March 08, 2016
Catch reports likely in marine recreation parks
Labour’s fisheries spokesperson Rino Tirikatene says recreational fishers will be forced to report their catch in the new fishing parks proposed by Environment Minister Nick Smith.
Maori and iwi fishing interests have raised concerns about the plan to turn the inner Hauraki Gulf and the Marlborough Sounds into so called marine protected areas because they reduce what Maori got in the fisheries settlement.
Mr Tirikatene says recreational fishers should also be alarmed.
He says documents released under the Official Information Act show that Minister Smith wants reporting of recreational catch to be an option.
That’s been buries in the plan under tricky language such as ‘monitoring of the recreational fishing experience’.
Submissions on the proposed fishing parks close this week.
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