September 08, 2014
Fish reserve election promise decried
Labour's Tai Tokerau candidate Kelvin Davis says National's plan to create two huge fisheries reserves is being done without consultation with the iwi who will lose millions of dollars in the value of their fisheries settlement assets.
National's conservation spokesperson Nick Smith and primary industries spokesperson Nathan Guy are promising to turn the inner Hauraki Gulf and the Marlborough Sounds into giant recreational fisheries parks.
“This is a first for New Zealand. We are going to create a new concept of recreational fishing parks in a new Marine Protected Areas Act. These areas will be reserved predominantly for recreational fishing and will enhance the opportunity for Kiwi families to catch fish in areas like the inner Hauraki Gulf and the Marlborough Sounds,” Dr Smith says.
They say on a typical summer’s day on the Hauraki Gulf there can be almost 7000 recreational vessels on the water.
Mr Davis says National has had six years to address concerns about over-fishing, and promising a discussion paper on the plan is a sop to recreational fishers upset at the cut in bag limits.
He says it's also another example of the Government changing a treaty settlement without consultation or negotiation with iwi.
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