Taupo Sports Fishery Review

Further to the TRM comment of DOC five year surveys and following TRM comparison of Taupo licence sales with the rest of NZ, we have heard other anglers comment on the lack of any coordinated marketing plan (i.e. between Council and DOC?) for the Taupo fishery.

In addition to the regular five year surveys, in May 2013 DOC carried out a massive survey of the Taupo fishing – the Taupo Sports Fishery Review – go to TRM links or:

http://www.doc.govt.nz/Documents/getting-involved/consultations/current-consultations/Tongariro%20Taupo/taupo-sports-fishery-review-may-2013.pdf

Now, three years later, it is interesting to consider their purpose for the Fishery Review and to consider what has happened (or not happened) since, if only in response to inmates questions and so anglers can see where TRM get all their interesting stats and tit-bits from…

(Images from TRM library)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Lake Taupō and the wider region has identified with trout since they were introduced as a sports fish more than one hundred years ago. The town of Tūrangi markets itself as the ‘Trout Fishing Capital of the World’, Taupō’s waterfront is home to a large trout sculpture to welcome visitors to the town, and the region is home to the Tongariro National Trout Centre near Tūrangi. A study by APR Consultants, commissioned as part of this review process, has confirmed the importance of the Fishery to the economic and social wellbeing of the region, with an annual economic contribution of

up to $29m per annum and close to 300 jobs dependent on it.

It became clear in the course of the review process that effective management of the Fishery needs to focus more specifically on the important contribution to the Taupō Region (and beyond) that the Taupō Fishery currently makes, and could make in the future. In essence, an overarching management goal should be focused on maximising

the full value (in the broadest – economic, social, cultural and environmental – sense of the word) that the Fishery can deliver. This goal must then be used by the Department to establish objectives and targets, set budgets, and drive progress reporting.

The Department of Conservation initiated this review process with several broad factors in mind, with the key trigger points being:

Rethinking how the fishery is managed in the context of a renewed

commitment from the Department to work with others to help New Zealand flourish socially, economically and environmentally (and for New Zealanders to benefit from that management);

Concerns from anglers and the wider community about the health of the

fishery; and

 Declining participation rates and licence sales….  (*our emphasis)

 Through the review process, we found a fishery that is fundamentally in good shape.

But it is also a fishery where there are huge opportunities that could be realised through a fresh management approach.

To realise these opportunities, and maximise the value of the fishery, there must be a shift from the strong focus on the biological aspect of the fishery, to a broader consideration on managing all the different components of the fishery. In the Report, unsurprisingly, no single solution is identified. Rather a range of opportunities have been highlighted that focus on:

Establishing an overarching goal for the fishery;

Governance and management structures and processes;

Ensuring there is clear direction focused on maximising the full value of the

Fishery;

Management of the resource (the trout);

Overarching goal for the fishery

During the course of the review it became evident that, while a range of objectives for managing the Fishery exist, there is no obvious overarching goal. The lack of an overarching management goal has led the Department to focus on the achievement of single objectives, potentially costing it the ability to maximise the value the Fishery could otherwise deliver to partners, stakeholders and the wider community.

Governance and Management structures and processes

In looking at the existing governance and management structures and processes for the Taupō Fishery, the primary objective was to identify how they are currently working and how they might best enable effective and well-aligned input from the key players. While the Taupō Fishery forms part of an integrated framework for managing sports fish across the country, it is also quite distinct and has a number of features that are unique to this particular fishery.

The key ‘players’ in the Taupō Fishery are:

The Minister of Conservation who approves the management plan that is developed for the purpose of managing the Taupō fishery and, with the concurrence of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, fixes forms and classes of fishing license and fees payable for licences;

The Director-General of Conservation has the powers of a fish and game council in relation to the Taupō Fishery (with several modifications);

Ngāti Tūwharetoa has a joint decision-making role in the Taupō Fishery, and a broader partnership role with the Crown. The dual roles are derived from the ownership of the lakebed —including much of the surrounding land— and the various agreements with the Crown contained in the Māori Land Amendment and Māori Land Claims Adjustment Act 1926 and the 2007 Deed of Settlement.