Thread: Inshore fishing under threat?

Seems now that Tauranga pushed the closures of many coastal reefs through under the RMA we will see a flood of this activity across NZ.

This one is a big one, at least they banned commercial trawling and dredging too.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/fishin...A915REYYWtEMh4

Watching closely, but it's hard to know exactly what is going to happen. Lots of "consultations" still to be had.

Originally Posted by MB

Watching closely, but it's hard to know exactly what is going to happen. Lots of "consultations" still to be had.

The biggest issue is that local councils have the power to close what is a national resource. Its a fkn joke.

Originally Posted by Gibo

The biggest issue is that local councils have the power to close what is a national resource. Its a fkn joke.

Smoke and mirrors politics. It's harder to pin accountability on a multiple councils and issues like this get lost between bureaucracy and other proceedings. For the record, I'm all for no take zones (for everybody), but it has to be balanced against reasonable access for recreational fishermen.

Originally Posted by MB

Smoke and mirrors politics. It's harder to pin accountability on a multiple councils and issues like this get lost between bureaucracy and other proceedings. For the record, I'm all for no take zones (for everybody), but it has to be balanced against reasonable access for recreational fishermen.

With you there mate. Its good for the fish but there needs to be a balance. I think a rooster system could be good too, close some reefs for x years, open them up and close the other reefs for x years. I dunno but this seems like they are going to go after every inshore reef.

Originally Posted by Gibo

I think a roster system could be good too, close some reefs for x years, open them up and close the other reefs for x years.

That would seem like a good solution to me to. In my locality, I would close Whangarei Harbour during snapper breeding season. The fish congregate en masse and are ridiculously easy to catch. They get slaughtered. Obviously, it's summer time and many people only fish at this time of year. Others don't have access to boats that can get them offshore, so it would be a deeply unpopular!

Originally Posted by Gibo

With you there mate. Its good for the fish but there needs to be a balance. I think a rooster system could be good too, close some reefs for x years, open them up and close the other reefs for x years. I dunno but this seems like they are going to go after every inshore reef.

Yep, great time to be a spearo. Literally have our inshore spots reduced by 60% here. As a group we are so reliant on shallow reefs and island structures we get hammered by these proposals

It is grim on the face of it. IMO the right of citizens to harvest a natural food source for personal family consumption should be sacrosanct. Certainly there may be sensible constraints on quantity taken but these should not be so small that the family costs incurred in fishing are above the costs of being forced to buy retail sea foods. The imposition on recreational fishers in favour of commercial fishers is unfair on private families and unacceptable in my view.

And to that end, there should be no commercial catch of Kahawai. I believe at the moment it is caught and sent to Aussie to be used in crab pots. How about leaving it alone so at least you could go out with a surfcaster and bring home a feed. It can be bloody hard work to catch a fish off the beach these days dependant on what part of the country you are in.

Originally Posted by Woody

It is grim on the face of it. IMO the right of citizens to harvest a natural food source for personal family consumption should be sacrosanct. Certainly there may be sensible constraints on quantity taken but these should not be so small that the family costs incurred in fishing are above the costs of being forced to buy retail sea foods. The imposition on recreational fishers in favour of commercial fishers is unfair on private families and unacceptable in my view.

Originally Posted by Woody

It is grim on the face of it. IMO the right of citizens to harvest a natural food source for personal family consumption should be sacrosanct. Certainly there may be sensible constraints on quantity taken but these should not be so small that the family costs incurred in fishing are above the costs of being forced to buy retail sea foods. The imposition on recreational fishers in favour of commercial fishers is unfair on private families and unacceptable in my view.

Wot you said

50 years ago, I used to take my girls friends du jour, to Takapuna beach at night, to gaze at the sea and well, shag them.

90% of the time we could watch the trawlers working up and down the Rangitoto channel. This trawling was illegal. They would do one direction, with their nav lights on, then switch off the nav lights and do 3, 4, 5 or more passes with no lights and then turn lights on and go home.

The reason I could see them, when the lights were off, is that they had lights in the cabin and cigarettes in their mouths, easy for a young man with good eyesight.

I coincidentally, had a girlfriend, whose brothers were all trawler fishermen and whose father was a, wait for it, fisheries inspector. The Dad would take all the confiscated seafood home. The Brothers would bring by-catch home. Mind you in those days, the snapper by-catch were all the size of goats. I've seen snapper that needed two guys to lift.

As a kid I could go out, on Saturday morning with Dad, off Northcote point and after an hour, bring back enough fish for us, for a couple of days and for several of our neighbours also.

Unfortunately the the commercial fishing industry is predicated on rape and pillage, maximum profit for shareholders, is the only rule they take heed of.

A seal cull in the south island would do a lot to balance fish take and recovery imo.

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

A seal cull in the south island would do a lot to balance fish take and recovery imo.

Doesnt sound right to me, killing more wildlife doesnt create a balance, taking less fish will. No doubt the reason they are being a pain is they are forced into these areas as there normal ones are fished out.

Originally Posted by Gibo

Doesnt sound right to me, killing more wildlife doesnt create a balance, taking less fish will. No doubt the reason they are being a pain is they are forced into these areas as there normal ones are fished out.

I will explain my point, Fur Seals in NZ were reduced in numbers to near extinction. Now there are tens of thousands everywhere along rocky east coast areas. The seal numbers have not been static, they have been increasing exponentially. If the seal numbers were static it would be simple to set fish takes. From 1984 to '92 the rate of increase was 25% per annum. In 2001 the population was estimated at 200,000 so at 25% increase compounding per annum what is the population today ?
If we want a human fish take then all takes have to be balanced with what the stocks can sustain. If we set an allowable fishing take today for a species and next year seals are taking 25% more from that stock compounding, it must put the fish stock under pressure and throw the numbers out. If seals are left unchecked the fishing take will need to be reduced each year to keep the total take sustainable.
I would not be surprised to find that the increase in seal numbers around Banks Pen. has put food resources for Hectors Dolphins under pressure.
Not that I am defending introduced Salmon over indigenous seals, but Salmon numbers here have graphed down in lock step as Seals have increased. This happened in North America leading to the lifting of total protection and seal culls

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

A seal cull in the south island would do a lot to balance fish take and recovery imo.

Sort of kill the seals that kill the fish that we want to kill kinda thing?

I guess we need the fish more than the seals do…

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

A seal cull in the south island would do a lot to balance fish take and recovery imo.

You are aware that the major part of a fur seal's diet is squid, mostly off the continental shelf ?