“ACT will unlock the potential of our oceans and create a state of plenty: more fish in the water, better fishing for New Zealanders, and stronger fisheries for the future with new fisheries policy,” says ACT’s Conservation spokesperson Cameron Luxton.
“New Zealand has some of the richest marine resources in the world. Fishing supports jobs and exports, puts food on the table, and is part of the way millions of New Zealanders enjoy our coastline.
“A healthy marine environment is the foundation of a successful fishing industry. ACT’s six-part plan will unlock New Zealand’s fishing potential by rebuilding fish stocks, protecting vulnerable marine environments, and creating the conditions for better recreational and commercial fishing.
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ACT will establish a distinct fisheries management area matching the boundaries of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park. Currently, commercially important fish stocks within the Gulf can be managed as part of much larger fisheries areas, which can conceal depletion. ACT’s plan would allow local catch settings to rebuild depleted stocks while preserving existing quota holders’ proportional property rights.
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ACT will address overharvesting of shellfish and other marine life, and stripping of rock pools. ACT would introduce a nationwide combined recreational daily bag limit of 10 for shellfish and other covered species that do not already have their own individual daily limit. ACT supports recreational gathering. This allows people who collect modest amounts for themselves to carry on, while preventing a small number of people from stripping an area.
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ACT will permanently end scallop dredging in currently closed North Island scallop fisheries and enable selective harvesting technologies as stocks recover. Scallop dredging is the most destructive harvesting method available in New Zealand. If scallop populations eventually recover, there is no reason to automatically return to dragging dredges across the ocean floor when more selective harvesting methods are available or can be developed.
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ACT will require Fisheries New Zealand to quantify the economic and environmental cost of high-impact fishing methods and adjust existing fisheries levies in a way that doesn’t increase them, but ensures they’re proportionate to damage caused. Not all fishing methods impose the same costs. Lower-impact methods may catch the same fish while imposing substantially less damage than bottom trawling and dredging.
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ACT will increase and stagger fisheries infringement fees so penalties reflect the seriousness of the offending and provide a genuine deterrent. Deterrents only work if the consequences for deliberately breaking them are large enough to stop offending. The current penalties are unbalanced, with serious offenders seeing the current fines as an inconvenience, not a roadblock. ACT’s graduated structure will put a stop to that.
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ACT will change the way important fisheries are managed, aiming for higher fish stocks and greater abundance rather than treating maximum sustainable yield as the target. New Zealand’s fisheries should aim for more than having just enough fish in the water to sustain the maximum possible catch. This change reinforces that catching fish is normal, scarcity is not. It also means a better chance of bringing something home with less time and effort for fishers across the board.
“A healthy marine environment is the foundation of a successful fishing industry. Abundant fish stocks are good for commercial fishers, recreational fishers and the wider ecosystem.
“ACT’s approach is to protect the resource while preserving the freedom to use it. That means rebuilding fisheries where they are depleted, protecting vulnerable habitats from genuine damage, and replacing blunt restrictions with rules focused on actual risks.
“We live in a bloody paradise and we need to look after it. ACT will unlock the potential of our fisheries so our oceans support more fish, more opportunity and better fishing for generations to come.”
Editor’s Note: What do readers think? Please post comments. Be forthright.
Well I wish Cameron the best of good fortune and good on him for championing far better sea fisheries management than we have now with NZ First’s Shane Jones (and baggage) as Minister.
It all comes down to coalition agreements. National and ACT – if November 7 election reinstates the current coalition – have got to be very firm. If NZ First has any sense of political survival, they’ll do away with Shane Jones. He is no asset to NZ First, in fact, I believe quite the opposite as I know many who dislike his bullying, blunderbuss ways and silly theatrics, and I know many fisher folk who will not vote NZ First because of Jones.
Yes busted fisheries under Shane Jones watch is shocking- orange roughy for one. This is shocking. In 1990s management under QMS drove stocks down as low as 8% of virgin biomass. No lesson learned obviouslyy because in 29025 it’s happened again. East coast tarakihi stocks have collapsed – 7% of original stock. Kahawai teetering, crayfish, scallops etc…
Full marks to ACT.
Ooops, sorry I made some typos.
Re orange roughy it should read “No lesson learned obviously because in 2025 it’s happened again.” Ministry seem inept. So what was Shane Jones doing? Too busy, having cups of tea with his commercial corporate mates?
I meant to add, ACT and Cameron Luxton have done good work in hunting scene with Fiordland wapiti and North Island sika, “special herds of interest” to be managed on game management lines.
I note Federated Farmers making some silly, sensationalised statements on feral deer as pests.
ACT’s Nicole McKee on sensible firearm laws is very good too. As a swinging voter, I am seriously looking at ACT for my party vote but I’ll reserve final judgement to election day.
What about reducing the plethora of regulations which plague commercial fishermen?
What about the handing-over of fishing areas and resources to maori elites masquerading as iwi “guardians”.
ACT has done bugger-all to rectify these in the last 3 years and it looks like they will be doing bugger-all again.
They seem unworthy of my vote.
The fisheries under Shane Jones is nothing but a cease pit of corruption, Cameron’s ideas are constructive
Congratulations to ACT for their policy .. and for making the right noises.
However, NZ’ers have every right to be disillusioned with the way successive governments are shaping our country .. across many fronts.
Fisheries resources are just one such example.
That is not a criticism of any individual MP .. or any individual political party .. or even any one government .. but the cumulative effect of successive governments.
Our government is charged with governing our country.
They regard this as “being in power”.
We don’t want them to “be in power” .. we want them to govern our country .. not for the sake of our country, as such, that’s way too nebulous .. but in a way that is best for the sake of the people. And not for the people who were born here hundreds of years ago .. but for those who were born here, and are alive today.
My FB profile has said, for a long time, “I was born into a New Zealand I could be proud of. Our grandchildren deserve to do the same. Simple.”
So far, across the couple of decades (at least), we’ve largely been heading in the wrong direction.
Our economy .. our national, public debt .. our social cohesion .. racial harmony .. environmental management .. health system .. education .. housing .. transport (roads) .. law and order .. immigration .. social welfare .. cost-of-living .. child poverty.. everything seems to be heading south.
KPI’s like freedom, productivity, water quality .. all heading the same way.
Our young people .. our future .. often struggle to see that future for themselves in this country .. a major reason why they can’t wait to get overseas.
I’ve met several people in recent weeks .. in their 50’s and 60’s .. also disillusioned, and heading overseas. I asked two of them when they were coming back to live .. and they both said “probably never”.
Paul Henry has been spreading a good message .. we’re in shitter’s ditch .. New Zealand has extraordinary potential, but must confront “uncomfortable truths” to reverse a slide into economic mediocrity and division.
To be more successful, we need to do things like:
(1) Shrink the Bureaucracy;
(2) Move Past Racial Division:
(3) Restore Ambition for Future Generations (and the current ones); and
(4) Target Local (and Central) Government Waste.
We should all pull together to accomplish these goals! …
Postman Pat, I don’t agree. ACT’s Cameron Luxton has been a strong supporter for the outdoors. With Nicole McKee as ACT’s deputy leader there, that makes ACT the best of the parties for outdoors.
I say “the best” with some reservation. The Greens who should be championing the environment and consequently outdoors have forgotten their environmental roots and are too busy with “wokey” issues.
Pick the best of a bad bunch.