WEST COAST REGIONAL RECREATIONAL FORUM

19 August 2008 at MFish Auckland 3.30pm to 8.30pm

Present:

Ricky Butt, Sheryl Hart, Stewart Hogg, Bernie Ward, Ross Webber, Ian Bright, Sarah Omundsen, Alicia Marchant, Tracey Smith, Laura Mitchell, Richard Fanselow.

Apologies:

Mark Franklin, Peter Sellers, Trish Rea, Allan Jone

DRAFT SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION

1. Member’s discussion (MFish not present)

Members met between 3.30 and 4.30pm.

2. NIWA scientist Mark Morrison- Fish in Harbours

Mark Morrison presented research on “Juvenile coastal fish and their nursery habitats - the role of New Zealand’s estuaries and coastal embayments”.

The presentation included:

• Overview of recent estuarine research in New Zealand
• Evidence that seagrass meadows, horse mussel beds, and mangrove forests are important for some juvenile fish species, but that some species prefer less structured environments such as bare sand and mud flats.
• Research on the link between the SNA8 snapper stock and the juvenile snapper in the Kaipara Harbour
• Impacts of land-based activities on these nursery habitats.

Members asked about an increase of red weed at the South of the Kaipara Harbour that locals were concerned about. Mark Morrison said that sampling did not indicate that this sort of weed was valued by fish.

Members enquired about what sort of things can encourage seagrass growth. As restoration is expensive, and projects so far have not been very effective, Mark explained that the best option is to protect the habitat that we already have. Land- based activities can affect nursery habitats, so it is important to address the effects of these activities, for example planting and protecting waterways. Members expressed frustration with local councils being slow to improve the impacts of land based effects, but Mark said as an outsider he has observed a recent change in attitude amongst both communities and authorities.

Other points raised in response to the presentation:

• Need for greater protection of the harbour from trawlers.
• Which sort of fish are the best to spawn? Are bigger fish smarter at spawning or do they produce fish of a lesser quality?
• Whether mangroves are important habitat in New Zealand (evidence that they are critical in the tropics)
• Raglan Harbour- the harbour seems to have improved following the development of a catchment plan, but there doesn’t seem to be science to back this up?
• The impact of water quality on fish.

Actions

MFish to distribute a copy of the presentation to members.

3. Diving for Scallops- Code of Practice

Members discussed the draft Code of Practice that MFish distributed prior to the meeting. MFish explained that the intent of the Code was to guide the actions of recreational fishers as well as Fishery Officers.

Concerns were raised that the “discretion” of Fishery Officers could result in unfair actions; MFish asked that if members hear of any incidents where people believe Fishery Officers have acted unfairly to contact them ASAP. These types of complaints are rarely received, yet it is vital to hear of specific incidents in order to make improvements

Other scallop issues were raised:

• Raglan Harbour signs need to be updated for change of scallop season, MFish waiting until new Maui’s dolphin regulations have been confirmed to update them.
• An increase of scallop dredging was observed in the Manukau Harbour last season. One reason may be the S.186a closure of the scallop fishery in the Kaipara Harbour.
• The Kaipara Harbour S.186a closure is being lifted on 14th September 2008 but a request has been made to extend the closure for another year. There will be an open period while the decision is being made. During the open period last year there were two or three compliance patrols but only one fisher found.
• The scallop beds at Cornwallis/ Clarks Beach are targeted by a large number of people because they are so accessible. There are a lot of offences occurring in these areas with the taking of excess and undersize scallops

4. Paua accumulation and exportation rule changes

A paper was circulated prior to the meeting suggesting options for the possible development of an initial position paper (IPP).

Members liked the approach of being able to discuss and give feedback prior to the release of an IPP.

Members supported option 2, to limit paua accumulation to a specified maximum. The maximum they supported was 30. They also supported option 3, an export prohibition for paua, and suggested to limit the number of paua taken out of the country to ten per person.

5. Matters arising from previous minutes

Maui’s dolphin decision

The Maui’s dolphin decision was released shortly after the last meeting. The decision has yet to be legally challenged.

