Quota cuts could gut industry

SLASHING RECREATIONAL snapper fishers’ catch limits while leaving commercial quotas untouched is putting the interests of big business ahead of everyday Kiwis, say fishers and political critics.

Penalising recreational fishers could also jeopardise jobs and hurt the local economy because of the number of businesses that depended on fishers, opponents said.

And the Government is being reminded of the dangers of angering recreational fishers.

‘‘The public are doing more voting than the fishing companies are,’’ said Peter Carlson, managing director of Family Boats, New Zealand’s largest boat dealership.

An estimated 1.2 million Kiwis go fishing at least occasionally.

Amateur fishers could have their daily snapper catch slashed from nine to just three fish in Auckland and the upper North Island under drastic proposals to save the snapper population, which has collapsed alarmingly.

The Ministry of Primary Industries has proposed three options to revive the fishery area covering the eastern North Island from Northland to the Bay of Plenty – with the cuts all coming from recreational fishing limits and the most extreme cutting catch numbers from the current nine to just three.

Despite commercial boats being allocated around 60 per cent of the quota, they face no cuts.

It was another example of the government putting the commercial exploitation of New Zealand’s resources ahead of their use by average Kiwis, said Labour leader David Shearer.

Cuts ‘‘should be shared evenly across those people who are fishing and that means commercial as well as recreational fishers. You can’t do one without the other,’’ he said.

‘‘I think going out fishing and taking the family out fishing, like I do, is a birthright.’’

But the MPI says snapper represent around 85 per cent of the value of commercial fisheries in the Hauraki Gulf, creating around 1200 full time jobs. It also says recreational fishers are taking over 1000 tonnes more than their annual allocation set in 1997.

Critics argue MPI is undervaluing the recreational sector.

Shearer said: ‘‘We are looking very narrowly at this problem in terms of what a recreational fisher brings to the party and what commercial does. We have to recognise the recreational fishing is a very big commercial operation in and around it.’’

Reducing the snapper limit to three would critically damage the recreational fishing industry and ruin fishing-based businesses, said Ross Powell, CEO of Pendarves Ltd bait company.

He believes the number of recreational fishers would drop significantly.

‘‘I can’t see people going fishing for three snapper. I thought the effort would go down in proportion to the catch. We employ 86 people – 60 people would lose their jobs. Three of our stores would survive out of 11,’’ he said.

Boat builder Peter Carlson agrees, saying a lower catch would reduce the number of people bothering to fish, reducing the number buying boats, which would mean less use of fuel stations and less boats docked in marinas.

‘‘If our business had to go down two thirds we are talking thousands of people effected across the country,’’ said Carlson.