Fish stocks in Kaipara reviewed

Christopher Matich

The Government says it is reviewing stocks of certain fish in the Kaipara Harbour in response to locals who fear the fish are running out.

A temporary ban on the harvesting of scallops has already been passed and is to begin this month.

The issue of fishing rights has propelled the Kaipara into fiery scenes over the past two decades.

Many locals say commercial fishers are taking too many fish under the Quota Management System and depleting the resource.

They banded together and came up with a plan that calls for various actions, including that the area be managed as a separate entity to control fishing pressure.

The Ministry of Fisheries has proposed options to control flatfish, grey mullet and rig but says there is uncertainty about whether the stock is above or below a sustainable level.

Proposals to Fisheries Minister David Benson-Pope, who will make the final decision, include a reduction in allowable catch.

Mr Benson-Pope said he was not in a position to say whether he will drop quota numbers until he has issued an initial position paper seeking public comments and then sought final advice from the ministry.

"So I can't usefully make and won't make a comment about what my intentions might be because I don't have any until I've seen all that [information]."

Decisions to review fish stocks and the implementation of the scallop ban were made as a result of the concerns of locals, he said.

But Bob Drey, a former Ministry of Fisheries officer who was involved in the Kaipara for many years, says the scallop ban is a "crumb".

"The fisheries are certainly depleted in the harbour; I don't think there's any doubt about that."

Some of the Maori communities in the area relied on fish and were going hungry because they could not catch enough to feed their families, he said.

"It is a way of life. The employment opportunities in rural areas of the Kaipara as in Northland, as in areas of the Bay of Plenty, are very limited, and the local community relies on that seafood resource to feed their families."

New Zealand documentary-maker Barry Barclay has made The Kaipara Affair, a film about the issues.

It will open at the Auckland International Film Festival tomorrow.