TOS Regional Recreational Forum - 02 MAY 2006

Open Meeting & Apologies

Meeting chair, Scott Williamson (MFish), opened the meeting and welcomed attendees. Apologies from Martyn Barlow and John Duncan.

Attendees

Carol Boulton

Charlie Boulton

Greg Goodall

Betty McNabb

Ron Prestage

Mark Roden

John Waugh

John Williams

Nathan Glassey

Scott Williamson

Introductions

Scott welcomed Charlie Boulton and Carol Boulton from Haast as the forum’s West Coast representatives. Charlie is the Chairperson of the South West Marine Consultation Group.

Corresp.

Incoming Correspondence:

Nathan received incoming correspondence from most forum members over the draft media statement he prepared for the Fishing Paper. John Duncan also provided Nathan and Jonny with material to hand to the forum in his absence.

Outgoing correspondence:

• A letter (16 February) containing:
• Information on the new Marine Protected Areas policy
• Part of the consultation document for proposed fisheries services for 2006-07
• A flyer calling for items to review as part of the recreational fishing regulations review
• The media statement we developed after the 25 Jan meeting

• A letter (7 April) containing:
• Draft minutes from the 25 Jan meeting
• A copy of the outcomes of the first meeting held on 19 October 2005 (some forum members indicated they didn’t receive these)
• Notice of date and location of 2 May meeting
• MFish Update – Central Region (April 2006)

Regional Update

Members provided an update on recreational fishing in their local areas. A form was submitted by four members. In summary:

• Blue cod – low catches around Separation Point and the Abel Tasman coastline. Good catches around north-west Nelson and the Marlborough Sounds (lots of small fish). Difficult to catch bag limit (20) on the West Coast.
• Snapper – Good catches in Tasman and Golden Bays up to mid April. Good catches in Kenepuru and Beatrix but not in the outer Sounds.
• Paua – Difficult to harvest bag limit around Golden Bay, especially Anatori. Good numbers in the Cook Strait.
• Flounder – Good catches in Tasman Bay but poor availability in the inner Pelorous Sound.
• Crayfish – Good numbers in Port Underwood, Queen Charlotte Sound and on the south west coast.
• Albacore – Catches have been good on the West Coast.
• Tarakihi – Catches have been good on the West Coast.
• Kina – Good numbers.
• Kingfish, Hapuka and Kahawai catches generally good.
• Gurnard – Fishing not particularly good around the Abel Tasman area.
• Other issues:
• Definition of “take” – Confusion over the definition of “take” means some people could be breaking fisheries regulations by returning fish to the sea.
• Compliance – infringement notices issues for undersized paua.

Action: Nathan to compile local update reports into a database.

Action: Nathan to send more local update forms to members.

MFish Update

General Update

Nathan provided a brief overview of the “MFish Update” distributed to members in April and also:

• Handed out additional information associated with the fishing industry’s Benthic Protected Area proposal.
• Informed members that a “Shared Fisheries Project” update will be available in few days time.

Members commented that:

• They were encouraged by the recent snapper release by Crop and Food and questioned whether this could be a viable way to help rebuild the fishery.
• There could be improvements to the recreational diary survey form being used in the Marlborough Sounds. Scott explained that the current form structure is necessary to maintain a robust methodology.

Action: Nathan to send “Shared Fisheries Project” update to forum members.

Regional Issue 1: Bottom fishing methods in the region

The group discussed the material that John Duncan prepared on closed areas and fishing rules in the Marlborough Sounds. Some of this material was handed out at this meeting and some at the Jan 25 meeting. An outline of the main issues involved is in the minutes of the 25 Jan meeting.

Some members of the forum considered that there are too many different regulations for such a fragile area as the Marlborough Sounds.

Members were generally concerned that we are unable to determine the quantity of fish commercial fishers harvest from the Marlborough Sounds.

Members wanted to have a summary of the information MFish has on the effects of bottom fishing.

Members were concerned that commercial vessels from Wellington are able to, and have been, targeting blue cod in the outer Sounds.

Members wanted to know what type of catch information is available.

Nathan noted again that MFish cannot move from observation to regulation – MFish has to check the facts and consider the range of possible regulatory and non-regulatory solutions. The first step is to define the problem fully – is it not enough fish, and if so which species and what change in abundance has occurred? Or is it environmental effects, and if so what is the effect, how large is the effect and what is the impact on fishing and fish availability? Then must establish what the objective is in the context of fisheries legislation. If objective is not consistent with Fisheries legislation, then have to consider other avenues – eg, seeking voluntary agreements with other sectors, etc. If is consistent, then still need to consider full range of regulatory and non-regulatory options.

Action 1. MFish to prepare information on fisheries management (Marlborough Sounds) and harvest data (Marlborough Sounds) to help inform problem definition.

Action 2. Note as carry-over agenda item.

Regional Issue 2:

Set netting

Concern was expressed about the impact of commercial set netting practices (in particular laddering of nets) on local availability of flounder.

The forum agreed this was a localised depletion problem rather than a sustainability problem. Fisheries legislation does not appear to have many tools to address localised depletion directly, other than the dispute resolution process.

The indiscriminant nature of set nets – both commercial and non-commercial – and the impact this has on fishstocks was also discussed. Nathan pointed to the set netting Codes of Practice and the use of these to encourage appropriate set net use and minimise impacts. Forum members noted it may be time to ban set netting in some or all areas.

Forum members generally agreed their objective in this matter should be “to have reasonable access to flatfish in the inner Sounds”. Members consider that some of the reasons this wasn’t happening include; a rush in fishing effort after the closed season; laddered net setting; constant fishing effort; minor infringements; length of nets.

Action 1. Forum members to examine the dispute resolution process provided for in the Fisheries Act.

Action 2. Note as carry-over agenda item.

Regional Issue 3: Bag limits

Some members felt the blue cod bag limits were not working and others felt the häpuka bag limit was too high.

Members briefly discussed their concerns over the activities of recreational charter vessels.

Members generally agreed that snapper is in a relatively healthy state but are concerned about the size of fish (i.e. 25cm MLS is not an edible sized fish).

General Business

1. Additional Agenda Items

Returning legal sized fish to the water:

Members spent some time discussing issues around returning legal sized fish to the water and high grading. The rules say that if you return legal sized fish to the water it comes out of your bag limit. Members believe this gives no provision for catch and release and make potential criminals out of people who don’t fully understand the rules.

Members believe that MFish needs to take a larger role educating the public about what can and can’t happen regarding returning fish to the water and how this impacts on your bag limit. There are issues of highgrading mortality that need to be considered in detail.

Action 1. Members to discuss the issue with their clubs to determine if they want highgrading normalised and then discuss item in the context of the upcoming recreational regulations review.

2. Snapper enhancement

MFish notes that it can’t fund a snapper enhancement programme but could support funding applications to FORST if Crop and Food want to continue. MFish noted that no one knew the success of such programmes.

Closing

Meeting closed at 9.45pm.