Minister to consider kahawai fishery decision

22 March 2007

The Judge’s findings in the kahawai court case mean decisions around catch limits and allocations in the kahawai fishery will have to be reconsidered, says Minister of Fisheries Jim Anderton.

The recent court case came through both recreational and commercial fishers being unhappy about how the previous Minister of Fisheries set catch levels for kahawai in 2004 and 2005.

Jim Anderton says much of the hearings have been taken up with issues of procedure and information, but the heart of the issue has always been the question of “who gets the fish?”

“There’s been a lot of passion around this case, with both groups of fishers challenging the previous Minister’s decisions,” says Jim Anderton. “The judge’s ruling is that the catch limits and allocations made for kahawai will have to be reconsidered."

“I’ve requested advice from my Ministry and Crown Law on how best to proceed."

“The government is currently considering submissions on new policies that should spell out how fisheries that are important to both recreational and commercial fishers should be shared,” Jim Anderton says.

“The challenge before us is to manage these fisheries in a way that ensures all New Zealanders get as much value as possible from them; not only today, but into the future.”

 Download Judgement on the Kahawai case. (PDF 190kb)