Independent views By Brendan Horan

Surely families are entitled to put a meal on the table. It's outrageous that the Government are proposing to gut the allowable take of snapper to two a day, and giving New Zealanders less than six weeks to comment.

Let us have some commonsense, I recently attended a friend's marriage in the Cook Islands and thought to have a feed of fresh fish at a local takeaway.

I was simply gob-smacked to learn that no fresh fish was available, that all fish stocks were exported to China leaving little for the locals.

For legislation to work it must have a strong foundation, be sensible, reasonable and fair. Ownership over the law making process is also critical for a law to work, if those who it affects don't agree then anguish and expensive enforcement will result.

The Government would do well to learn from history and embark on proper and appropriate consultation. Nathan Guy hasn't learned the lesson from the debacle of the ‘Soundings' discussion document, released a decade ago by the Ministry of Fisheries.

This generated massive opposition ending up with a victory for fishers in the Supreme Court, but took some 10 years to resolve.

Again this government has chosen to present ‘options' totally biased against recreational fishers.

A number of local charter boat operators based out of Tauranga are equally dismayed; they report that the facts and statistics used to support Mr Guy's position are contradictory, highly questionable and unreliable.

The facts, as presented by Mr Guy, offer no concrete evidence for the government to take any drastic steps against recreational fishers or indeed against the entire fishing community.

Mr Guy's figures, they report, are an unsubstantiated assessment by an anonymous entity on stock levels. The locals refer to a new plenary science report which concludes that, despite reports of current limits being hugely exceeded and despite the enormous wastage caused by commercial fishing techniques, 'the snapper stock is rebuilding well”, and anecdotal evidence suggests that it is in good health.

The report they have goes on to mention that snapper numbers are up 70 per cent during the last 15 to 25 years.

The charter boat operators also report the reality of recreational fishers reaching a bag limit is the exception rather than the rule. That, more often than not, the recreational angler is there to catch a specimen that he can photograph, or take home, to show his family and mates.

That, if it was only fishing for food, then the local supermarket offers a more cost effective way to put fish on the table.

Recreational fishing is fishing for fun – for your typical Kiwi angler, it's about the challenge and bragging rights – it's almost never about the number of fish.

They also report that in the past, heavy handed tactics used by the Department of Fisheries have proved ill-conceived, immensely unpopular and grossly ineffective.

Most recreational anglers are responsible and informed members of our society. The industry calls on Mr Guy to get his facts right, to take his time and to talk with the industry.

A more viable option I suggest is to leave the maximum catch alone, extend the minimum size to 30cm, increase minimum mesh sizes, focus on dumping, and properly enforce regulations applying to foreign fishing vessels in New Zealand waters.

I will champion the cause of people who want to put a meal on the family table. Anybody unhappy with the Government's changes can contact me to put a stop to this madness.