Anglers snag licensing option

By ANNE BESTON

The right of New Zealanders to go fishing is likely to be enshrined in legislation along the lines of commercial and Maori customary rights.

But any prospect of the nation's tens of thousands of anglers paying a fee to drop a line at sea seems forever doomed after the Government yesterday ruled out licensing.

This emerged from the release of Soundings, a public consultation process on the future management of marine recreational fishing.

The report is by the Fisheries Ministry and the Recreational Fishing Council's joint working group which ran the year-long process.

The review attracted 62,000 public submissions, largely because it included an option under which recreational fishers would have been forced to buy licences.

Fishers overwhelmingly rejected it, with 61,000 submissions opposed, largely through the efforts of a group called "option 4," which mounted a well-organised campaign.

Fisheries Minister Pete Hodgson yesterday promised licensing would not be considered again.

New Zealand Recreational Fishing Council president Steve Penn said licensing had created a furore, but the real issue was how the public's right to fish could be protected.

"The one thing I will work hard to achieve is the statutory recognition of the recreational fishing sector," he said.

The problem was how to consult recreational fishers who were not formally organised.

Mr Hodgson is looking at setting up a ministerial advisory group which could recommend changes to the Fisheries Act.

The changes could then be put to fishers but how to consult recreational fishers was a problem, a spokesman for the minister's office said.

"It may be possible to get fishers organised into some kind of formal structure but it's an open question whether that's feasible."

Without a licensing fee, formal organisation would need to be funded from somewhere.

More than half the fishers who made submissions were prepared to pay a voluntary contribution towards a formal organisation.

Among recommendations from "Soundings" which Mr Hodgson will consider are defining what share of the fishery recreational fishers should have, better management of the recreational fishery, an education and information campaign on recreational fishing and better measurement of how many fish are caught by recreational fishers each year.