Kia ora Friend,
As we head into May, fishers and boaties among us are only thinking about one thing - The Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show. With last year's event being cancelled for Covid, we are more than looking forward to this year's event.
This is our chance to talk to you face to face, and there is SO much to talk about. From the launch of Rescue Fish, to how the new minister is shaping up and important issues such as the plight of scallops, the fight against bottom trawling and how we get more fish in our seas.
So if you are coming along, be sure to check in to the LegaSea stand (No. 186 in Hall 1) and stop for a chat. We are hanging out for it.
Scallop closure for Coromandel coast - Have your say!
The long term survival of scallop populations around the Hauraki Gulf is in doubt, and once-teeming scallop beds around eastern Coromandel are now in decline.
LegaSea, the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council and the local community are supporting an application by Ngāti Hei to temporarily close the area to all scallop harvesting for the next two years.
If you have an interest in scallops or the wider issue of moving dredging out of inshore waters, now is the time for you to have your say. We've set up a submission form to make it easy for you to have your say.
The proposed closure would apply to commercial, recreational and customary fisheries along the Coromandel coast including Repanga/Cuvier, Ahuahu/Great Mercury, Ohinau, the Alderman and Whakahau/Slipper Islands (see map).
You can help support this effort to ban destructive dredging, to rebuild scallop numbers and encourage dive-only gathering when the fishery reopens. We strongly encourage you and your friends to make a submission. All you have to do is write a sentence stating you support the closure. Submission deadline is 17 May.
Submit your views here.
To make this rahui a reality we need to show the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans that we all want this. Make a submission here or simply email a statement of support to FMSubmissions@mpi.govt.nz
Whangaroa scallop closure - Deadline looming
And while we are on the subject of saving scallop populations from further decline, the deadline is fast approaching for you to make a submission around the proposed two-year closure of scallop harvesting around Whangaroa harbour.
Communities have been expressing concerns around depleted scallop beds, and three hapu from Karangahape marae: Whānau pani, Ngāti Kaitangata, and Ngāti Kauwau, have collectively requested a closure to commercial, Māori customary and recreational scallop harvesting.
The closure includes Whangaroa Harbour, and the fisheries waters around Motutara Island, Wekarua Island (Sugar Loaf), Stephenson's Island and Oruatemanu Island.
We strongly support this collective in this closure and urge Fisheries New Zealand to undertake research to determine why scallop numbers have declined in the area. We encourage you and your friends and family to read more here and make a submission. Deadline is 5pm, 10 May 2021.
The Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat show on next week
With just over a week until the 2021 Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show, we are getting pretty excited. It's been two years since the last show and we are busy getting our stand together.
This year we have a massive area, thanks to the Hutchwilco Boat Show team and we are packing a lot in. It will be a great opportunity to catch up with everyone and discuss the issues that matter to you.
This is the biggest event on the calendar this year so be sure to come along. If you come to our stand, No. 186 in Hall 1, wearing a LegaSea tee, cap or hoodie and say hello, we will give you a free gift as a thanks for wearing LegaSea at the show.
The New Zealand Hutchwilco Boat Show
May 13 - 16
ASB Showgrounds,
Greenlane, Auckland.
Don't miss out. Buy your tickets now:
https://boatshow.co.nz/buy-tickets-online-2021/
Repercussions from the last Minister's management decisions for blue cod around the South Island are still being strongly felt. The traffic light system with stringent transiting rules applying to recreational fishers, imposed by Fisheries New Zealand, is causing lots of anxiety amongst fishers especially on the east coast. The new regime is not fair or practical.
This is another scenario where agreements with fishers were reached after consultation and then alternative decisions were made behind closed doors, surprising everyone.
There is no substitute for good process, and Fisheries New Zealand need to take responsibility for creating this anxiety unnecessarily and then address local fishers' concerns.
Our fisheries management team and local fishing club representatives continue to engage with Fisheries New Zealand to achieve a workable solution.
A management review of snapper on the west coast of the North Island is pending. Fisheries New Zealand have been collecting data for the past couple of years. That data seems to support anecdotal evidence that this Snapper 8 fishery has rebuilt to a much healthier level than what it has been since the 1980s.
In anticipation of a consultation process, our New Zealand Sport Fishing Council fisheries team has been involved in preliminary discussions with Fisheries New Zealand, coastal hapū and local interests. We expect FNZ's consultation process will get underway soon, we will keep you informed of progress.
There is growing concern about the depletion of hāpuku and bass around most of the North Island. Fisheries New Zealand is holding preliminary talks about the future management of these species with a range of interest groups. We're not sure where the process will end up, but there is general agreement that the fishery needs serious intervention if we want to have healthy numbers of hāpuku and bass in the future. Will keep you posted.
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Ngā mihi
Trish and the LegaSea crew
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