Fishing community urged to have their say on proposed catch limits

Consultation on changes proposed to fishery catch limits opened on Monday, with the fishing community urged to have their say on the issue.

The consultation comes ahead of the start of the new fishing year on October 1 and looks at 16 fishery groupings ranging from Southland to Auckland.

"Each of the proposed changes carefully considers the health of the stocks under review, based on best available information," says Emma Taylor, Fisheries New Zealand’s director of fisheries management.

"This consultation will allow us to consider feedback from everyone who uses these fisheries so the final changes reflect the needs of the fishery and the community."

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The consultation is a regular review that takes place twice a year.

"This year, the best available information is telling us we can consider catch limit increases for most of the stocks under review. Two examples are the snapper fishery in the Nelson/Tasman area and four kingfish stocks which have seen growth in abundance."

Taylor said a catch limit reduction was proposed in Southland's blue cod fishery, where  "more careful management" was needed.

Consultation is open for six weeks, until July 1. After considering the feedback reviewed, Fisheries New Zealand will make recommendations to the Minister of Fisheries Stuart Nash, with any changes coming into effect on October 1.

Consultation is on changes to the following fisheries

•  Scampi (SCI 1 - Auckland East)
• Orange roughy (ORH 3B - East Coast South Island)
• Silver warehou (SWA 3&4 - South East Coast & Chatham Rise)
• Black Cardinalfish (CDL 5 - Southland)
• Rubyfish (RBY 4 - Chatham Rise)
• Frostfish (FRO 3 & 4 - Chatham Rise; and FRO 7, 8 &-9 - West Coast South Island and West Coast North Island)
• Snapper and Red Gurnard (SNA 7 & GUR 7 - Challenger)
• Gemfish (SKI 1 & 2 - Auckland East & Central East)
• ·Deepwater King clam (Geoduck) (PZL 7 - Challenger)
• Kingfish (KIN 2 - Central East; KIN 3 - South East Coast, Southland & Sub-Antarctic; KIN 7 & 8 - Challenger, Auckland West & Central West)
• Blue cod (BCO 5 - Southland)
• Pōrae (POR 1 - Auckland East)
• Rig (SPO 2 - Central East)
• Sea perch (SPE 9 - Auckland West)
• South east coast multi-species (MOK 3, LEA 3, GUR 3, SPO 3)
• Stargazer (STA 7 - Challenger)

Anyone interested in having their say can do so here.