NZ Tuna Fishermen Fear End Of The Lineff

New Zealand's Tuna fishermen fear ruin over plans to include their by-catch in the quota management system.

NZ Gisborne Commercial Fishermen's Association president and veteran tuna long-liner Colin Kerr said the introduction of the quota system for fish caught while fishing for southern bluefin tuna would spell the end for up to 100 small businesses.

He has written to New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark and Fisheries Minister David Benson-Pope to explain his concerns. “I sent an open letter to the prime minister and that was passed on to the then fisheries minister Pete Hodgson who responded that he would take the advice of his officials,” Mr. Kerr said.

Not satisfied, Mr. Kerr wrote to Mr. Benson-Pope, who has yet to respond. Miss Clark's press secretary, Mike Munro, confirmed the letter was received and passed on to Mr. Hodgson.

In a bid to manage the tuna fishery, Mfish has proposed to add by-catch species such as broadbill, shark and moonfish to the quota system on October 1.

Only tuna fishermen with catch histories in the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons - early in the industry's history - will be allocated by-catch quota. That means most of the quota for these species will be allocated to the Crown and then sold on the open market.

Mr. Kerr said at least a third of his annual revenue of about $500,000 was provided by selling by-catch. If he was forced to buy by-catch quota, his profits would virtually disappear.

He had earned the right to the by-catch by taking risks to develop the tuna fishery during the past decade, he said. “We're in a serious situation where hundreds of families risk being sent to the dole queue if we have to pay any amount of money for our by-catch.”

In his letter to Miss Clark, Mr. Kerr asked her to step in to save the tuna fishery from collapse and warned that if tuna fishermen were not given by-catch quota, then they might all be fishing illegally from October 1. “There are about 100 small businesses directly affected by the by-catch allocation decision and several will be indirectly affected,” Mr. Kerr wrote. “Could you just maybe please instruct your fisheries ministry to act fairly towards the tuna fishermen and maybe save 100 businesses from going into liquidation?”

Mr. Kerr said he had support from at least 90 per cent of the industry, with 98 tuna fishery permit holders signing a document titled ‘Give us our Quota’, which was forwarded to Mr. Benson-Pope.

Fifty South skipper Jon Sutton said tuna fishing offered him a chance to “work bloody hard for a good living” and he dreaded being forced out. A skipper for three years, Mr. Sutton, said the planned quota changes had caused a lot of uncertainty. "But people are going to be selling their boats, that's for sure. People will be broke left, right and center, and I'm worried.”

More than 100 tuna boats would be affected by having to pay for by-catch quota, he said. “Then there are all the small companies that supply us with mechanical service, tackle, bait and ice - it's going to hit people very hard.”