Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has accused opponents of proposed marine reforms of “catastrophising” the changes. 

Critics, including television fishing personality and Northlander Matt Watson, say the changes could reshape New Zealand’s marine management and threaten the country’s world-class big game fishing industry on which Northland economies rely. 

Public submissions on Fisheries NZ’s (FNZ) 19 proposed regulatory amendments closed on November 28, drawing more than 22,000 responses and sparking LegaSea’s huge One Ocean protest in Auckland. 

Among the most contentious changes were: 

• Allowing commercial fishers to keep and sell dead marlin. 
• Removing protections for 19 reef fish species, including red moki, boarfish, and red pigfish. 
• Easing gear restrictions such as set-net lengths and Danish seine limits. 
• Recreational fishing bans in parts of the Hauraki Gulf where commercial fishing remains permitted. 

Watson claimed those were only some of the changes with many more concerning ones still to come. 

He has used his popular online platforms to warn the reforms are “being forced through on us” and are “only pro-industry”. 

Watson said in designing the reforms, Jones had stood shoulder to shoulder with fisheries companies and failed to consult with environmentalists or recreational fishers. 

There was nothing to address big issues such as quota management or habitat destruction, he said. 

“Our fishery is being mismanaged, we’ve got depleted stocks happening, and now some absolutely outrageous decisions are happening like highly protected areas that allow commercial fishing where you and I can’t go and fish." 

Fishing celebrity Matt Watson. 

Watson criticised destructive fishing methods and the irony of Kiwis paying high prices for fish while “our fish are being scooped up and sent overseas where people can get it cheaper than we can get it here at home”. 

Currently, marlin caught by commercial fishers in NZ waters must be released - even if dead - as they are a non-commercial species. 

Reef fish have also been protected for decades because of their vulnerability to depletion and cultural significance. 

Watson believed lifting these protections would incentivise commercial operators to target species that have long been reserved for public enjoyment and on which Northland’s big game fishing industry relies. 

“None of this makes sense — it doesn’t make economic sense. Fish are a public resource; our ocean and our right to have access to it, are really under threat,” he said. 

Watson and others point to history as a warning: in the 1990s, the Government allowed the commercial sale of dead broadbill swordfish caught as bycatch - a move that led to full commercialisation of the species and its entry into the Quota Management System (QMS) by 2004. 

Fisheries Minister Shane Jones addresses public concerns about proposed changes to fishing regulations. Photo / File 

Starting a public Primary Production Committee meeting in Parliament on Friday, with an eye roll over the need for it, Jones said the backlash over marlin rules and Highly Protected Areas (HPAs) in the Hauraki Gulf was disproportionate. 

“A number of the people that have been blighting your social media feeds, don’t understand it and they’ve perhaps catastrophised it,” Jones said. 

“We are not changing the purpose of the Fisheries Act and diminishing the importance of sustainability. 

“What we think we’re doing is improving productivity and stripping out of the system obstacles to productivity that have been floating around since the 1990s. 

“But we are not undermining or destroying the purpose - the kaupapa - of the statute.” 

HPAs were developed over 15 years and cover about 12% of the Hauraki Gulf, with only a small seasonal concession for “a handful” of mullet fishers around Kawau Island and another location, Jones said. 

In Watson’s opinion, Jones was minimising what remains a commercial fishing enterprise, capable of hauling in tonnes of fish and bycatch with gill nets, in an area where any fishing should be prohibited. 

On marlin, Jones rejected claims he was trying to bring the species into the Quota Management System (QMS). 

“That is wrong. There is no paper evidence that I’m doing that,” he said. 

“All I’ve done is initiate some consultation, should the three or 400 marlin that are caught through the commercial guys incidentally be left in the ocean or brought back to land.” 

Jones noted current rules differ by coast — East Coast fish must be discarded, while West Coast fish can be landed. 

“Morally, it just doesn’t sit right with me that we leave all this kai back in the ocean,” he said. 

Jones wanted a uniform approach and said onboard cameras would ensure compliance and deter deliberate targeting if rules change. 

Jones acknowledged fears of a “slippery slope”, after the broadbill swordfish precedent. 

“The allegation is that somehow I’ve bumbled marlin and created an opportunity for that to happen again. I have never had advice … to head in the direction of commercialising marlin.” 

Jones said changes to bycatch rules were also necessary as warming seas were changing species distribution, and the system needed to consider how to manage fish that move south of their traditional management areas. 

Jones said Fisheries NZ was considering the submissions, with an announcement likely in the new year. 

He was open to exploring ways for sports fishing clubs to have more say in managing the marlin fishery but said they “should be careful what they ask for”. 

Jones warned that greater influence would come with greater responsibility, as it had for acclimatisation societies that evolved into modern Fish and Game councils. 

He confirmed a separate Fisheries Amendment Bill is expected in February or March next year, introducing broader reforms around issues such as onboard cameras, multi-year catch settings, and faster decision making. 

Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in journalism, most of which she spent court reporting in Gisborne and on the East Coast.