Recreational fishing part of national well-being

UNSUIT. FILENAME. RENAMED. Anna Wallis, Wanganui Chronicle Assistant Editor 25 October 2012 Wanganui Chronicle Photograph by Stuart Munro

THE ability of recreation fishers to go out their back door and get a feed of fish is important in New Zealand.

It is still something everyone can do for the price of a line or rod and a bit of bait.

The arrival of more fishing boats around the Wanganui coast is seen as a threat to that ability to catch fish in good numbers.

As has been pointed out by the fishing industry, they are not trawlers. Trawlers, of course, have been seen off the Wanganui coast but the boats spotted recently were setting nets.

The expansion of a ban on commercial set nets along the Taranaki coast to protect Maui's dolphins seems to have pushed the boats towards Wanganui. Presumably Maui's dolphins are not seen around here, so setting nets won't affect the population that's down to 55 adults.

The boats have every right to be here. Fishers are regulated by quota, and there is no buffer zone that separates recreational fishing areas from their commercial counterparts.

One suggestion - to establish a marine reserve to protect the local fishery - would also impinge on the ability of recreational fishers to get a catch.

Meetings are being organised about this problem. Perhaps a voluntary agreement can be worked out between the parties that will protect the recreational fishery if it is being adversely affected by more boats - and anecdotal evidence, and common sense, says it must be.

Safeguarding the recreational fishery is part of a bigger picture. About 85 per cent of global fish stocks are over-exploited, depleted, fully exploited or in recovery from exploitation.

Here, recreational fishers can go several kilometres offshore. The marine environment and fish breeding grounds are also extensive, so where to draw the line?

The issue needs attention from the highest levels. Safeguarding the future of marine recreational fishing in New Zealand is crucial to the country's well-being.