ToS Regional Recreational Forum Thursday 28 August 2008

Open Meeting & Apologies

Meeting chair, Rob Tinkler (MFish), opened the meeting and welcomed attendees.

Attendees

Ron Adams
Martyn Barlow
John Duncan
Greg Goodall
Ron Prestage
Betty McNab
John Waugh
Johnny Williams

MFish staff:
Rob Tinkler
Richard Hannah
Laura Boren
David Scranney
Geoff Clark

Apologies

Charlie Boulton
Mark Roden
Scott Williamson

Agenda confirmation

Rob confirmed the agenda and order of agenda items.

Meeting notes of the previous meeting

Members confirmed notes from the previous meeting.

Compliance Update-MFish

MFish District Compliance Manager Geoff Clark updated forum members about current compliance issues. Geoff outlined the new blue cod regulations for the Marlborough Sounds. He also discussed the new set net restrictions. Geoff noted the compliance team had been busy with a Kaikoura paua poaching operation.

Blue Cod Management

Dave Scranney briefed members on what MFish is doing with regards to management of Blue Cod in the Marlborough Sounds. He provided some examples of pamphlets and signs that MFish is preparing to promote the temporary closure. Martyn suggested that signs be put up in the entrance to Tory Channel to promote the closure. Dave agreed to look into the idea. Ron P asked what sized tubes should be used for to releasing cod back into the water. Ron A noted that toilet waste tubes (c130mm) are wider than down-pipes (85mm) and may be appropriate to use. Ron P agreed to investigate the issue further.

Dave circulated copies of the draft pamphlet on blue cod fishing in the Sounds and asked for feedback. Forum members suggested that the maps and coordinates showing the closed areas should be enlarged. Martyn suggested that the penalties for failing to comply with the new regulations be included on the pamphlets. He also said that a diagram of a circle hook should be included. Rob asked Geoff if fishery officers could hand out hooks as had been done previously. Geoff indicated this could happen.
Dave advised the forum that five key areas of research have been submitted into the research planning process with high priority. These include:

1. Incidental mortality – How much is occurring and where the issues are.
2. Egg and juvenile drift into the Sounds – To get an idea of the dynamics of the settlement of juveniles.
3. Recreational fishing CPUE analysis.
4. Trial use of underwater cameras – To show relative abundance and look at the quality of the habitat.
5. Desk study into the use of circle hooks for reducing release mortality and inferences for blue cod.

John D asked when MFish will know if funding has been secured for the camera research. Dave said it will be before the end of the year but that the camera technique will need to be trialled before the full research goes ahead.

Martyn asked about the compatibility of the proposed studies with the previous NIWA research. Dave agreed that was a goal. There was also some general discussion about whether or not there would be an interim survey prior to reopening of the fishery. The next survey is planned for September 2011.

Ron P asked what is being done to investigate land-based impacts on the fishery. Dave suggested little is currently happening in this area but it will be looked at in future. He noted that DOC and Marlborough Regional Council are beginning to look at the issue. Martyn suggested that the effect that aquaculture operations are having on finfish species has not been properly looked at.

Dave suggested that the approval process for marine farms includes a check on whether new farms will impact on finfish species. He said it may be possible to get someone to talk to the forum about the science behind this process. John D asked what the plan is for preventing depletion outside the no-take zones. Dave explained that the research indicates a much bigger population of blue cod exists in the outer sounds. He suggested that the recent increase in fuel prices and the exposed coastline will help to control pressure in these areas. John D mentioned that 15,000 fish are taken commercially just outside the zone. Dave explained that MFish is talking to Carol Scott about a catch spreading regime. He noted that the fisher in question has been operating in the area for years without a problem.

Dave also noted that the commercial activity in the Sounds has a very low bycatch of blue cod: the total is 1.2 tonnes (2007) for the whole of stat area 17. John D suggested that the Ministry could do more to find out if the bycatch of BCO is really that low. Geoff explained that fisheries officers do board vessels quite often in that area and do check the catch mixes. He noted that catch mixes can vary quite significantly. John D also suggested that commercial fishers should have to pay to check habitat damage before they are allowed to trawl in key areas.

Dave noted that there was a lot of good information and good ideas in the submissions and that these will be looked at. He then spoke about the action group which would work on future management of the fishery. He mentioned the action group may function under the CIFF FPAG since blue cod will also be on the CIFF agenda and although Commercial and Customary sectors won’t be involved in the fine detail, it will allow for them to be involved in the big picture management. Dave suggested the ideal number of people for the action group is six or seven. Dave suggested the key objectives for the group would include rules for reopening the fishery, how the fishery should be reopened, and how to improve voluntary compliance. Martyn suggested there should be more Marlborough people on the action group than Nelson people since the issue relates to their area. Greg recommended that the commercial sector should also be part of the group.

Martyn asked Dave to confirm that the forum was not consulted before the blue cod IPP was prepared; Dave confirmed this and Martyn asked that this be minuted.

Members regional updates

Members provided an update on recreational fishing in their local areas, and submitted their reports to Rob. Forum participants noted they had done little fishing over the last few months due to the poor weather.

