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Kitefishing Club Newsletter June 2003
Next Meeting:
Tuesday 1st July 7.30pm Manukau Cruising Club.
We will welcome back Bruce Riley to the Club as our Guest Speaker for July. Bruce spoke in April 2001 on Jigging, and was most informative. This time he will speak on Salt Water Fly Fishing, targeting snapper and kahawai and also explaining the different
types of hooks on the market and their uses.
Bruce has proved in the past to be very knowledgeable, so come along with any questions you have, and join us for what will be an enjoyable and informative evening.
June Meeting
Our Guest Speaker for June was Bernie Ward who, two years ago, was involved in setting up a working party that proposed a Marine Park for the West Coast.
Initially Bob Harvey, Mayor of Waitakere City in conjunction with Forest and Bird, kicked off the proposal. They set about to address issues such as the endangered hectors dolphin, nesting birds being attacked by dogs, shellfish-take by some ethnic
groups and supposed dwindling fish stocks due to over-fishing.
Bernie said that 15 years ago there were proposals for a Marine Reserve on the west coast, which got rubbished. However, the promoter's of this scheme may have gone underground for a time, but they always seem to come back.
Things have changed somewhat since the initial proposal. The original area was to be from Kaipara through to Manukau's South Head. Since the driving force of this proposal was the hectors dolphin concern, and that hectors dolphin are only sighted south
of Manukau, they then extended the proposed area through to Port Waikato.
Then there is the issue of displaced quota. If commercial fishers are not allowed to fish a certain area such as the one proposed, it will put undue pressure on beaches such as Bayley's Beach to the north of the area. This means that Bayley's may become
depleted somewhat owing to displaced quota.
A Marine Park set up to address the concerns of nesting seabirds being attacked by dogs seems to do anything but address the issue. Since the Marine Park ends at mean high-water springs and bird's nest above this mark, the Marine Park would have no
jurisdiction over marauding dogs attacking these birds.
Under Section 186a of the Fisheries Act 1996, stocks of shellfish currently being stripped can be replenished by implementing this legislation, which enables closing of certain depleted areas.
Trish Rea and Paul Barnes both spoke at length of their concerns that a Marine Park will not address the intended issues. This being the case, why have another tax-funded bureaucratic body overseeing a Marine Park where the problems it seeks to remedy
have already been addressed.
Three main points Trish highlighted were:
- 1. Regarding the Hectors Dolphins concern - this has been addressed by the set net ban on the West Coast.
- 2. Dogs killing blue penguins - a problem that should be addressed by the local councils. ie. Waitakere City Council on Piha beach.
- 3. Depletion of inter-tidal zone - this can be addressed using current Legislation, Section 186a Fisheries Act 1996.
In regard to whether a Marine Park would be more viable if clauses were written in stating that the Park couldn't have changes made to it ad-hoc. Trish said clauses or not, we do not need more legislation to control what is already ours.
A management board of 15 people with one recreational rep to represent all recreational coastal users is not a fair representation of the current users of the area concerned and certainly a recipe for giving away our rights and control of public areas
to a small group of bureaucrats.
It needs to be noted that if recreational fishers had the protection in law as proposed by Option 4, our position would be much stronger.
Fishmaster's Report
Our monthly Club Fishing Day was held at Muriwai on the 18th May, and three members turned up at the weigh-in. David Billings caught five big gurnard and two snapper, the biggest weighing in at 2.4kg. David was the only member to catch any fish; therefore
he receives a Silver Pin for his effort.
In our monthly competition, Bodo Luckfiel turned in the only competition sheet. Bodo caught two gurnard and 14 snapper, the biggest being 4.4kg. He was using mullet for bait, fishing at low tide on a northeasterly wind.
Bodo receives this month's Silver Pin.
Fishing Tales
Paul Barnes reports of a phone call from someone called Shane wanting a camera to take a photo of a snapper thought to be around 30lb caught at Te Ari Point. Paul said, although the size of this fish is unconfirmed, any snapper over 20lb caught on the
east coast is thought to be a rarity.
Jim Birch had been up at Tokorau with Neville catching mostly stingray and a few snapper.
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