New Fishing Bill Hooks Opponents to Meet

Recreational fisherman angry over the planned introduction of high protection areas around the Coromandel Peninsula and Hauraki Gulf, now want to meet with their Member of Parliament, Scott Simpson, in a bid to vent their concerns.

An outcry by local Coromandel fisherman to the plan saw some of their anger being directed at Simpson who chaired the select committee hearings into the proposed Hauraki Gulf Marine Protection Bill. The Bill is set for its third reading which will bring it into law.

The member of parliament has advised CFM that he has agreed to meet with the fisherman, plans are underway for the meeting to be held in Tairua.

The areas that are causing most controversy are two large high protection areas (HPAs) around the Alderman Islands, often used by local fisherman and charter boat operators for snapper and game fishing.

News that cabinet agreed to limited commercial use of some HPAs has added further intensity to the opposition by local fisherman.

Legasea’s Sam Woolford, maintains last-minute changes to the Bill to allow commercial fishing to continue, just demonstrates again what the public are up against when trying to protect their interests in family activity aimed at getting food on the table.

Simpsons response is that Slipper Island and the Alderman Islands areas are not the two areas concerned with commercial activity. This would be limited to five or six named fishers, who are not quota holders, but fish annual catch entitlements targeting mullet, trevally and kahawai over a narrow period of time each year.

The proposal will be limited to these operators and would not allow for new entrants in the fishery. If approved, ring-net fishing will be allowed to continue in the Kawau Bay and the Rangitoto/Motutapu HPAs, between March 1 and August 31 only. The activity will be monitored and reviewed after three years.

Local Tairua fisherman, Scott Lee, who has the backing of the Tairua Pauanui Sport Fishing Club, told CFM the new HPA’s that are about to be signed into law are a disaster for Coromandel residents, holiday homeowners and visiting fishermen.

He said not only will the HPA’s lock up many favourite fishing spots, but purse seining and bottom trawling will still be allowed within the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park.

He described the HPAs as having been chosen with no thought for the local community and had totally ignored local submissions to the consultation.

“All our official submissions and personal pleas were ignored. HPA’s seem to have been chosen to satisfy a want to increase the total area of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park in protected status to satisfy some United Nations commitment, rather than what will work to increase abundance overall.”

He believes there is little scientific evidence to support closing the high protection areas at all. For years, communities have tried to stop commercial netting in our local harbours, only to be told by Scott Simpson that there is no scientific evidence to support such a ban.

“Yet this legislation allows the closure of these HPA’s with no substantive research as to whether there is a problem in the first place. If there is no baseline research for measuring results, what will success look like?”

The areas to be closed are shown in the picture below are popular places for snapper, kingfish and many other popular varieties of fish including gamefish.

Areas where fishing will be prohibited around the Coromandel are marked in yellow as well as the addition to a wider exclusion in the Hahei Marine Reserve

Scott Lee describes himself as ‘another angry fisherman’ and told us that he felt all Coromandel fisherman have been seriously let down by Scott Simpson, his local MP.

Local fishermen are concerned regarding the impact on their charter fishing business and have asked Scott Simpson to come and meet with them at the local fishing club to discuss the reasons for the HPAs and hear local fisherman’s concerns.

Meanwhile Scott Simpson isn’t apologising for these changes that telling CFM: “the area is a tiny portion of the protected areas of the gulf. The vast majority will be protected in a way that I think will be very beneficial to the gulf and its biodiversity.”

He said he was advised that Cabinet has agreed to allow very limited ring-net fishing to continue for a small number of fishers in two of the 12 proposed HPAs for the supply to local communities.

The MP further told CFM that he will attend a meeting and will liaise with the Tairua club to arrange a time.