If you watched Sir David’s new movie and didn’t know how commercial fishing was being done in New Zealand, you might be depressed. We can make you feel better.
Last Thursday was the 99th birthday of broadcasting legend Sir David Attenborough. It was also the international release day for his new movie, ‘Ocean’. The movie is an emotional watch. It has a classic three act structure – set up characters and scenario, then introduce villain and problem and finally resolve it all with a heroic solution. In ‘Ocean’, the cast of characters is the inhabitants and environments of the world’s oceans. In act two, the villain is industrial fishing, which Sir David says is draining the life from our seas. Then in act three the solution is marine protection and the heroes are the ocean lifeforms that can bounce back if left alone.
We think most viewers will be moved. We were. But we know something many viewers don’t know – the story of commercial fishing looks very different here in New Zealand.
That difference is built on experience. There’s no point denying that New Zealand had more than 100 years of open access fishing, which took a toll on nature and meant that fish stocks were seriously depleted. Then in 1986 New Zealand introduced the Quota Management System. It wasn’t an overnight revolution, but it was revolutionary. After nearly four decades, the stories of bounce back are remarkable.
The snapper fishery is one example. There was a time when there were serious concerns that snapper were on the road to extinction. Now that’s hard to imagine. Even before warming waters gave these fish an advantage, their numbers were bouncing back.
The overall numbers in our fisheries are heartening. Ministry for Primary Industry figures tell us that 97% of landed fish by weight are from stocks at sustainable levels.
The film ‘Ocean’ is timed to reach audiences and policy makers just before the United Nations Oceans Conference in France in early June. At that conference, activists are pushing for ratification of the idea of putting 30% of the oceans into marine protection.
New Zealand achieved that in 2007, protecting 30% of its waters in Benthic Protection Areas (BPAs). Bottom contact fishing is banned in BPAs, which were created at the request of the commercial fishing community. In a plaque on display in the Seafood New Zealand office, the signature of then-Minister of Fisheries Jim Anderton commemorates the agreement.
Our people, our industry and Seafood New Zealand make no claim that we are perfect. For example, we still have work to do to continue to reduce bycatch. New Zealand fishermen have been inventive, coming up with devices such as new weighted hooks, and different types of nets including net replacements such as FloMo, the technology formerly known as Precision Seafood Harvesting which is now trialling a way to alert a fisher if a marine mammal is caught and then open the fishing gear underwater, to allow that mammal to swim free.
Those innovations happen not by chance, but because fishers work on them. And in New Zealand we have help from our science community and our communities generally.
Community is another area where we differ from the picture shown in ‘Ocean’, which contrasts traditional fishing in Africa with industrial activity that is taking the resource away from local communities.
Here, fishing is the lifeblood of many of our rural centres from Whangārei to Bluff. Places like Westport, Nelson and New Plymouth are where jobs are created and communities benefit. And across the country, recreational and customary catch is recognised and protected by our laws.
Thanks to iwi foresight and hard work, Aotearoa has also benefitted from the Māori fisheries settlements and the Māori Fisheries Act of 2004. Now over 40% of fishing quota is in Māori ownership.
‘Ocean’ is also concerned about subsidies for commercial fishing. New Zealand was a global leader in removing fisheries subsidies back in the ‘80s as part of a broader economic reform and to promote sustainable fishing practices.
We could continue with the contrasts, but perhaps we should finish with a commonality. Like Sir David, we worry about the life of our oceans. Our fishers have acted on these concerns. Perhaps we haven’t made enough noise about this – that’s certainly true in the case of the Benthic Protection Areas.
So we invite you to re-familiarise yourself with how we fish in New Zealand and to share those messages with the people you know. Seafood New Zealand’s website is a good place to start. We hope it can be a resource for Kiwis who might feel sad or worried after seeing ‘Ocean’. As our CEO Lisa Futschek says, “We do things differently here in Aotearoa and we would love to be able to show that to Sir David. But first we invite New Zealanders to get to know how we fish. We think Kiwis will feel proud when they see the full story.”
You can see existing ocean protections, view local footage of trawling, and other fishing practices here.
