Blue cod rule talks positive
By Molly Houseman
Fish Mainland continues discussions on the Blue Cod Strategy and recent rule changes with fishers and Government officials.
Originally published in the Otago Daily Times, 13 November.
A determined group of fishers feel their concerns about new rules concerning recreational blue cod fishing were listened to during a meeting held in Dunedin at the weekend.
Tautuku Fishing Club president Brett Bensemann said about 30 people attended the meeting at the club on Sunday, which invited people who were dissatisfied with the new rules to discuss changes they would like to see made to the new strategy.
They had the chance, along with Randall Bass from fisher lobby group Fish Mainland, to pose their questions to Ministry for Primary Industries senior fisheries analyst Mark Geytenbeek.
Mr Bensemann said some fishers felt the reasoning for the new rules did not add up.
"A lot of people these days are throwing stones and banging the tables ... but this is a matter of getting around a table, discussing these things and making sure we have a body that can sort it."
The Blue Cod Strategy, which came into play in July, imposes a maximum daily catch of 10 blue cod per person between Rakaia River and Taiaroa Head, and 15 per person between Taiaroa Head and Sand Hill Point.
The changes, which also include a 33cm minimum size and require recreational fishers to land fish in a measurable state, were brought about to address localised depletion of blue cod and to ensure the species remained sustainable.
Blue cod are the third most popular species caught by recreational fishers in New Zealand.
The Government uses a traffic light system to identify each area as either green for healthy numbers of blue cod, orange for rebuilding or declining and red for areas where the species is "in trouble".
The daily catch limit in the green area is 15, orange is 10 and red is 2.
During the meeting, Mr Bensemann asked Mr Geytenbeek why the Southern area, which was a green light area, was limited to 15 fish while areas such as Bay of Plenty and Northland allowed taking 20 fish.
"Yet on your national poster it says that we are all treated the same", Mr Bensemann said.
Mr Geytenbeek said that came down to several reasons.
"The North Island, the issue that we had there was about consulting and getting in front of everyone, especially in terms of customary.
"So one of the reasons why we were successful in getting this [the 15-fish catch limit] was because we had massive support from iwi [in the South]."
There was also more pressure on fisheries for blue cod in the South, he said.
Other issues discussed included new transit rules, the size of some fishing areas and a "lack" of Government funding for recreational research.
The possibility of closing fisheries during spawning between about mid-September and mid-November was also explored.
Mr Bensemann said the meeting was an open and constructive discussion.
"It has been acknowledged that there are mistakes and flaws in the blue cod strategy.
"We have to work collaboratively from the start to avoid a repeat of this situation."
It would take about 18 months to make any legislation changes, he said.
"The work starts right now."
