West Coast hoki quota to be cut

GREYMOUTH: The fishing industry says its decision to reduce its West Coast hoki quota by 20,000 tonnes will cost it millions of dollars.

Fishing companies are choosing to reduce the catch of hoki in the West Coast fishery by 22% in the 201819 year.

The West Coast hoki fishery is one of five in the country and is the only one that is being reduced.

Sealord group operations general manager Doug Paulin told Morning Report the fishery catch rates have fallen in the past few seasons.

‘‘With those lower catch rates, we thought it was worthwhile being more conservative in our approach, in that particular fishery, and therefore we have decided to shelve a component of hoki quota across all of the major fishing companies,’’ Mr Paulin said.

He said the industry had been very conservative with its approach, particularly as it did not really know why the hoki were not in that fishery.

Sea water temperatures along the west coast of the South Island had been abnormally warm over the past three years and could be having an impact, he said.

Greenpeace has long demanded action to save what it calls a collapsing hoki fishery.

Its chief executive Russel Norman told Morning Report he is blaming the decision on overfishing and underreporting.

Mr Norman is calling for an independent inquiry into New Zealand’s fishery management system.

‘‘It’s got to look at whether the quota management we’ve been using is actually working to protect fish stocks . . . the hoki was paraded around as the best example of sustainable fish stocks in the world and now we know it’s collapsed,’’ Mr Norman said.

The inquiry should also look into regulators, he said. — RNZ