Fish policy welcomed

Press, 20 March 1982, Page 2

Fish policy welcomed

PA Wellington The Government’s restrictions on fishing in New Zealand coastal waters was fully supported yesterday by the Nature Conservation Council and the Fishing Industry Board. The council’s chairman, Dr Carol Burns, said the moratorium validated the council’s view that the nation’s marine fishing industry required management for sustained use. Mr Mark Hinchcliffe, chairman of the board, said although it was only the first step toward professionally managed fisheries, the declaration of a moratorium was an extremely important measure. The Government and the industry were working toward a new concept of regional fisheries management and this would be introduced after the enactment of the new fisheries bill, he said. (. The moratorium on- the

issuing of commercial fishing licences should materially assist with the development of those management plans, Mr Hinchcliffe said. Almost all of the higher value inshore fish species are “under pressure,” according to an assistant director of the Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Mr Tom Norris. Snapper, trevalli, gurnard, groper, terakihi, shellfish, paua, mussels, and eels are among the species at risk. Fishermen were having trouble “keeping body and soul together’.’ with the amount they were catching, Mr Norris said. In the north of the North Island, the worst affected species were snapper, trevalli, and gurnard, as well as scallops outside the controlled fisheries area. In Hawke’s Bay, it was snapper and flatfish, and in Tasman Bay, snapper. Eleph ant fish were at risk iifthe Canterbury bight area.