OBC GETS THEIR MEASURE
Auckland’s Outboard Boating Club (OBC) has taken a responsible and important step by changing the rules of all its fishing competitions to ensure its members remain at the forefront of recreational fishing good practice.
The club’s fishing competitions are now run on a measure-only basis, giving anglers the choice to either keep or release their catch while still being eligible for prizes.
Grant Blair, a director of NZ Fishing Media and founder of the DB Export NZ Fishing Competition, a national annual on-line contest fished on a measure basis, applauds the move.
“Using length measurement as the criteria for assessment provides the foundation for anglers to make the best decisions for our precious resources,” Grant says.
“Photographing the fish on a length measure empowers contestants to keep the best eating fish while releasing the rest of the catch. That means OBC members can still be rewarded for a significant catch and also have the option to release it.”
The OBC is the first club in Aotearoa to measure length over all its events.
“Changing the competition rules to ‘length’ rather than ‘weight’ is a great example of the club being on the right side of the sustainable fishing effort,” says Brian Hood, the OBC’S CEO.
Other club initiatives include the Kai Ika Project, which has diverted over 16 tonnes of fish off-cuts to a community healthy food programme. The project involves Legasea and the Papatuanuku Kokiri Marae in Mangere. The marae utilises the fish and frames/heads to provide nutritious meals for the community, with other waste dug into their vegetable gardens as fertiliser.