Letter to the Editor Thursday May 15, 2014

Different times In a recent editorial (Or fishless forever? May 6) in which you heaped extravagant praise on a proposal to close areas to fishing, you made the following observation about our industry.

"A couple of generations ago Ahipara supported a substantial commercial crayfishing industry. It only lasted a couple of seasons, but before it was over the crayfishers were selling sugar bags of undersized specimens to anyone who had a few dollars in their pocket."

We're not sure where that information came from, and how factual as opposed to anecdotal it might be. We too could share stories of recreational fishermen and divers two generations ago landing lobsters in such big quantities that, after the photos were taken, they were simply dug into the ground as fertiliser.

They were different times, and it is not right to compare them to where the Northland lobster fishery is today.

We present the following facts in an attempt to balance your negative editorial.

Ahipara continues to support a substantial rock lobster industry, and has done for decades. There is a close to 40-year time series of rock lobster research data held by the Ministry of Primary Industries, which supports the proposition that lobster stock abundance in and around Ahipara and across all of the Northland fishing grounds has been stable and/or increasing since 1979.

The industry went through a substantial fleet restructure when lobster fisheries entered the Quota Management System in April 1990, and the commercial landings for all of Northland have been about 130 tonnes in every season since, and are currently capped by a Total Allowable Commercial Catch (TACC) limit of 131 tonnes.

At average beach prices for the 2013/14 (most recent) season, commercial landings of rock lobsters contributed $8.9 million to the Northland economy. The industry is confident that the lobster fishery is sustainable at current catch levels, and it can continue to bring significant economic and social benefits to the region.

Your assertion that Ahipara commercial fishermen resorted to illegally selling lobsters in order to survive is false and slanderous. You owe the genuine commercial operators an apology.

There is some anecdotal evidence that lobsters are illegally sold in commercial quantities by dedicated fish thieves, who most likely deal in illegal paua, toheroa, and whatever else can turn a profit for them.

Fish thieves are cheating all New Zealanders of fishing opportunity, but it is interesting to observe that they appear to have a ready market for their product.

Perhaps the community does not appreciate what is really being lost by their support of thieves who ignore the sustainability rules, have no food safety and hygiene considerations, pay no tax, pay no GST, and can strip a reef system bare in a few hours of dive time, leaving only scraps for the genuine local fisherfolk.

We will reserve judgement on the marine reserve proposals that you are so enthusiastic about. Prohibiting fishing is not managing fishing - and it is evident that Northlanders do want to go fishing. The answer to the stated concerns about species abundance is to constrain catches to ensure ongoing sustainable use.

Commercial rock lobster fishing in Northland is well managed. Closing areas to lobster fishing will result in greater fishing pressure directed at areas which remain open.

As an industry, we believe that the better balance of conservation and utilisation comes from the intelligent application of the Fisheries Act, not from locking up productive fishing grounds.GEOFF CREIGHTON Chairman CRA 1 Rock Lobster Industry Association Inc (CRAMAC 1)