More public consultation on recreational fishing

Minister of Fisheries Pete Hodgson said today he was pleased there would be extra public meetings in the Auckland area to discuss options for the future management of recreational fishing.

The joint working group of New Zealand Recreational Fishing Council representatives and Ministry of Fisheries officials that is managing the public consultation process has scheduled four extra meetings for October.

They will be at the Bucklands Beach Yacht Club (10 October), the Auckland Outboard Boating Club, Tamaki Drive (11 October), the Te Atatu Boating Club, Bridge St (17 October) and the Counties Sport Fishing Club, Pukekohe Cosmopolitan Club rooms (18 October).

The meetings are an opportunity for people to air their views on the options for recreational fishing management presented in "Soundings", a discussion document prepared by the joint working group and released in July.

Public meetings and hui are being held nationwide and submissions will close in November. The Government is due to take policy decisions in about March next year.

"We can't go on taking recreational fishing rights for granted," Mr Hodgson said in a speech to the Recreational Fishing Council annual conference in July. "Recreational rights are under pressure now or will become so in the future. It's time to figure out how we want to define them and protect them."