News today that NZ's fisheries management decisions are laregly based on guesswork - so says leading NZ fisheries scientist Dr John McKoy, of NIWA, Wellington:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/3420933/Fishing-quotas-guesswork
Dr McKoy is a well respected fisheries scientist and was quoted from an online science forum - on the Science Media Centre website:
http://www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2010/03/07/fish-for-the-future-the-science-behind-the-catch/
Forest & Bird whole-heartedly supports him in speaking up about the true nature of fisheries management in New Zealand. It clearly spells out the urgent need for more research into all fisheries - not just the rich ones - and the nature of our fishing activities on the weide marine environment:
Published on the front page of the Dom Post today, Dr McKoy also notes that decisions on current commercial fishing limits are "highly susceptible to influence". Fisheries decisions have become increasingly politicised and the influence of our powerful commercial sector should no longer go unchecked.
It's time for change - and it's great one of our leading scientists is spelling it out so clearly.