LegaSea

Kia ora Friend,

As people become more frustrated with the lack of government action to protect our coastal marine environments, more communities are taking action. In the last two months two iwi have enacted rāhui to protect coastal sealife and rebuild abundance.

LegaSea believes these community responses reflects problems with the way that Fisheries New Zealand and the Quota Management System do not serve New Zealanders. As frustrations about the lack of any meaningful official response increases, community action will likely increase.

Waiheke Rāhui

Ngāti Pāoa has enacted a 2-year rāhui closure around the entire coastline of Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf. The rāhui bans all take of four species - Crayfish, scallops, pāua, and mussels.

A rāhui in this sense is described as a customary practise prohibiting access to an area or resources, in order to restore ecosystem health.

Ngāti Pāoa and the Waiheke community have been concerned for a long time about depleting shellfish stocks. LegaSea and the fishing community are pleased to support Ngāti Pāoa in exercising their customary rights to ensure more effective management of these species.

Representatives from LegaSea, the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council and Papatūānuku Kōkiri marae joined the community in attending the dawn rāhui ceremony at Oneroa Beach on Sunday 31st January. Everyone was then invited to Piritahi marae for a hangi, a powerful relationship building opportunity enjoyed by all fortunate enough to have attended.

Read the LegaSea press release here.

Coromandel Scallops update

In mid-December 2020 LegaSea joined with several Coromandel communities and iwi Ngāti Hei in launching a rāhui banning the harvest of scallops from Opito Bay on the eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula. The rāhui is part of a broader programme that also includes a citizen-led survey to measure scallop populations in Opito Bay.

This powerful move by communities is due to concerns about a noticeable decline in scallop numbers in the Opito Bay area.

One month later, we are pleased to say there have been few observations of recreational diving or dredging for scallops in the area. Public support has been overwhelming and goes to show that communities working together can develop respect and awareness around the issue of declining scallop populations.

Ngāti Hei are in the process of formalising the rāhui on scallop harvesting across the eastern side of Coromandel Peninsula. Two letters have been sent to the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, David Parker. We have received no substantial response from the Minister in support of this successful community initiative. LegaSea and other stakeholders involved are meeting again soon to agree on what needs to be done next to better protect the seabed around Opito Bay. Read more

Blue Cod survey

Do you fish for blue cod around the South Island?

MPI wants your feedback on the traffic light system and new rules that apply to South Island blue cod fishing. Please have your say before the end of February.

We want to make sure that common sense rules apply. Your feedback will contribute to the discussions about the National Blue Cod Strategy. Our New Zealand Sport Fishing Council fisheries team is deeply involved in those meetings.

Please use this link to complete the survey and tell MPI how the new rules have affected you.

The survey and more information are online here.

Napier 6 Wharf project - LegaSea Hawkes Bay

Last week LegaSea Hawke's Bay and the Napier Port team announced construction is underway for a second artificial reef, at a site off Napier's coastline known as 'Gwen B'.

Around 750 cubic metres of natural limestone was carried over to the Gwen B site on a barge. The limestone is recycled from the port's old revetment well which was dismantled to make way for a new wharf.

Brian Firman, spokesperson for LegaSea Hawke's Bay, states the natural mimicking reef system will provide habitats for a variety of marine life, and will eventually boost recreational fishing and diving opportunities.

LegaSea Hawke's Bay is a member of the Fisheries Liaison Group overseeing the 6 Wharf project and the establishment of these artificial reefs in the waters off Napier.

Read the joint Napier Port / LegaSea Hawkes Bay media release here.

LegaSea summer photo competition

Our summer photo competition is closing on the 7th of February.

Before then we want you to show us your photography skills in and around the ocean, and you could win a great prize pack from our generous sponsors.

Send your photos to photos@legasea.co.nz

Entry terms and conditions can be found at legasea.co.nz/support-us/photo-comp/

One of last year's winning photos.
Dzin Alekzander.

Rescue Fish

The positive responses to depletion issues from the Waiheke and Coromandel iwi and communities are examples of Rescue Fish in action. This is about communities saying 'enough' to the degradation of their local waters.

Since 1986 fisheries managers and successive Ministers have relied on a dysfunctional Quota Management System designed to protect our coastal fish stocks from excessive exploitation, to protect the seabed that sustains our fish, and rebuild depleted stocks. This hasn't been our reality.

After 35 years it is now left to local communities to put their own interests on hold and take decisive action to restore abundance and biodiversity in local waters.

When communities work together to achieve a collective goal they strengthen and blossom. In Coromandel Ngāti Hei and the local communities have banded together to restore scallop numbers, and on Waiheke Island Ngāti Pāoa initiated a rāhui for multiple species. Both are expressions of kaitiakitanga, guardianship of the sea and of the people.

It's these kinds of positive initiatives that underpin our Rescue Fish policy.

Rescue Fish seeks to ban destructive bulk harvesting techniques such as bottom trawling and dredging from inshore waters.

Rescue Fish also aims to restore fish abundance by setting minimum stock targets for all stocks at no less than 50% of the unfished biomass (B50). That means we need to rebuild depleted fisheries to ensure they regrow to at least 50% of their natural, abundant size.

The Rescue Fish package has so much potential to support community initiatives. Rescue Fish is an outcome of years of research, international review and activity by our parent body, the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council.

Rescue Fish will only succeed if everyone, including the government, the community, iwi and hapū, embraces the need to improve marine protection and fisheries management.

Find out more about Rescue Fish here.

Thank you

Trish and the LegaSea crew

LegaSea appreciates the ongoing support of our Platinum and Gold partners -

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