Dialogue: Customary fishing rights should apply to all Kiwis

BILL BURRILL* says user-pays principles should never be applied to recreational fishing, as mooted in a fisheries discussion document. All New Zealanders should have the right to dangle a line.

Should recreational fishing become a user-pays activity? That controversial suggestion is contained in a discussion document from the Ministry of Fisheries which seeks public comment on recreational fishing rights.

I know what I want. I want to preserve the right to go fishing. I want a reasonable share in a fishery that allows that catch without undue effort. I also want that right preserved for my children and if the population at that time is greater than now, I want them to be able to go and catch a similar catch to that which I enjoy.

I want clean water. I want an environment of which we can all be proud.

New Zealand's marine fisheries are a wild fishery managed by the Minister of Fisheries. The minister's first job is to ensure the sustainability of the resource through the total allowable catch.

In 1986, a quota management system was put in place to regulate commercial fishing. The number of fish that can be taken is related to the total allowable catch. When that catch is allocated, 98 per cent of New Zealand's 200-mile fishery is allocated to commercial fishing quota and 2 per cent to customary and recreational fishing.

The tonnes of quota held by commercial fishermen are a tradeable property right, within the management of our wild fishery. This is quite properly a user-pays system where quota-holders pay the ministry a levy to cover research and management expenses.

Maori realised that this system did not recognise their customary Treaty of Waitangi rights and past governments established the system of customary fishing rights which is in place today. To do this, the Government had to buy back some of the quota previously granted to commercial fishermen. The customary right is not a user-pays system, and neither is recreational fishing.

Recreational fishermen are presented with two options in the discussion document which assume they are part of the user-pays system. They are not.

Recreational fishing is enjoyed by at least half the people of New Zealand. In the Auckland region, more than 600,000 people from time to time put a line in the water. It is a $1 billion activity, with money spent on boats, rods, bait and all the other bits and bobs that fishers like to take with them.

Recreational fishing is sustained by an allowance of 15,000 tonnes out of the total allowable catch - 15,000 tonnes of the available fin fish against the 490,000 tonnes taken by commercial fishers, which is sold for about $1.4 billion a year.

The discussion document also points out that we could continue to leave the right to recreational fishing to the minister. However, the minister is being heavily lobbied by well-organised commercial fishing bodies - the bodies which pay for most of his activities.

A proportional share of the quota would make recreational fishers a 1 per cent partner with the commercial industry - a very weak position. Or it suggests that recreational fishing management areas would once again be on much the same basis as the proportional share system, leaving recreational fishermen to negotiate with the industry in the management of our fisheries. Both these options would let governments off the hook of providing for future generations.

In the Auckland area, successful battles have been won by representatives of recreational fisheries. One was the dispute over the taking of the scallops at the back of Waiheke.

That, however, is not the way forward.

We have in place seasonal closure of some of the inner Hauraki Gulf - an area extending from Tiri to Rakino to the inshore of Waiheke to Ponui Island and to Kawakawa Bay. For six months of the year, commercial fishing is banned from that area.

But in the long term we must make certain that fisheries regulations recognise the needs of recreational fishermen. Basic principles need to be recognised.

First, recreational fishing is a fundamental part of being a New Zealander.

Secondly, we need to regulate catch limits to ensure sustainability but not to provide quota for commercial fishing.

Thirdly, there should be a reasonable catch and management plan in which recreational fishermen can preserve and enjoy the benefits of initiatives to improve the management of areas of the inshore fisheries.

And there is a need for recreational fishing to have ongoing representation with the minister when he evaluates the total allowable catch and allocation of each of our fishery areas.

More people participate in fishing than any other recreational activity. Why couldn't the Hillary Commission, which pays for so many of our elite sporting activities, fund the representation of recreational fishermen in the necessary activities?

The Government must legislate priority for recreational fishing at least as strong as the customary fishing rights of Maori - and remember customary rights apply only to special occasions for the marae. Most of the time, all New Zealanders are equal under the recreational fishing rules.

A group called Option4 have put together four fundamental principles that I strongly support. These are: no licensing of recreational fishers; legislation recognising a recreational priority right over commercial fishers for free access to a reasonable daily bag limit; the ability to exclude commercial methods that deplete recreationally important areas; and the ability to devise plans to ensure future generations enjoy the same or better rights while preventing fish conserved for such purposes being given to the commercial sector.

In addition to these policies, we must ensure representation so that recreational fishermen are recognised and not forgotten by future ministers of fisheries.

The present minister has at last put the issue on the table and given us the opportunity to get legislation in place before the end of the term of this Government.

I would like to see a priority right for recreational fishermen that is equal to and just as binding on the Government as the customary fishing rights put in place by previous governments.

* Bill Burrill, a keen fisherman, is chairman of the Auckland Regional Council parks and recreation committee and a member of the Hauraki Gulf Forum.