KEY POINTS:
The method of allocation of fish between customary, recreational and commercial fishers will be top of the agenda at the next in a continuing series of hui on fisheries resources being held at Dargaville this weekend.
The recreational lobby is still digesting the detail of its big win over kahawai quota in the High Court.
But it also awaits nervously any call from the commercial sector to appeal the findings that sent the distribution of kahawai quota back to the Fisheries Minister for a rethink on the basis that the information he used to make his decisions was flawed and/or incomplete.
Or the Government could simply change the law to allow it to continue to impose the quota system and status quo. The interesting factor is how Maori will respond. Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd, which owns about half the commercially fishable quota for all New Zealand on behalf of various Maori groups, will be represented at the hui.
Will Maori weight fall behind the rights of commercial fishers, where they have obvious financial benefits to gain, or behind those of customary and recreational fishers, where catching kahawai off a beach is putting food on the table?
The one thing all parties outside the ministry agree on is the need for more information on fish stocks - not just size of existing stocks but also a more exact measure of recreational catch.
For example, it is thought that the recreational catch off the west coast around Auckland is far higher than the ministry allowance. The commercial sector has over-fished its quota in this area for years and there are fears that the two factors have combined to push the population down.
The answer as far as option four is concerned is to "grow the pie", so there are more fish in the sea for all sectors and less argument over quota allocation. It is against any suggestion of proportional allocation of fish stocks; falling fish stocks would mean proportional cuts to commercial and recreational take and amateur anglers could end up being allowed perhaps just one fish.
Better to feed the locals than sell the fish overseas.
But from the Government's point of view fishing is a billion-dollar industry. Cuts to quota means cuts to export earnings. And the companies might go for compensation if quota rights are withdrawn.
The hui will aim to progress a completely new method of fish allocation which will then be put to the Ministry of Fisheries. Pressure is on all sides, as Minister Jim Anderton has to have new rules in place before October 1 when the new fishing season starts. And all sides believe that the kahawai decision has implications for the quota management of other fish species.
