Shared Fisheries
There are several fisheries in New Zealand that are greatly valued by the customary, recreational and commercial sectors. In that circumstance resource management will always be challenging.
Fisheries Inshore New Zealand recognises the value of recreational fishing as a pastime, as a source of food and as an avenue for domestic spending that supports numerous businesses. Like recreational fishers, we want to see healthy fish stocks for everyone to enjoy.
Fisheries Inshore New Zealand considers that management of shared fisheries requires greater collaboration between the recreational and commercial sectors to ensure both have a say in future management and use of the resource.
We support more collaborative management such as has been undertaken for the north-east North Island snapper fishery (SNA1). However, because these processes are often very time-consuming and resource intensive, they should be reserved for only the most important shared fisheries.
An important part of collaborative management is ongoing participation and active contribution. Fisheries Inshore New Zealand considers that it would be beneficial for more recreational fishers to contribute to management through providing catch information or other data that would assist in fisheries management.