KEY POINTS:
Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton has put off a significant review of kahawai recreational bag limits and the allocations between anglers and commercial fishers until after the election.
Mr Anderton was last month ordered by Appeal Court judges to take account of court declarations in a complex legal row when next setting the allowable catches for kahawai.
Effectively, he must take into account the social, economic, and cultural well-being of recreational and Maori anglers as a starting position before there is any allocation to the fishing industry.
But Mr Anderton said yesterday that would have to wait until next year.
"There is simply not enough time left to carry out these reviews, adequately consult, and make fresh decisions in time for the start of the new fishing year on October 1.
"There is new information to gather and consider and there must be an opportunity for fishers and the general public to have their say. This is not a process I am prepared to rush".
The next general election is expected to take place by November.
Mr Anderton said management of the kahawai fishery had been controversial.
"There is competition between commercial, customary and recreational fishers for their share of the catch and this has led to conflict and court action."
Kahawai was brought into the quota management system in 2004 and initial allocations were made between the three sectors by then Fisheries Minister David Benson-Pope. In 2005 catch limits were reduced because of continuing sustainability concerns.
In 2006 recreational fishers sought a judicial review of the minister's decisions, and then both commercial and recreational fishers appealed aspects of the High Court's judgment to the Court of Appeal, which ruled on June 11. The Crown was told that catch limits and allowances for all kahawai stocks must be reviewed at the next opportunity in light of the court decisions.
"The Government will accept the court's judgment on the kahawai fishery," Mr Anderton said. "That still stands. We will not appeal or challenge any rulings and we will implement them as quickly as we can."
The catch limits and allowances from earlier years for kahawai - 6848 tonnes - have been rolled over to the 2008-2009 fishing year.
There is not yet a minimum legal size limit for kahawai taken by recreational anglers, who can take up to 20 kahawai a day, except in the southern fishery, where the limit is 15.
- NZPA
