MFish Update “He pänui”

Northern Region December 2006

Review of Recreational Regulations Round 2: 2006

The Minister has made decisions about changes to some of the regulations that apply to recreational fishing. Most changes will be implemented by 1 April 2007.

Recreational bag limits

•  The amateur regulations will be clarified to indicate that the recreational daily bag limit only applies to fish taken of legal size.
• The amateur regulations will be amended so the daily bag limit does not apply to finfish returned immediately to the waters from which they were taken and that are likely to survive. To minimise any mortality associated with releasing fish, the Minister has directed MFish to develop and distribute fish handling guidelines to recreational fishers.
• Any fish that are tagged and released as part of a recognised tagging programme will not count towards recreational fishers’ daily bag limits.

Changes in recreational size limits

• Red Gurnard – a 25cm minimum legal size (MLS) will be put in place. At the local level, especially in predominantly recreational fishery areas, a MLS is likely to contribute to an improved quality of fishing for red gurnard in the longer term.
• Trumpeter – a 35 cm MLS will be put in place for trumpeter until more reliable information on size at maturity is available for New Zealand stocks. This measure will allay the concerns of recreational fishers about small fish being taken, it will maintain reasonable access for recreational inshore fishers to the trumpeter fishery and it will improve the yield per fish. The measure will be reviewed at a later date when results of research on the biological characteristics of trumpeter become available.
• Blue Cod – the Minister proposes a reduction in the blue cod MLS from 33 cm to 30cm in BCO 1, which is a more biologically appropriate size in this area.

Recreational Scallop Season

The Minister has agreed to shift the start of the scallop season by six weeks in the area from North Cape to Cape Runway, and to close the season six weeks later. This means a shift to the amateur scallop closed season from 15 February - 14 July (inclusive) to 1 April —31 August (inclusive) in the area from North Cape to Cape Runway. This will leave early season scallops to improve condition and potentially spawn prior to being harvested, and allow recreational fishers to take advantage of scallops in good condition in late February and March. The new arrangements will take effect from 1 September 2007, which will mark the opening day of the new season in the north-east area.

The existing closed seasons throughout the rest of the country will remain unchanged. The Minister noted specific concerns about the sustainability of scallops in north-west fisheries were raised during consultation on this issue. The Minister has directed MFish to consult next year on refining the recreational scallop season for the north-west coast.

Regulation 19A

In December 2005, the amateur regulations were amended to allow divers to take up to two extra bag limits of scallops or dredge oysters when safety people are on board their vessel. The way the regulations were amended had an unforeseen consequence, where even slightly exceeding the daily bag limit was classified as a serious non-commercial offence. The Minister has proposed amendments to ensure that when a diver takes less than three times their individual entitlement under rl9A when safety people are on board their vessel, it is not considered to automatically be a serious non-commercial offence.

Shared fisheries proposals released

A shared fisheries discussion paper has been produced by the Ministry of Fisheries, guided by decisions of the Minister of Fisheries and Cabinet, so people can have their say on proposals to improve the management of New Zealand’s shared fisheries. Shared fisheries are those in which commercial, amateur and customary fishers all participate. Most shared fisheries are inshore fisheries (including snapper, blue cod, kahawai, rock lobster and paua) - but they also include offshore fisheries such as gamefish, and freshwater fisheries such as eels.

Cabinet has approved the ideas in the discussion paper for public consultation. However, the ideas are not set in concrete. All can be changed or developed in response to public feedback.

If adopted, the proposals in the discussion paper will require further detailed development. Putting the proposed shared fisheries management framework into action may take several years.

Find out more

You can find out more about the proposals by:

• Reading the full discussion paper. The discussion paper can be obtained on the web at www.fish.govt.nz or by calling 0800 666 675 or contacting the Ministry of Fisheries.
• Coming along to a public consultation meeting. These will be held in main centres from late November to mid-December 2006
• Checking the background information and Frequently Asked Questions on the web. We will be updating these pages regularly so you can stay up-to-date with the shared fisheries consultation and management reform process.

Making a submission

We are seeking your views on the proposals and options contained in the discussion paper. We need your views by 28 February 2007. You can make a submission on-line, or by contacting the Ministry of Fisheries.

How will final decisions be made?

MFish will consider the submissions made on this discussion paper, carry out further study and develop recommendations for the Government. This process will involve working with other government departments to ensure that a consistent and coherent approach is taken. Cabinet will make final decisions in mid-2007.

Draft standards released

Standards are currently being developed to help provide clear guidelines for stakeholders about minimum levels of performance needed to support credible fisheries management. This work is on-going. Three draft standards have just been released:

• A harvest strategy standard that relates to the stock size of fisheries managed in the quota management system. The standard outlines a more cautious approach for managing fisheries to ensure sustainability.
• A consultation standard that sets out how MFish will meet minimum requirements for consultation under s.12 of the Fisheries Act
• A QMS introduction standard that outlines how decisions will be made about introducing new species into the quota management system.

To find out more, or to see copies of the standards, get in touch with Richard Fanselow in the Auckland office.

MFish is requesting comments up until the end of February next year.

Mai i Ngä Kuri a Wharei ki Tihirau Iwi Fisheries Forum (Bay of Plenty Region)

An agreement between the Ministry of Fisheries and Bay of Plenty Iwi Forum was signed on 12 October 2006. This formalises the relationship Mai i Ngä Kuri a Wharei ki Tihirau and the Ministry of Fisheries have developed over the past four years. The forum provides a sound platform for iwi to move beyond managing local impacts on their fishing grounds, to become part of the decision making around wider fisheries management issues. This could include decisions that affect fish stocks they use and the impacts on a fish stock across its whole region. The Bay of Plenty Forum involves 10 iwi and hapu groups. (TUMAI October 2006).

Snapper tagging in Hauraki Gulf

NIWA researchers will be tagging around 4000 snapper in the inner Hauraki Gulf this spring to track their movements and help figure out what keeps this fishery productive.

Scientists want to look at snapper movements and what types of habitats they seem to prefer, including looking at population ‘hotspots’. To get information on snapper movements, in November NIWA scientists will be tagging around snapper from commercial longliners in the Gulf. They are also doing night surveys of sleeping snapper, using a purpose-built video camera.

Regulatory Review April 2007

The Minister has recently made final decisions on changes to various fisheries regulations, including:

• Freshwater Eels – the maximum size limit for commercial harvest of eels will be set at 4 kgs nationwide;
• Catfish – possession of live catfish by recreational fishers will be prohibited; the sale of live catfish by commercial fishers will be prohibited.
• Updating guidelines for setting and varying deemed values (used for balancing commercial catch at the end of a fishing year);
• Inshore trawl form –a new form will replace existing inshore trawl catch and effort returns to provide better information;

Changes will be implemented by 1 April 2007.