Taupo licences…

Lots to read so make a cup of tea…

Recent fb discussion on Taupo licences will be of interest to anglers. It started with:

Hunting & Fishing New Zealand, Fly & Gun, Taupo ·

Want a FREE pair of sunnies?

All you have to do is purchase your Taupo full season (adult or family) fishing licence from us and we will throw you in a free pair of H&F “Fish Hunter” sunglasses.

Taupo licences officially go on sale tomorrow (24 June), so don’t delay, you’ve only got until 31 July to snag your free pair!

**Offer applies to in store purchases of adult season and family season licences only. Offer valid until 31/7/2024. Only while stocks last. Limit 1 pair per licence. This is a Hunting & Fishing Taupo specific promo and may not be available in other stores.

Then others ask: “I don’t understand, Taupo licences are issued by DOC.”

In reply to other anglers’ questions we recently asked DOC if they could explain how the licence fees are spent in the Taupo fishery. It may have changed since the 2013 report was tabled. Not unexpectedly, we did not get any reply…

Which brings us back once again to the excellent probing 2013 report by DOC’s own consultants: The study by APR Consultants reveals some interesting stuff: It is well worth considering 11 years later as most of it appears to have been ignored. The executive summary follows:

Executive Summary:

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 maximizing 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.

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);

*Engagement with anglers and licence-holders (particularly with a view to increasing participation); and

*Improving relationships more generally (adopting a ‘philosophy of partnering’)

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.
The goal needs to recognise the multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary nature of fishery management and focus on three key elements – managing and enhancing the sports fish resource, working effectively with anglers and increasing participation in fishing, and developing strong partnerships with others to optimise the environmental, social and economic benefits for the Taupō region and beyond.

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.

*Anglers have a distinct role in the management of the Taupō Fishery, through the establishment of the Taupō Fishery Advisory Committee and, because the
Director-General is required to manage the sports fish in their recreational interest;

What we found is that there are some tensions and uncertainties about how the agreements reached between the Crown and Ngāti Tūwharetoa and the provisions of the Conservation Act fit together; there is little effective engagement between Ngāti Tūwharetoa and anglers (and hence no processes to align interests); and that anglers are frustrated with what they see as their negligible influence on management……

Anglers and licence holders
In respect of the relationship with anglers, we identified the need to greatly improve the interface they have with the Department.

Improved licencing options, better communication and more effective marketing of fishing opportunities in the region were all identified as aspects needing improvement. We confirmed that participation rates (like in many places) have steadily declined from a peak in the 1980s, and most significantly there has been a 20% drop in licence sales (in 2013) over the past five years. Given the major economic and social contribution to the region from the Fishery, and given that it is licence fees that pay for fisheries management, this is a significant issue that
needs considerable focus and attention…..

In particular we believe that there are obvious opportunities to improve the effectiveness of the Department’s relationships with Fish and Game (given they are in the same ‘business’). Currently the relationship appears to be disjointed and ‘competitive’ rather than collaborative. There are also opportunities to develop stronger relationships with the tourism and wider business sector in the region (for mutual benefit), and with the Lake Rotoraira Trust….

OPPORTUNITIES

The following is the complete list of opportunities that have been identified and
are fully discussed within the report.

A. Establishing a Clear Goal

1 Establish a clear goal for the management of the Taupō Fishery that focuses on maximising the full value (in economic, environmental, social and cultural terms) that the Fishery can deliver.

Align the management of the Taupō Fishery to the new goal by:

a. Setting meaningful management objectives and targets;

b. Aligning the staffing structure and budget allocations; and

c. Monitoring and reporting progress against the objectives and targets

B. Creating Effective Governance and Statutory Decision-Making Processes

C. Management Structures and Processes

D. Information and Tools to Assist Managing, Maintaining, Enhancing the Sports Fish Resource
E. Working Effectively with Anglers and Increasing Participation

In relation to the existing licensing system:

a. Put in place an on-line system in close collaboration with Fish and Game;

b. Develop a national licence option;

c. Offer a fuller range of licence options, with the priority being a family licence, a weekend licence, and a 12 month licence;
d. Consider ways to support charter boat operators in the development of a boat licence concept; and

e. More actively promote the fact that licence fees pay for fishery management.

Anglers reps – TFAC (Taupo Fishing Advisory Council) was criticised – i.e.

What we also heard was that neither TFAC members nor the Department view the advisory mechanism as working effectively at present. TFAC does not operate in the same way as fish and game councils (who have a clear role and
set the management priorities in their respective regions on behalf of licence-holders), mainly because its functions are purely advisory. Comments on its functions included ‘it is advised, not advisory’, and ‘it doesn’t seem to have any
teeth’.
We also heard comments that TFAC’s membership (prescribed by regulation)
does not represent anglers generally (with a strong emphasis given to local
angling and boating clubs as opposed to visitors or independent anglers); and
that Ngāti Tūwharetoa, despite having a dedicated place on TFAC, has not
attended meetings for over a decade. This is, broadly, because they have not seen
value in the position.
Finally, but importantly, there do not appear to be any structured links between
TFAC and the governance and statutory decision-making processes.
We heard concern from anglers that they did not have a good picture of where
their licence fees were being spent, and concern that the Department’s processes
for allocating administrative costs (primarily the capital charge on the Crown’s
assets, depreciation, rent, computers and the like) were not transparent.
Comments were made that the administrative costs appeared high.

re Communications they commented:

We heard that the Department’s communication tends to be reactive (for example responding to complaints or issues) rather than proactive. The Department’s ‘YouTube’ video – ‘Lake O on the Fly’ was positively referred to several times, though comment was made about the lack of follow-up to that video. Comment was also made about the very active websites and blogs run by others – a number of them Sporting Life, Tongariro River Motel and Fish’n’Hunt receive many thousands of visitors per month, and these were seen as providing significant opportunities for the Department to engage more proactively with
these sites and users.

etc. That is just a brief taste of the report – for more info go to:

Taupo-Fishery-Review Download

Specialist transducer about to be towed across Lake Taupo

Distribution of Lake Taupō productivity data

Excellent rainbow from the Te Whaiau trap during a visit by TFAC members

Upgraded fish trap on the Te Whaiau Stream

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31