Hauraki Gulf/ Bay of Plenty  Recreational Forum - First Meeting

First Meeting Summary

General Comments:

The North Island (Central East Coast) regional recreational forum members:

• Want to be heard and want to provide advice and for this advice to contribute to decision-making process;
• Want their recommendations to be escalated through the appropriate channels;
• Want some assurance that Head Office (the Ministers Office) would continue to support the recreational forums following the elections i.e. if a new Minister of Fisheries was elected would he/she commit to supporting the recreational forums;
• Some want to combine with the Iwi Forums to build positive relationships with tangata whenua e.g. Hokianga Accord and Option 4 recreational fishers;
• Want to review how consultation (timeframes/improvements/status of oral submissions/ability for MFish to capture submissions provided at forums);
• Are very positive about the idea of ‘regional recreational forums’ and noted that this is the first time that MFish has financially supported recreational fishers to take part in a forum.

Agenda Item 1: Welcome and Introductions

The Hauraki Gulf/Bay of Plenty regional recreational forum members raised areas of interest and concern that were deferred for subsequent address.

Agenda Item 2: Purpose & Objectives of the Forum

The Hauraki Gulf/Bay of Plenty recreational forum members:

• Require more clarification about their purpose and the role of their forum;
• Are skeptical and not entirely convinced about MFish wanting to be more inclusive in its processes and wanted to understand how MFish would avoid making mistakes of the past e.g. Soundings;
• Want to build positive relationships with Mäori/iwi forums (e.g. like the Hokianga Accord and Ngati Awa). Explore opportunities for iwi and recreational forums to combine or work together recreational forum to minimize cost and duplicity;
• Are concerned about the effectiveness of the consultation process (upwards and downwards) and want to be assured the onus to carry out consultation is not the responsibility of the recreational forum members. Members wanted to support MFish by creating opportunities to consult widely with recreational fishers;
• Want their input to create results;
• Some do not want to be labeled/referred to as ‘recreational’ - they preferred ‘non-commercial’ fishers;
• Could not commit to the objectives that MFish has identified may need regional sessions to determine the meaning behind each objective and what they want to achieve and a realistic appreciation.

Objectives suggested by members of the Forum:

• Build positive relationships with iwi forums; explore areas to collaborate to ensure sustainability;
• Develop and improve the consultation processes (upward and downward) that meet the needs of recreational fishers and MFish;
•  To enhance the recreational fisheries and its management;
• To promote recreational joint recreational fishers management initiatives between the recreational sector and the Ministry of Fisheries;
• To encourage capacity building in the recreational sector to enable the sector to take a greater role in the management of their fisheries;
• To develop consultative processes which meet the needs of the recreational fisheries and the Ministry of Fisheries;

Agenda Item 3: Membership of the Forum

The Hauraki Gulf/Bay of Plenty regional recreational forum members are keen for forum members to be “representative”. They felt that it was important for their forum to have representation from the Asian and Pacific Island communities to reflect the diversity of cultures in the Auckland, Hauraki and Bay of Plenty regions.

Agenda Item 4: Roles &Expectations

The Hauraki Gulf/Bay of Plenty regional recreational forum members are concerned about a possibility that MFish could use the forum as a means to meet minimum standards for consultation requirements. They did not want to be used and they did not want to be seen as a means for MFish to discharge a statutory consultative requirement by ‘ticking the box’ to indicate that merely meeting with the Forum satisfies this requirement.

Expectations:

Policy shall allow for non-commercial interests:

• Input of members will create results?
• Information will reflect input from forums?
• Policy amendments Bmsy is adhered to?
• More fish in the water

Agenda Item 5: Administration Processes

Forum members preferred an earlier start time: 4-5pm

Agenda Item 6: Regional Updates:

 Members talked about their areas and species of concern that were promoted to general discussion.

Agenda Item 7: MFish Regional Update

Forum members:

• Liked the language, structure and format, particular interest in the spatial tools;
• Might need further training on customary tools;
• Wanted to discuss proportional allocation of rights as a result of the October 05 sustainability rounds decisions.

Agenda Item 8: Other Business

Members went back to all items deferred during the meeting. However, due to time constraints concerns were prioritised for address at the next meeting. Priorities for discussion at the next meeting:

1. Effective communication.
2. Proportionality/allocation/rights.
3. Non-commercial instead of recreational.
4. Education strategies/ Availability of information at a localised level.
5. Work with Iwi Forums (Mai nga kuri a Wharei ki Tihirau – BOP Forum)/Presentations – Customary tools.
6. Process to escalate issues raised by forum members.
7. Biosecurity issue (e.g. sea squirt).
8. Improving the consultation process – guidelines to assist forum members about what type of information would be used by MFish (i.e. anecdotal concern).
9. Compliance activities update (ongoing).
10. Snapper1 & 2 – driving factor for economy

Other outstanding items– naming, sharing minutes with other forums, public release of names.Suggestions to improve the way MFish consults with recreational fisheries to enable a more comprehensive view rather than an individual view: - Target gear/ boat retailers, magazines or newsletters e.g. Rick Pollock and John Friend.- Recreational forums representatives may only have contact with a small number of fishers i.e. 5% of recreational fishers are represented by boat clubs.