Collecting Regional Information

Richard Hannah spoke to the group about the forms used to document regional fishing information. Richard proposed introducing a five point scale onto the forms to capture the abundance of key species. Richard provided an example form and illustrated how the information could be presented graphically. He also discussed how the information may be used by MFish.

Members suggested that more room be provided for comments alongside the five point scale and that space for a larger number of species should also be included. Richard agreed to amend the form and provide the forum with a new version.

Action:

1. Richard to provide members with an updated version of the new form.

CIFF fish plan update

Martyn provided the group with an update from the Challenger finfish plan. He explained the amateur sector objectives to the group. Martyn said there had been good debate of the issues at the previous day’s meeting. John D said the meeting was the best he’d been to. John D also noted that Larnce Wichman of Soundfish has been replaced on the FPAG by Michael Hill.

National hui for non-commercial fishing forums

Rob explained that the forum needs to nominate two people to attend the national hui in November. The group agreed it was better to send people who did not go to last year’s hui and are not involved in the FPAG in order to broaden the forum’s collective experience. Members agreed to nominate the two Ronnies (Ron Adams and Ron Prestage) to attend. Mark was nominated as the back-up. Ron A noted that he could not attend the hui if it is held on the 15th and would prefer it to be later in the month.

The group then discussed what topics to nominate for discussion at the hui and agreed on the following:

• An amateur trust to enhance representation
• Finer-scale management of the local FMA

Rob advised the forum that other ideas for discussion topics could be emailed him in the coming weeks.

Members also agreed that Martyn should write a letter to the other recreational forums to seek their views on an amateur trust.

Scallop and Oyster Diving COP Discussion Paper

Ron A led discussion about the recently released draft code of practise for scallop diving. He suggested it was generally a good COP. There were some concerns within the group about the requirement to count scallops on the bottom. Ron A explained that it is easy to lose count when trying to count scallops on the seafloor. Ron A also noted the release of the paper had been carried out poorly.

Aquaculture

Betty said she wanted to be informed about the Aquaculture Amendment (number 2) Bill. She noted there will be a meeting about it in November but she wanted a copy of the Amendment before then.

Action:

1. Rob to provide a copy of the Amendment to Betty and Johnny.

Other business

Regulatory Review

Martyn noted that the group had put some regulations up for review in February. He asked what progress had been made on getting these regulations reviewed. Rob was unsure of progress but agreed to email the group with an update.

Charter boat reporting consultation

Martyn noted that a consultation paper on the introduction of catch reporting for charter boats is due out in September. He asked if there was any information available on this. Rob said there was not but agreed to circulate the paper to the group when it became available. This topic was also mentioned as another possible proposed topic for the hui.

FLA 7 depletion

Martyn suggested the flatfish stocks have been under intensive commercial pressure in the Marlborough Sounds. He argued that recreational fishers are being denied access to a reasonable bag limit and something needs to be done about it. Martyn suggested little had been done on the issue since it was discussed earlier.

Rob updated the group on discussions the forum had last year. There were three actions proposed to move on the ongoing issue of conflict over flat fishing:

Action 1 (short term) – Dispute regarding commercial fishing in the inner Marlborough Sounds. At the request of Soundfish, they wanted to internalise the discussion to see if they can resolve the conflict. Last week Scott was advised that no discussions took place nor are any planned.

Action 2 (medium term) – Review the TAC (set under the 1983 Act) and set a TAC – allocations and TACC (under the 1996 Act). This was proposed for this year and MFish were ready to start when the release of the ORH High Court Decision – “Anton Fisheries vs MFish” interfered. This decision required that the Minister have an estimate of MSY before amending or setting a TAC. As a result this stock and others were unable to proceed and the Government initiated an amendment to s13 of the act.

Action 3 (Long term) – refer the matter to the Challenger Fin Fish plan for discussion. Objective setting is taking much longer than expected but MFish hope that we get to stock specific objective setting for this fishery in the next two months. Addressing local conflict, and setting and monitoring the TAC and allocations should be central to that. ToS Rec Forum representatives can present this issue and work to set appropriate objectives.

Scott’s informal plan is

(i) MFish needs to meet with the Challenger Finfish Management Co and fishers to discuss and review the CoP but there is no scope to compel any resolution of local conflict issues due to the conflict resolution requirements (ie, recreational fishers have to act first) in the Act.

(ii) MFish remain concerned about the TAC set for FLA 7 and would like to see (a) the TAC and allocation set that meet section 13; and (b) some way to monitor and implement the Second Schedule intention of in-season adjustment to reflect the variability of the stock. MFish are doing some research on the latter now. The key question is with the fisheries planning coming so close where is the best forum and timeline as we do not want to undermine the CIFF planning process, but remain concerned about the stock. Some advice from the ToS Recreational forum would help. As with above they can represent their views and objectives via the CIFF plan, and also take a dispute with the commercial fishers if they want to sort out the local depletion now.

John D noted that he is trying to set up a meeting with Carol and the fishers involved. Rob asked whether John wanted MFish staff involved in the meeting. John declined the offer.

Actions:

1. Rob to provide an update of the regulatory review.
2. Rob to circulate the charter boat reporting paper to the forum when it becomes available

Next meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for November 27th 2008.

Meeting Closed

Rob closed the meeting at 10.20 PM