Mixed reaction to Govt’s transformative plan for fishing industry

A plan to transform the fishing industry, making it more profitable without catching more fish, has been released by the Government today. But some say it's a continuation of the status quo.

In Nelson, Fisheries Minister Rachel Brooking launched the Fisheries Industry Transformation Plan, which lays out a vision for "doing things differently" in the future.

“We’re protecting our oceans for future generations, by striking a balance between looking after them and making sure we’ve got a sustainable seafood sector that can cope with the impacts of climate change,” Brooking said.

There's 22 actions in the plan including: investing and developing new technology, using data to fish efficiently and enhance transparency, and develop a standardised carbon measurement tool.

“Consumers here and overseas are increasingly demanding evidence that what they’re eating has been sustainably caught or grown. This plan will drive innovations like environmentally-friendly fishing gear and finding ways of adding value," Brooking said.

Greenpeace Aotearoa's Ellie Hooper said it was disappointing the plan didn't include an end to bottom trawling, something many environmental groups had long campaigned for.

"What we're seeing is a lot of promises of technological fixes and no kind of really time bound transition away from destructive methods."

Hooper said there was nothing transformative about the Government's plan.

"The plan to me really reads like something that was written by the commercial fishing industry to avoid any kind of tangible action to protect the marine environment."

The majority of those who led the project were fishing industry leaders, though thousands submitted on the draft plan.

Seafood NZ's Jeremy Helson said bottom trawling is a very important part of the industry in New Zealand.

"Part of this package is thinking about how to improve the environmental performance. We can do that without prohibitions. That's a very blunt tool and the economic and social costs of that would be enormous."

The fishing industry is big business, bringing in $1.5 billion in exports in the last year. It's also big for regional economies like Nelson, with more than 12,000 people employed nationwide.

Sealord's Doug Paulin said it's been a tough few years for the industry.

"So for Sealord this year our fishing business will make a loss because of a raft of different factors."

He said like many industries' costs are going up and but prices for their products are going down.

Paulin said he particularly welcomed the plan's ideas about how to diversify the industry but said they'd need government support.

"We're going to look at pet food fertilisers and some other products which are pretty small but they're very high margin. And it's impossible for us to do that without assistance."

The old age of the current fishing fleet is an ongoing issue and the draft report in April floated the idea of the Government buying three of the older boats.

It was heavily criticised by many as a subsidy of the fishing industry, with the minister today ruling it out.

"We've clarified that we're not going to subside new fishing vessels, although there might be the possibility of regional development support at sometime in the future," Brooking said.