Complaint about the Fisheries (Hector’s and Maui) Amendment Regulations 2020

Since 2020, Fish Mainland has been outspoken on the set net ban in Golden and Tasman Bays in particular. Regrettably, ongoing correspondence with the Hon David Parker, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, and his officials have remained unfruitful.  Fish Mainland had no recourse other than to lodge a complaint with the Parliamentary Regulations Review Committee on 17 March this year. ( View complaint on NZ Parliament website)

To be clear, Fish Mainland fully supports applying the set net ban where netting poses a risk to incidentally killing or seriously injuring Hector’s or Maui Dolphins. And we do not object to the ban applying in Golden and Tasman Bays, despite the dearth of supporting evidence. On behalf of local set netters, we object to the ban applied to the longstanding netting areas of inland waterways without any justification whatsoever. Locals have set netted in these waterways for generations without ever sighting a dolphin.

Our concern is that the ill-thought-out regulatory ban inadvertently increases the risk of incidentally killing or seriously injuring dolphins. While set net traditions in inland waterways did not pose any risk to dolphins, set netters must now go beyond 4 nautical miles into known dolphin habitats where locals know most sightings occur. We anticipate receiving an update from the Regulations Review Committee within the next couple of weeks.