Transcript
KELVIN PASSFIELD: Well it's totally expected that the Ministry of Marine Resources would remain that view, they were never going to change their mind. The select committee, while they talked to quite a range of people they didn't really talk to people apart from Te Ipukarea Society and traditional leaders, they didn't really seek any expect advice from the side of the community that would not pay for these aggregating devices. But I think they also did make some recommendations with how the deal with the EU could be improved, they still said there was some issues there that needed addressing and I'm not too sure what's happening with that.
JAMIE TAHANA: So the committee's consultation wasn't extensive enough?
KP: Yeah, they didn't talk to people, so for example, few so the select committee could hear both sides of the argument, there is the few of course that fish aggregation. There is of course the view that fish aggregation technology is improving, and as it improves you'll be able to discriminate more easily the types of fish you're catching. But while this technology may be improving it's not there yet and the data we have got from the ministry of marine resources in the past shows that these aggregating devices still have a very significant impact on bycatch species. So there's a long way to go.
JT: And the community as well, there have been protests against this, what is the community view of this process?
KP: The community weren't really invited to the select committee, we appreciate the fact that they asked Te Ipukarea Society to present, and they allowed Te Rua Manga to present, but when we suggested that the local fishermen may want to present, the local fishermen were told 'no, this is really for the technical experts, it's not the community, the general emotive community', so they did the select committee from a particular angle and it was a biased process really from the begging.
JT: What about the Mr Ponia, the secretary of the Ministry, saying that a ban on FADs would have no conservation value and in fact deny the country economic benefits?
KP: Well it would the country some economic benefits in the short term, but to say it's got no conservation value, I mean the data that we got from the Ministry of Marine Resources a couple of years ago, showed that, for example, in 2012 there was a 103 times higher rate of bycatch of Bigeye tuna, when fish aggregation devices are used in Cook Island waters, compared to when vessels set their nets on free schools, without fish aggregation devices. So 103 times higher, that's an enormously significant impact on Bigeye stocks. Of course they'll say that the catch in the Cook Islands zone is small compared to the total catch throughout the western central Pacific Ocean, which is true, but the fact is we are supposed to be using methods which are mitigate the impacts of fishing on bycatch, and allowing FADs does exactly the opposite.
