46 OCTOBER 2017 ON THE VERGE OF CHANGE New Zealand’s fishing industry is undergoing the biggest change in its operations since the introduction of the Quota Management System 31 years ago. Long regarded as having one of the world’s best managed and most sustainable fisheries, New Zealand is now at the forefront of monitoring and transparency, but suffers from incorrect finger-pointing from Greenpeace, says Seafood New Zealand chief executive Tim Pankhurst. One of the most pressing issues is discarding of unwanted fish, a complex problem common to fisheries worldwide. Zealand, but operates at arm’s length. FishServe’s role is detailed on its website and it does not have any role in monitoring the industry, as Norman incorrectly claims. FishServe has operated efficiently for two decades without complaint but, even so, the seafood industry has no objection to a review of its functions and constitution. Similarly, the video monitoring company Trident, owned by several fishing companies which Greenpeace also takes exception to, has no influence over the material captured in camera trials. The footage is downloaded direct to MPI and cannot be tampered with. Given Greenpeace’s self-appointed role as the world’s environmental watchdog and conscience, and in this country its anti-commercial fishing agenda, some scrutiny of its own behaviour is surely due. Who holds Greenpeace to account? Far from being a plucky battler, it is more a multi-million-dollar corporate that trades in this country as a ‘charity’ and thus avoids paying tax. As commentator David Farrar said in a recent blog, “Greenpeace does almost no actual conservation or environmental work.” Victoria University geophysics and tectonics Professor Rupert Sutherland said in May Greenpeace was essentially lying for financial gain in claiming seismic surveying off the New Zealand coast harmed marine mammals. Greenpeace co-founder Dr Patrick Moore resigned from the organisation because it has turned anti-science and anti-capitalism, and “had turned to extremism to justify its continued existence.” In Canada, where it is being sued by forest products company Resolute for defamation and false claims about the company’s operations, Greenpeace’s lawyers have made the startling claim that because its claims are not meant to be factual, it cannot be held legally responsible for what it says. Instead, Greenpeace stated that their claims “do not hew to strict literalism or scientific precision.” They were “hyperbole,” “heated rhetoric” and “non-verifiable statements of subjective opinion.” At least Greenpeace now admits to its modus operandi and, to be charitable, it deserves full credit for doing so. Greenpeace has been invited to visit Commercial Fish Services for a briefing on its operations. A similar course was taken by Trident. There is nothing to hide but, unfortunately, that is probably unlikely to deter those that have already made up their minds. We do, however, invite Greenpeace to even just once acknowledge that the seafood sector is not some sinister cabal intent on vacuuming every last fish out of the sea, but rather an important provider of healthy food harvested and grown by ordinary Kiwis intent on protecting and sustaining a long-term resource. Vessel monitoring showing where every boat is and electronic reporting of catches have been introduced this month, followed by cameras on every vessel from next year. This will give New Zealand “arguably the most transparent and open commercial fishery of anywhere in the world,” according to (caretaker) Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy. We do acknowledge that while the QMS has served us well, no system is perfect and we have made mistakes along the way. One of the most pressing issues is discarding of unwanted fish, a complex problem common to fisheries worldwide. Work is well advanced on a review of discards settings and policies, and the associated penalty regime. All these measures will provide reassurance for the public and are being supported by the industry. The recent claim, therefore, by Greenpeace of a “worrying web of connections” between MPI and the fishing industry is a beat-up of the first order. Russel Norman says, “we have learnt that for more than 20 years, MPI (or its predecessor the Ministry of Fisheries) has outsourced a broad range of powers, duties and responsibilities to FishServe.” This organisation was set up by Government in the late 1990s as an Approved Service Delivery Organisation to be a mailbox for collecting data on the heavily regulated fishing sector. It is owned by the industry’s peak body Seafood New THE LAST WORD
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