealand fisheries, including crayfish.

LegaSea is the public and fundraising arm of the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council and was established in 2012 to help the public understand issues affecting New Zealand's marine fisheries and environment.

LegaSea's five Fishing for Abundance principles are: Rebuild the fishery; stop waste of by-catch; the public owns the fishery; equal size limits for all; and the value of recreational fishing.

Fishing for Abundance, Tuesday July 24, 6pm, Northland Club, Porowini Ave, Whāngarei.