Photo credit: Stephanie Kirk
Kia ora Friend,
For those of us still in lockdown after 50 days, Wednesday's easing of restrictions meant we could finally get back on the water and do some fishing! It's a welcome respite after such a long time and we sure did take advantage of it.
Let's hope we all can get back to normal soon.
Review of recreational fishing bag limits
Pink maomao. Photo by Mike Bhana
It wasn't that long ago that the public was up in arms because pseudo 'recreational fishers' were arriving daily at Tairua with an estimated 1000 pink maomao. This commercial-level exploitation of pink maomao was disheartening to see. And it's not a new issue.
In response, the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, David Parker, has requested a review of recreational daily bag limits for finfish.
There are no bag or size limits for pink maomao, other reef fish and bait species. This makes them vulnerable to overharvesting.
Since 2019 the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council has been advocating for a daily recreational limit of 3 pink maomao per person, around the top half of the North Island, and to have those 3 included in the 20 mixed finfish bag limit. We also support a ban on commercial fishing for pink maomao and other vulnerable reef species.
We are currently working on our response to these proposals, and will give you an update when we have reviewed all the documents.
Meanwhile you can read about the proposals and have your say here.
Reopening of the Kaikōura pāua fishery
It's an exciting time for pāua fishers as the Kaikōura marine area is set to reopen to pāua fishing in December. This area was closed after the 2016 earthquakes.
This week Minister David Parker announced the Kaikōura marine area will be open to pāua fishing for a cautionary three month period, starting from December 1st 2021.
Collecting pāua. Photo by Sam Wild
The latest scientific data supports feedback from the public that pāua have recovered to levels well above pre-earthquake densities.
In July our New Zealand Sport Fishing Council fisheries team submitted in support of the Minister reopening the Kaikōura marine area to pāua fishing. We also supported the Minister extending the area open to fishing, north from the Conway River up to Cape Campbell and Marfells Beach, so more people can benefit from the rebuild of the fishery.
Mark Connor, New Zealand Sport Fishing Council South Island spokesperson has already received positive feedback. : "Local fishers are pleased the Fisheries Minister David Parker has applied common sense in reopening the pāua fishery while promising to monitor the state of the fishery."
The pāua fishery will open from 1 December this year and close on 28 February 2022. This will enable close monitoring of catch levels and how the fishery responds to fishing.
More here.
Dive Pacific magazine now available online
The latest edition of Dive Pacific magazine, published by New Zealand Underwater, is now publicly available. It's a great edition, packed full of good content, and you can read it here.
NZUA is pleased to send you the latest Dive Pacific edition with compliments.
Boating & Outdoors commit to LegaSea
We would like to give a big thank you to our Platinum Partner Boating & Outdoors who have renewed their sponsorship of LegaSea for another 12 months. Boating & Outdoors is New Zealand's largest marine buying group of independently owned stores which enables them to provide you with a better range of products with sharp pricing.
"Our Boating & Outdoors group services customers throughout New Zealand and it makes absolute sense to support LegaSea on their behalf. LegaSea works on all species and fisheries issues right around New Zealand. It's often a thankless job but such an important one for the benefit of us all. We'd like to thank them for everything they do and being a Platinum Partner demonstrates this."
Brock Terry, Boating & Outdoors Executive, Trev Terry Marine, Taupo.
All products are available online or at their dealer network throughout New Zealand. To check out their offers and their member dealer locations have a look at their website.
Celia Seagull and the Plastic Sea
The Bobby Stafford-Bush Foundation aims to help young people and community groups who have a passion for the marine environment. The Foundation has supported our Kai Ika Project and helped fund the educational Hī-Ika cards that were made available to children in schools.
The Foundation generously funded the production of Celia Seagull and the Plastic Sea, and are providing free copies to New Zealand public libraries and school libraries in support of Plastic Free July 2021.
To support this wonderful cause, grab a copy for yourself or a small person in your family.
Order online and the first 50 will receive a free pack of Hī-Ika cards with their order.
www.celiaseagull.com
The ITM Fishing Show meets Kai Ika
If you didn't watch latest week's fantastic episode featuring Carlos and Dave from Kai Ika, you can watch it on demand here.
Watch Carlos' face when he finds out that he gets to go fishing with Matt!
The Kai Ika Project Filleting Service
After careful consideration we have decided to keep the filleting trailer CLOSED until we are confident we can provide contactless service, keep you safe and follow the government's strict protocols.
The last thing we want to do is put you and our amazing fishing community at risk. The threat of a $12,000 fine hanging over our head if we were to breach the COVID-19 rules is another reason to take things slow.
Thanks for your understanding, and we will keep you updated with any changes.
Keep an eye out on our social media pages to stay up to date with filleting announcements.
Facebook - TheKaiIkaProject
Instagram - The_Kai_Ika_Project
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Ngā mihi
Trish and the LegaSea crew
LegaSea appreciates the ongoing support of our Platinum and Gold partners -
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