Fishing future to be discussed at meeting

The future of recreational fisheries for around 600,000 New Zealanders will be the focus of an upcoming meeting in Nelson.

Think tank organisation The New Zealand Initiative is holding 12 public meetings between Dunedin and Paihia over the next fortnight to discuss recommendations from its final report in the recreational fishing series, written by Dr Randall Bess.

Bess will hold a public meeting tomorrow night at the Trafalgar Complex Pavilion from 7pm.

The initiative’s most recent fisheries report, The Future Catch, released draft recommendations for fisheries reform on August 1.

‘‘We want to ensure that future generations can still enjoy going out fishing just as their parents and grandparents did,’’ Bess said.

‘‘But there is a problem. If we continue to fish as we are, there will come a day when we cannot make a decent catch anymore. And this is why things need to change.’’

For the past year, Bess has been working with the New Zealand Initiative to find ways to improve recreational fisheries.

Bess’ work included looking overseas at the way other fishing nations addressed the problem we are starting to face here.

Last year Bess travelled to North America and Western Australia, where he visited some locations that had become dire for recreational fishers.

Bess said these overseas observations were useful in debating the future state of New Zealand’s recreational fisheries.

At the end of the consultation process, the a final report will be presented to the new government.