WAIKATO REGIONAL COUNCIL RESPONDS TO OUR STORY ON POSSIBLE CLOSURE OF FISHING AREAS
Written by John Grant on June 25, 2022
Coromandel’s CFM spoke with Dennis Tegg this morning in a lengthy interview related to our story yesterday about the potential for the closure of areas around The Coromandel to commercial and recreation fishing.
Dennis Tegg has clarified a number of areas and in particular the map below which was copied from the Council’s website. The map according to Mr Tegg shows areas of indigenous biodiversity or areas where threatened species or breeding takes place. They are areas of interest and do not reflect areas planned for closure according to Mr Tegg.
He said that the map shows these areas and there is no plans at this time to close these for fishing. For this to happen there will be a lot more work needed to provide the research to establish the justification for this closure and this work has not yet been undertaken.
The next step in this process is the completion of a detailed plan and the consultation with statutory groups including IWI before seeking formal public submissions. He said this process is not going to be completed for sometime and it will be years away from a final resolution and will not be implemented before everyone is given an opportunity for formal input to the process. It would require RMA consent as well.
Mr Tegg acknowledged that he could see the confusion from the map and the document released entitled Marine Biodiversity Protection Areas. CFM has asked for a Council spokesperson to talk to this and we will have them on air as soon as possible.
Ted Booth On June 25, 2022 at 12:40 pm
Oh the council can go set fire to themselves for all we care, this is another bullshit way they are trying to take our basic rights away and it aint happening! I know of lots of fishermen and women who will just fish anyways.
Darren McLean On June 26, 2022 at 4:07 pm
This proposal is absolutely disgraceful and not on.
It won’t just hurt those that want to fish, but will also hurt the business in the area.
Anthony Morris On June 27, 2022 at 12:40 pm
If this goes ahead we’ll just not holiday on the Coromandel Peninsula (we currently spend about 11 weeks and spend at least $20,000 per year).
Lindsay Arthur On June 27, 2022 at 5:25 pm
WRC take note, a great number of people come the Coromandel to enjoy family sport fishing and this has generated a considerable amount of monies for WRC. For example there must be about 1000 plus holiday houses in Matarangi alone and the WRC rates for just here is a big earner for them, locals resist this and do not let it get momentum
Ken On June 28, 2022 at 3:22 am
All I see here is knee-jerk NIMBY; its clear this our chance to have a say and get the compromises right for everyone. There’s a depressing decline in marine and bird life in the Hauraki Gulf and fishing is responsible; MPAs need to be large and in good habitat to be effective at stopping this loss but they also need to accommodate cultural, recreational and commercial fishing to be accepted. We can do both but not nothing.