16/08/2024
Something needs to change - in a major way.
Oh, remember the cameras we put on commercial fishing vessels to bring some transparency to the industry? Well, they’ve done their job - maybe a little too well.
The reviewed footage (which was only a fraction of the total footage taken) revealed that reports of fish discards had skyrocketed by 46%, and reports of interactions with protected species like albatrosses were up 3.7 times. The sheer volume of discards and overall bycatch is staggering - 950% more kingfish discarded and over 1000% more snapper than previously reported. And what’s the response? Crickets.
Seafood NZ issued a press release that went very much under the radar - a masterclass in downplaying disaster. They claim the cameras have made fishers more “vigilant” - as if that’s supposed to comfort us. But what’s really happening is that the data shows the true scale of the environmental damage we’ve been ignoring for years. And instead of addressing it head-on, they’re sticking to the same old tactics, pretending everything’s under control.
And now what? What is happening with the reviewed footage? What about the remaining unreviewed footage? Where’s the accountability, the impactful change? Why have we seen absolutely nothing from this?
The cameras are showing what we’ve suspected all along. This is another symptom of a broken QMS, which is why catch limits need to be set at a precautionary level, with an adequate allowance set aside for other sources of mortality caused by fishing.
We have concrete proof of massive underreporting, yet the plan is to carry on as usual or, unbelievably, scrap the cameras entirely if Shane Jones gets his way. Make it make sense!
