Fishing quotas under attack

Press, 13 April 1982, Page 24

Fishing quotas under attack

PA Wellington Joint fishing ventures have attacked Government finfish allocations, saying they will force many ventures but of business. The Government has cut joint venture quotas iir productive fishing areas and increased quotas in non-pro-ductive and useless areas, says the Joint Venture Partners Committee's chairman. Mr Ron Morris. ' This is an extreme move which is completely unjustifiable.” he said 'from his Timaru home. ‘’They didn't have the guts to say there are too many joint ventures and some should go home. They just did this instead."

Mr Morris, whose committee represents the 11 joint

venture companies working the New Zealand fishing zone, said he had the impression the Government had fixed the allocations in this way because it did not want the joint ventures to survive.

"It knows as well as we do that, we couldn't survive under this sort of arrangement. We can't live with this allocation." he said.

The joint ventures' total finfish catch in Area G. to the. west of the South Inland, was .cut from 18.000 tonnes last year to 11,000 for 'the season beginning this month. Area G was a particularly productive area for hoki. The quota for Area F. immediately south of the South Island, was cut from 12.500 tonnes to 300 tonnes, and in Area D. on the Chat-

ham Rise, from 45.000 tonnes to 30.000.

But the quota in the nonproductive Area 11. west of the North Island, was increased from 5000 tonnes to 16.500 tonnes, and in the "useless" Area E. far to the south of the South Island, the quota was a very high 48.000 tonnes.

"Effectively half of the total we have been given is in areas which are almost useless for us." Mr Morris said.

"There are just no quantities of fish there — they are the two least productive areas in the 200-mile zone.

Foreign licensed boats had been allocated 8700 tonnes in Area F. while joint ventures were given 300 tonnes. "Why should the foreign

licensed boats be given this favourable treatment? The order of preference in allocation is supposed to be the domestic fleet first, joint ventures next and foreign licensed boats last." Mr Morris said.

Joint venture quotas were 125.000 tonnes, compared with 167.000 last year, while the foreign licensed boats' quota-dropped from 113.000 last year to 104.100 this year. Foreign vessels' licence fees has risen from between $1 to $5 a tonne depending on the area fished. .

Th' 1 secretary of the Federation of Commercial Fishermen. Mr Ray Polson, said that foreign fishing vessels in New Zealand waters were being protectee

by the Government as part of a trade-off deal. The Government decision to close the door for three months to other New Zealand companies after Fletcher Fishing had won approval to import two vessels made nonsense, he said. “Because of this decision the joint venture boats the imported vessels would have replaced can carry on fishing." "Trade and Industry and Foreign Affairs are obviously using the fishing industry for trading purposes." Fishing industry officials believe the Government has offered Japan and Russia this extra protection from New Zealand competition in return, for better deals on wool, timber, and meat exports. “As far as we're concerned the fishing industry is once again playing second fiddle to other industries." Mr Polson said. “It's obvious that the fishing industry is not one of the great industries of the future as shown in the Government's manifesto."