In this week's The Update, Brett Bensemann - Past President of Tautuku Fishing Club and Otago Director of not-for-profit recreational fishing organisation Fish Mainland (among other industry positions) - talks about how more robust recreational catch data can support shared ocean spaces.
The ocean is a complicated, multifaceted space, playing numerous roles simultaneously depending on who you are talking to. It's a source of wondrous beauty, an invaluable natural environment and habitat for thousands of unique marine species and taonga. It provides nourishing seafood to sustain us - your livelihood - and is where we all love to relax and play.
That's a lot of sharing to put on one space. Recreational, commercial, tangata whenua and governments have to work together for the benefit of New Zealand's fisheries. We are all responsible. I'm of the firm belief that part of that responsibility and right of say is recording trips and catch - it's data.
In the past year, commercial fishing has had to come a long way on this front, with cameras added to 219 or so inshore vessels across the country ensuring accurate catch reporting and protected species interactions.
Meanwhile recreational fishing is still mostly in the "guesstimates" zone, without consistent collection of solid data. You cannot manage what you don't know.
I've heard a lot of reasons for this, from it being "too hard" to being not necessary.
But these are excuses that let our ocean and our fisheries down.
Here at Fish Mainland, we recognise the first step towards improving fisheries management is taking account of recreational fishing: we need our voice to be heard. The best source of this data is us: recreational fishers. Following the "traffic light system" from the National Blue Cod Strategy passed in 2018, Fish Mainland developed the Mainland Catch app with Plink Software in Nelson (now hosted with Datacom). Currently, it's available to our members, South Island fishing clubs and other recreational fishing-related groups.
Mainland Catch, a bit like cameras, captures self-reported recreational fisher data. Fishers can record their trips and catch; doing that can prove where their fish or pāua were sourced, especially if travelling through areas with lower catch limits.
In other words, the benefit is in providing a basis for action or a recommendation to improve fisheries that are important to recreational fishers. Better data may also provide a basis for reducing environment impacts that benefit all fishing sectors. Some say collecting data is bad; we simply don't understand that position.
My ultimate goal is to have everyone - iwi, commercial, recreational and government - around the same table, all armed with a wealth of accurate data. It's hard to sit around the table and offer nothing. Currently, we are in ongoing discussions with the Ministry for Primary Industries and others about the app trials. Please download the Mainland Catch app and give it a go! We're always keen to sit down with commercial fishers as well.
Because at the end of the day, no one can point their finger at any one other person or organisation. We all have a part to play in ensuring we have as much accurate information as possible and a sustainable fishery.
Download the Mainland Catch app
For fishing rules on the go, download MPI's NZ Fishing Rules app
