The Government looks set to perform a u-turn on a proposal to cut the snapper limit for recreational fisherman from nine to three.
National MPs have been under pressure from anglers furious about the proposal and Prime Minister John Key said this morning that it was one of the few issues which was consistently raised by the public, no matter where he went in the country.
This morning Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy, who endured a tough time in the house over the issue yesterday, said the proposed reduction from nine to three ''is at the extreme end and the three option is very unlikely to proceed.''
The restrictions are designed to replenish snapper around Northland, Auckland and the Bay of Plenty.
When asked about pressure from within his own party he said there had been a ''very robust process''.
''I appreciate the views of my MPs. They're repeating the feedback that they're getting in their constituency clinics, many of them there today, and I'm encouraging people to come forward with their submissions.''
Nathan Guy could have cut this issue off at the pass by telling MPI officials to go back to the drawing board. Cutting recreational fishing quota is even less sensible than regulating the water volume of shower nozzles, and Guy should have intervened far sooner.
And the recreational fishermen (and women) have a point; why should commercial fishers be able to keep plundering the snapper fishery, leaving recreational fishermen with a greatly reduced quota.
Catching a feed of fish is a great New Zealand tradition. Nathan Guy may have had to swallow hard, but at least in this case a fillet of snapper will taste better than the usual dead rat!
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