Fishing industry calls for talks on catch reporting
The fishing industry has called for a ‘‘pause’’ before electronic monitoring and reporting of fishing catches is introduced, saying the tight timeframes are unrealistic.
In a scathing submission to the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), industry association Fisheries Inshore New Zealand (FINZ) said it supported electronic monitoring and reporting, but called current plans ’’confused, unrealistic, onerous, unnecessary and costly’’.
‘‘Our strong preference is to get this right, not muddle through to meet MPI’s self-imposed and unrealistic timeframes,’’ said Jeremy Helson, chief executive of FINZ, whose members take around 84 per cent of the quota catch.
‘‘Even if the legal requirements were well-specified and realistic, the technology to comply does not yet exist, has not been tested at sea, (but) is very unlikely to be installed on more than 1000 vessels and crew trained within the next six months,’’ he said.
New Zealand currently has a 30-year-old paper-based catch reporting system, and primary industries minister Nathan Guy has ordered it be replaced with daily digital reporting from on fishing vessels.
Large trawlers must start reporting their catches digitally from on the water in October. Smaller operators must start in April next year.
But Helson said that although some of the larger trawlers already had the technology for electronic reporting, the smaller vessels, many of which were owneroperated, did not.
The technology could not be bought ‘‘off the shelf’’, he said, and training fishermen to use it, once it was available, would be a challenge.
The industry was asking for a ‘‘pause’’ of around six months, and an opportunity to sit down with MPI and nut through the issues, said Helson.
But MPI spokesman Joe Stockman said: ‘‘We appreciate that this is a major change for the industry, and that there will be concerns about its impacts. However, digital monitoring, and the quick, accurate and verifiable reporting it provides is essential for the future of the industry, and the sustainability of New Zealand’s fisheries.’’
The ministry was confident the project would succeed.
‘‘Consumers are demanding that we can prove that our fisheries are sustainable, and this is a vital step for industry.’’