KEY POINTS:
Daily bag limits for recreational fishermen are "an extreme amount to feed a family with", the head of one of the country's biggest fishing companies says.
Sanford chief executive Eric Barratt said a bag limit of 20 fish per person a day was too high and recreational fishing should be better controlled.
"The major problem with current fisheries management is that there is virtually no information on the recreational catch and the non-commercial sector remains unconstrained and unmanaged," he said.
His comments come as commercial fishers yesterday launched their counter-assault in the High Court at Auckland in a landmark case over kahawai.
Since it was controversially introduced into the Quota Management System (QMS) in 2004, the "people's fish" has been a rallying point for recreational fishers who have taken legal action over their ability to catch a fish they say has been plundered by commercial fishing.
The industry's counterclaim, heard in front of Justice Rhys Harrison yesterday, says recreational fishers should face tougher controls. The Ministry of Fisheries should also have good information on what recreational fishers are catching.
The commercial sector fears that if recreational fishers are successful in this case, they will argue for a better deal over more valuable commercial species such as snapper and tarakihi.
Industry lawyer Bruce Scott said there was no evidence to support claims kahawai were being "fished down" to a level where recreational fishers were returning home empty-handed.
In an affidavit, Sanford business development manager Vaughan Wilkinson said since 2000, around $70 million had been spent researching the commercial fish take compared to $8 million for recreational take.
Successive Governments had shied away from imposing a registration or licensing system on recreational fishers which he called a "near-complete abdication of responsibility".
Only two pieces of research had been done in the past 15 years to try to put an accurate figure on the recreational catch and both were flawed.
"It is of enormous concern to the industry that the Government continues to refuse to deal with this issue," he said.
DAILY LIMIT
* In general fishers can take a combined 20 of a variety of finfish a day but limits vary around the country. Other species can also be taken on top of the bag limit.
* For detailed information see: fish.govt.nz
RECREATIONAL FISHERS
They "come last" because commercial companies can sue if they can prove their quota has been "transferred" to another fishing group.
Proportional allocation is of a fishery already "fished down".
Minister should have considered a "zero" allocation of kahawai to commercial fishers under the QMS in 2004 because it is "the people's fish".
Bag limit reductions unfair; recreational fishers can't always catch bag limit because stocks are depleted.
QMS promised a fair deal but has not delivered for recreational fishers.
INDUSTRY
Commercial fishermen should not be given less kahawai quota just because they sell it for low-value items such as bait or fish meal.
The industry is tightly regulated yet there is still no system for collecting reliable information on what recreational and customary fishers catch (annual surveys differ by up to 300 per cent).
Governments won't impose regulatory measures on recreational fishers because it is political dynamite.
Unwillingness to reduce bag limits contrary to sustainability provisions of the Fisheries Act.
Argues quota system has kept New Zealand's fish stocks "in very good health".
