Ian McLean Spokesperson for the Green Party

Fishing has been in the news lately.

1) Shameful employment practices on chartered fishing vessels.

2) The decision by government to allow increased fishing pressure on squid, and therefore on the endangered Hookers sea lion (68 ‘allowable' deaths per year).

3) The arrival in the Tasman Sea of the FV Margiris, a super trawler capable of catastrophic mining of our fisheries.

'We can't stop the Margiris if it has quota,” say our fisheries officials. Well, they banned it from West Africa, and it contributed to the destruction of the North Atlantic cod fishery.

Decisions that increase the risk for an endangered species, the mere existence of ships such as the Margiris, and fisheries companies that put profit before people. This industry consistently puts short-term gain ahead of sustainable resource use.

Anyone remember orange roughy? We didn't even need the Margaris to destroy them.