That is the Herald headline.
Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong says her five demands are “very reasonable”. It is up to the other parties to agree.
Are we to have another election unless the other parties agree to phase out bottom trawling?
I have never seen a poll where bottom trawling ranks among New Zealanders’ concerns.
Trawling can cause serious environmental damage, particularly to coral and sensitive seabed habitats. But it is already regulated. Some 31 per cent of our exclusive economic zone is closed to the practice.
According to Fisheries New Zealand, just 1.7 per cent of our territorial sea and exclusive economic zone was bottom trawled in the last fishing year.
Yet trawling on or near the seabed accounts for 68 per cent of our commercial fish catch by volume.
Where is the scientific assessment demonstrating that a nationwide ban is justified?
Opportunity also claims to respect the Treaty.
Māori received substantial commercial fishing assets under the Treaty fisheries settlement. The Crown has a legal obligation to uphold that settlement.
Restrictions based on sound environmental science are justifiable.
But diminishing Māori Treaty settlement assets, not on scientific grounds but to secure a political deal, would be an outrageous breach of the Treaty.
I predict an urgent claim to the Waitangi Tribunal.
Science should determine where bottom trawling is environmentally acceptable.
Not the threat of another election.
The Honourable Richard Prebble CBE is a former member of the New Zealand Parliament. Initially a member of the Labour Party, he joined the newly formed ACT New Zealand party under Roger Douglas in 1996, becoming its leader from 1996 to 2004. This article was sourced HERE
Trawling can cause serious environmental damage, particularly to coral and sensitive seabed habitats. But it is already regulated. Some 31 per cent of our exclusive economic zone is closed to the practice.
According to Fisheries New Zealand, just 1.7 per cent of our territorial sea and exclusive economic zone was bottom trawled in the last fishing year.
Yet trawling on or near the seabed accounts for 68 per cent of our commercial fish catch by volume.
Where is the scientific assessment demonstrating that a nationwide ban is justified?
Opportunity also claims to respect the Treaty.
Māori received substantial commercial fishing assets under the Treaty fisheries settlement. The Crown has a legal obligation to uphold that settlement.
Restrictions based on sound environmental science are justifiable.
But diminishing Māori Treaty settlement assets, not on scientific grounds but to secure a political deal, would be an outrageous breach of the Treaty.
I predict an urgent claim to the Waitangi Tribunal.
Science should determine where bottom trawling is environmentally acceptable.
Not the threat of another election.
The Honourable Richard Prebble CBE is a former member of the New Zealand Parliament. Initially a member of the Labour Party, he joined the newly formed ACT New Zealand party under Roger Douglas in 1996, becoming its leader from 1996 to 2004. This article was sourced HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for joining the discussion. Breaking Views welcomes respectful contributions that enrich the debate. Please ensure your comments are not defamatory, derogatory or disruptive. We appreciate your cooperation.