Some members felt that the new measures were unfounded, illogical and unfair. Fishers in Port Waikato are said to be really hurting from the new measures.

MFish clarified that kaitiaki could give customary permits to set net within the banned areas, but noted that kaitiaki are required to ensure the sustainable utilisation of fisheries.

Kaipara Harbour Study Group

Ross Webber reported that MFish had written to the study group’s chair following last forum and attended the study group’s recent meeting.

Topics at the meeting included:

• MFish will work with the group on a review of the Kaipara Harbour Strategy.
• Crest Energy turbine proposal, concerns about the effects of anti-foul and noise.
• Weed in the Southern end of the harbour and transient fishers cleaning in this area.
• Request to extend the Kaipara Harbour scallop closure another year. Feeling among some locals that the scallops have improved, but that one more year wouldn’t hurt and give us time to collect some more information.

Squid fishery

• Answers to the questions from last meeting were provided (see appendix one).

Rock lobster measure

• The MFish recreational lobster measure has been withdrawn -although it is more consistent with the regulations than a normal gap measure, it caused confusion amongst fishers.

Liver fluke

• DOC has informed MFish that the liver fluke contracted by Maui’s dolphins is different to that which is ingested by sheep and cattle.

6. North West Finfish Fisheries Plan update

Sheryl Hart reported back on the progress of the North Island West Coast Finfish Fisheries Plan. The fisheries plan advisory group has been reviewing an
information brief that outlines the current situation. The group is now moving on to develop objectives and this will be a test for the plan as different sectors will
have to meet somewhere in the middle.

Sheryl asked for issues to take forward for the development of the plan. Members main concerns were juveniles and bycatch.

Other issues raised were:

• dumping and excessive deeming
• mining and habitat protection
• reducing soak time in harbours
• compliance

7. National Hui for Non- Commercial Fishing Forums

The 2008 National Hui will be held in Auckland in November this year, Members were asked to select two representatives and make suggestions for topics and
speakers at the meeting.

Members requested that they all be able to attend as the hui was being held in Auckland.

MFish to forward suggestions to hui organisers and request that all members be able to attend.

Appendix One: Squid fishery questions from the North West Recreational Forum meeting 22 May 2008

Why are the TACCs for squid stocks that are significantly under-caught not reviewed as a matter of priority?

The TACC limits have not been reviewed because there are no concerns that the current level of fishing in the squid fishery is unsustainable.

There are two main reasons why the squid TACC is not caught each year.

1. The first reason is to do with the lifecycle of squid. Squid live for a year, spawn and then die. From year to year we essentially have a new stock, some years squid are naturally more abundant than others.
2. Secondly, it may not be economical to catch the TACC of squid. The price of squid has been low over recent years and it may be more profitable for commercial fishers to move into other fisheries before the TACC limit is reached. 

Is there any science to support what a sustainable TACC is for squid?

There isn’t any science to support what a sustainable TACC for squid is because the stock varies from year to year and it is not practical to predict future stock size in advance of the fishing season.

Is any consideration given to the role of squid in the eco-system? It is a food source for so many species and there have been reports that some species such as whales are being affected by a lack of squid.

Squid, like krill and various small fish, are likely to be important food sources for other larger marine life. As it is difficult to estimate how many squid there are in the water from year to year, it is also difficult to determine how much squid is required for food webs to function and the number of squid that can be caught without upsetting this balance.

Currently there is not a formal ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management in New Zealand. Such an approach would rely on determining the number of squid that are required for the food web.

Have there been any thoughts about method restriction in the squid fishery –nets damage eggs which impacts on recruitment –why not just jig?

Squid jig vessels are not able to operate in areas where there are difficult wind and sea conditions so industry prefers to harvest squid using the trawl method.

MFish does not consider that there are any sustainability concerns with the squid stock that would require that jigging be the only permitted harvest method. There is currently a method based QMA for squid jigging (SQU1J). In recent years there has been very little fishing effort in SQU1J and the majority of the fishing activity has occured in the two trawl fisheries (SQU1T and SQU6T)..

Environmental NGOs are in favour of a jigging only fishery because jigging is believed to have a lower environmental impact in terms of seabird and marine mammal captures.