The Southland Times

Minister: Data won’t be public

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Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy says the ministry has no intention to make informatio­n about individual fishing locations public.

Guy terday sponded concerns raised by Southland fishermen, who attended a meeting in Invercargi­ll on Wednesday to discuss the implicatio­ns of the new Integrated Electronic Monitoring and Reporting System.

‘‘I appreciate that these changes come at a financial cost to industry, and that is likely to be difficult for some fishers, the minister said.

However, it would be irresponsi­ble of us to not make these changes when we know they are important to ensuring the sustainabi­lity of our fisheries,’’ Guy said.

The changes were first announced in 2015 and the ministry ran comprehens­ive consultati­on on the proposals last year.

‘‘We recognise this is a big change, which is why MPI is now closely consulting with the fishing industry on the rollout to deal with their concerns.

‘‘In June this year, MPI establishe­d an Implementa­tion Advisory Group with representa­tives from the fishing industry to work on the implementa­tion of IEMRS.

‘‘This involves numerous meetings with industry groups including those representi­ng fishers from Southland. We want to work closely with industry before this begins to hear their concerns and make it work.

One of the main concerns Southlande­rs had was privacy issues involving data transmitte­d from cameras, e-reporting and position reporting.

However, Guy said: ‘‘Position informatio­n will be secure, and MPI has no intention to make informatio­n about individual vessels’ fishing locations public.’’ yesreto

 ??  ?? Nathan Guy
Nathan Guy

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