May 16, 2016
Holes poked in fish data net
Labour's Fisheries spokesperson Rino Tirikatene is calling for a review of the quota management system in light of a study suggesting gross under-reporting of catch in the New Zealand fishing industry.
In a working paper published as part of the working paper as part of the Canada-based Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries' Sea Around Us project, Auckland University researchers estimated the total New Zealand fisheries catch from 1950 to 2010 was 2.7 times the 14 million tonnes officially reported to the United Nations.
The estimates were based on a range of data including interviews with fishers.
Reasons for the difference included unreported commercial catch and fish which were discarded because they were too small, uneconomic, or because the fisher had no quota.
Mr Tirikatene says when the QMS was introduced it was regarded as one of the most effective fisheries management regimes in the world.
But he says monitoring is now old fashioned and incomplete, and there is science that was not available 30 years ago.
He applauded efforts by the industry to improve commercial catch data through new technology, as well as efforts to gather better information on recreational catch.
Copyright © 2016, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com