Greenpeace

Seafood, kaimoana – whether in English or in Maori, these words evoke the same sentiments for most Kiwis – emotive words that conjure up memories of long summer days spent fishing and evening barbecues with the catch of the day proudly taking centre stage.

My favourite meal in the entire world would have to be freshly caught and cooked crayfish with a nice bottle of chilled white wine.

But, as we well know, all is not OK within the world’s oceans. If we want to ensure a future that includes clean, healthy oceans and fish on our plates, we need to clean up our own backyard.

I believe the more power, control and profit an industry has, the more responsibility it has to protect the resources on which it relies. In no area is this clearer cut than the fishing industry and its use of our ocean’s resource.

For far too long, corporate fishing interests have had the word on where and how fish can be caught, along with catch quotas.Unfortunately, it’s the ocean environment and the rest of us who have had to suffer the fishing industries’ free-for-all plunder of the world’s oceans. Over 70 percent of the world’s fisheries are in trouble – including some New Zealand fisheries.

It’s crucial that New Zealand goes against the tide of destruction and turns our fisheries into truly sustainable enterprises. The world is waking up to the fact that our clean and green image is nothing more than that – an image, not a reality. Both hoki and orange roughy have been pulled off supermarket shelves in Europe and the United States as neither meets the sustainability guidelines set by these supermarkets. Far from being an isolated trend, sustainability policies are being implemented more and more by our export markets.

With 90 percent of our seafood shipped offshore, we need to safeguard our industry by insuring we set the bar high enough to ensure we’re beyond reproach.

Toss a line, catch a fish

Tell the average Kiwi that they may not be able to eat seafood in the future and I’m guessing that they’d scoff at you. The oceans around New Zealand were once brimming with abundant sea life. The nearly one-million Kiwis who enjoy recreational fishing could easily surf cast from the beach and be guaranteed at least a kahawai and some mussels off the rocks.

But not any more. Most recreational fishers lament the fact that what was once taken as our God-given right is no more. Industrial fishing has put an end to the ‘easy catch’, and even huge industrial operators are finding it harder to trawl, hook and net the remaining fish around New Zealand.

Rubbish in our midst

In the mid-1990s, a survey found that at least 1.3 billion litres of sewage and water-borne industrial waste were discharged into the sea around New Zealand every day.

The last major centres to stop dumping raw sewage into the sea were Wellington and the Hutt Valley (in 1998 and 2001 respectively).

Plastic and other litter is a potential hazard to marine animals that eat it thinking it’s food. In fact, plastic items are considered to cause more deaths of marine animals than oil spills, heavy metals or other toxic materials. A year-long study of Auckland’s storm-water discharges found that, each day, 28,000 pieces of litter, much of it plastic, ended up in the Waitemata Harbour. (1)

Help to ensure a future with fish and chips

The facts are so depressing that it’s easy to conclude that the demise of our oceans is a done deal. The risk here is that we all give up trying to do anything about it. However, we’re lucky here in New Zealand. Not because our oceans are immune from these global problems, but because we have such an affinity with the oceans and such a passion about all they provide.

So, what can we do to ensure our kids and our grandkids have healthy oceans and plenty of fish in the future?

We should ask our fish retailer whether or not they purchase sustainably caught and managed fish stock next time we’re out shopping. Ask our supermarket manager whether they have a policy of only stocking sustainably caught fish and whether this policy is publicly available. Check out the Greenpeace seafood red list to find out what species you should avoid buying: www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/sos/. The new Forest & Bird Best Fish Guide shows you the best fish to buy and the fish to avoid. www.bestfishguide.org.nz

When out fishing, ensure we stick to the recreational guidelines set by the Ministry of Fisheries. And, ensure we don’t pollute our waterways, including storm-water drains, so that our marine environment stays clean.

The New Zealand government also needs to ensure that fishing quotas are set at sustainable levels and fish are caught in ways that don’t destroy the marine environment or inadvertently kill other species like fur seals, sea lion and sea birds. Unsustainable fishing is not worth the risk to our oceans, to our fisheries or to our international reputation and will leave us nothing to pass on to future generations.

Suzette Jackson
www.greenpeace.org.nz

(1) Gerard Hutching and Carl Walrond. 'Marine conservation - Pollution', Te Ara - the Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, updated 2-Mar-09
URL: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/marine-conservation/6